Air & Space Magazine | Smithsonian Magazine

Barfology

What scientists haven’t solved and hot-shot pilots won’t talk about.

May 2002

Shooting the Moon

How a clever camera and its irascible inventor captured the lunar surface—but not the hearts of Apollo astronauts.

May 2002

Commentary: Astronauts to Asteroids

We’ve done the moon. Mars is too far. There’s a better destination in our own back yard.

May 2002

Shop Class Was Never Like This

The airplane builders of Mundelein High.

May 2002

Former United States and World Aerobatic Champion Leo Loudenslager demonstrates inverted flight

Flying Upside Down

Devices an aerobatic airplane uses to defy gravity—and convention

May 2002

Space Shuttle Diaries

Exhilaration, fear, surprise, and fun: spaceflight, according to the astronauts.

May 2002

Moments and Milestones: Low and Dark

March 2002

Oldies and Oddities: The Fifty-Cent Classic

March 2002

Above & Beyond: Back in the Saddle

An airshow pilot describes the trials of the comeback

March 2002

In the Museum: The Rock

The lunar Touchrock is one of the most popular objects in the National Air and Space Museum.

March 2002

X-Ray Eyes

The Chandra X-Ray Observatory opens the book on the high-energy universe.

March 2002

Loaded with four 500-pound Paveway II bombs and a Pave Tack pod, this U.S. Air Force F-111F is ready for target practice. In the Persian Gulf War the aircraft was prized for its precision weapons delivery.

The Plane with No Name

The F-111: In Australia, an airplane for all seasons

March 2002

How Things Work: Shuttle Launch Windows

Space Shuttle launches must work like clockwork. Here is how the clockwork works.

March 2002

Air traffic controllers from NORAD take over the civilian positions in the tower at Washington National Airport during the Skyshield II exercise.

“This Is Only a Test”

Fifty years ago, cold-war games halted all civilian air traffic—long before September 11 did the same.

March 2002

The Dragon is as lovely to fly as its appearance suggests.

Delightfully de Havilland

The last flying D.H.89 Dragon Rapide in the United States.

March 2002

Building a Great Air and Space Library

To find the very best books about the world of aviation and spaceflight, we asked for recommendations.

March 2002

Masters of the V-12

They’re like highly specialized surgeons: There are few of them, and they’re in great demand

March 2002

Moments and Milestones: Finding the Wright Spot

January 2002

Flights & Fancy: When Pigs Fly

An ingenious new use for an old Cessna

January 2002

Above & Beyond: Pushback: Newark Airport, 8:45 a.m.

What 9/11 looked like from one airliner’s cockpit

January 2002