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Air & Space Magazine

Gale Crater is dry today, but once was filled with water. Could fossilized microbes be preserved in the ancient lake sediments?

Where to Search for Fossils on Mars

Did an early biosphere exist on the Red Planet? And if so, is it still there?

Robert Goddard around 1936, when he first published the results of his pioneering liquid-fuel rocket experiments.

Robert Goddard Was the Father of American Rocketry. But Did He Have Much Impact?

Questioning a pioneer’s legacy.

The MarCO CubeSats will separate from InSight's Atlas rocket shortly after launch, then make their own way to Mars.

Mars-Bound MarCO Twins Will Go Where No CubeSat Has Ever Gone

A pair of 30-pound satellites point the way to cheaper space exploration.

Salts are common in the Southern Highlands (orange areas), which span a huge area on Mars.

Salts Help Bacteria Survive on Mars

The Southern Highlands of Mars would make a good site for a future landing mission.

Loading mail onto a de Havilland DH-4 mail plane, Omaha, Nebraska, mid-1920s

100 Years of Airmail

It helped jump-start commercial aviation, and tied a growing country together.

Electron microscope image of a deformed diamond matrix inside a meteorite known as Almahata Sitta MS-170.

Diamonds in Meteorites Offer a Glimpse of the Early Solar System

These rocks formed under higher pressure than you’d normally get from an asteroid collision.

Polish paratroopers learn the fine points of landing during training near Fife, Scotland, in 1942.

You’ve Got the Job, Now Here’s Your Parachute

Tired of your hum-drum life? Why not become a secret agent?

Pilots Jerrie Cobb and Jane Hart testify about the potential for women to succeed in the space program before the Subcommittee of the House Committee on Science and Astronautics, July 1962.

Netflix Documentary Profiles the Women Who Could Have Been Mercury Astronauts

Thirteen women were excellent candidates for spaceflight, but the times were not right.

Rep. Jim Bridenstine, the newly confirmed 12th Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Jim Bridenstine Confirmed as NASA Administrator

Now, we untangle how to return to the Moon.

The 1933 Supermarine Walrus was a reliable general purpose amphibian.

Forgotten Aircraft of the RAF

Remember the Westland Wapiti? How about the Avro Rota?

If Wakanda can stay hidden, could a past civilization have escaped discovery?

Can We Be Sure We’re the First Industrial Civilization on Earth?

Finding traces of ancient technology would be no easy task.

Exoplanet hunter TESS may just find "all the worlds we've been dreaming about," says Sara Seager.

Meet TESS, the Next Generation Exoplanet Hunter

Kepler was the planet counter. TESS will help us tell their stories.

Artist's conception of a flaring red dwarf star.

You Don’t Want to Be on Proxima b During a Stellar Eruption

The closest exoplanet to Earth is lifeless, due to superflares.

Augmented reality Yuri Gagarin, courtesy of the Histars app.

Virtual Yuri

The first cosmonaut has his own AR avatar(s).

Unhappy Campers

My first long-range solo flight brought some surprises.

The Man in the Homburg Hat

Delivering a RP-63A in 1944.

The first powered flight of VSS Unity, April 5, 2018.

SpaceShipTwo Fires Its Rocket to Resume Powered Test Flights

Another step closer to suborbital space tourism.

Operation Provide Feline

Transporting the squadron cat.

Air Traffic Controllers Are a Specific Breed

They get edgy when something is out of place.

Breakfast of Champions

When your spacecraft doubles as emergency rations.

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