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Air & Space Magazine

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Confessions of a Spaceship Pilot

If you fall off your horse…

The Soyuz lifts off on October 14, 2004, bound for the space station.

Leroy’s Launch

To watch a friend begin his expedition to the International Space Station, our correspondent travels to emptiest Kazakhstan.

Flying doorstop: The wedge shape of the X-43 compresses air entering the engine. This computational fluid dynamics image shows the vehicle's pressure gradients at Mach 7.

Debrief: Hyper-X

Scramjet power? Simple: Keep a match lit in a 7,000-mph wind.

The Question Mark is a 1932 Waco CTO ("T" for Taperwing). Phil Chastain is about to help Dan Mueller climb aboard.

People and Planes of Creve Coeur

In the department of flood recovery, Noah and his ark got nuthin’ on the folks at this little airport-except that many of the aircraft they saved are ones, not twos, of a kind.

Robonaut was designed to work outside the space station so that astronauts wouldn't have to. Despite its sophistication, its only work to date has been in the lab.

Robo Repairmen

It’s getting harder to find good help these days. So these space engineers built their own

Jugs in fearsome formation.

Cold Front

Meet the men who kept the Thunderbolts flying.

Before launching Discovery, NASA must be sure that foam won't fall from the external tank.

After Columbia

How NASA recovered from tragedy and tackled the job of getting the shuttle flying again.

The Maxim Gorky, an enormous eight-engine Tupolev ANT-20, struck awe in those who watched its propaganda flights over Red Square (below).

Despots Aloft

To the three most infamous dictators of the 20th century, the airplane was much more than a way to get from Stalag A to Gulag B.

The Deep Impact mothership will capture information on the comet's freshly exposed primordial interior.

Comet Cracker

If you want to see what’s inside a comet, you’ve got to break some spacecraft.

On Reno's hallowed ground, Red Bull deployed dashing new racers and elegant graphics.

Red Bull’s Rodeo

Take two parts aerobatic skill, add daring, throw in obstacles and speed: Air racing’s got a brand-new bag.

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It’s Showtime

Across the country this season, almost 200 airshows, and every one a winner. Here’s The List

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So You Want to Be an Airshow Pilot

First, get a high-paying day job.

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A Little Lift

Gliders so responsive they can stay up on a breath of fresh air.

The IFLOLS aboard the USS George Washington.

The Meatball

Pilots who make it safely to the deck of an aircraft carrier have seen the light.

A Piper L-4 Grasshopper demonstrates the Brodie System, in which an aircraft snagged a trolley that ran along a cable in order to land on a short strip or a ship.

The People and Planes of Anoka County

Denizens of a small Minnesota airport: bombers, Cubs, a 1938 Stinson SR10 once owned by the governor of Pennsylvania, and a veritable hive of homebuilders.

Even the wing tips and the midwing "super pods," which look like fuel tanks, are crammed with sensors and electronics. Its paint scheme makes it look stealthy, but a U-2 is detectable by radar.

The U-Deuce

The secret to a spyplane’s eternal youth is a new set of gadgets installed on a classic chassis.

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Pony Power

What do you call a Temco TT-1 Pinto trainer with a new engine? A rare breed with a lot of giddyup-and-go.

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Falling with the Falcon

Peregrines think simple thoughts: See food. Fly down. Go fast. Very fast.

Dashing in color and full of character, vintage sailplanes show up a nondescript modern white counterpart at a vintage meet-and-glide.

Vintage Charmers

Visit Mountain Valley Airport and soar with the wood-and-fabric fans of the Vintage Sailplane Association.

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The Annotated Airport

A guide to the meaning of the myriad signs, lines, circles, arrows, numbers, letters, and lights on the airport grounds.

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