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Air & Space Magazine

Growth potential: there’s a reason that phosphorus is included in fertilizers.

Phosphorus: You Can’t Have Life Without It, at Least on Earth

When searching for “carbon-based” life, we need to pay attention to other elements too.

AT&T's Flying COW in action over Puerto Rico

Flying COW Helps Puerto Rico Get Its Phone Service Back

A drone-based “cell tower” provides stopgap connectivity to the storm-ravaged island.

Scott Kelly expounds on his adventures in orbit.

The Man Who Fell Back to Earth

Astronaut Scott Kelly talks about zero-g sleeping and other oddities of spending a year in space.

The Dream Chaser mini-shuttle, coming in for a landing at Edwards on November 11.

Dream Chaser Sticks the Landing

Sierra Nevada’s mini-space shuttle stays on track for a 2020 launch.

The Critical Importance of Biosignatures

To identify life on other worlds, scientists will have to know what to look for, and what to ignore.

Most supernovas, like this one, 1987A (seen here in a Hubble Space Telescope image) explode only once. So what's going on with iPTF14hls?

“Zombie Star” Has Astronomers Stumped

The supernova that came back from the dead.

“Kestrels are renowned raptor aerialists,” writes Traer Scott in the book’s introduction. “A kestrel is a type of falcon that is able to hover in midair. This feat is achieved by beating its wings back and forth extremely fast, much like a tiny hummingbird.” This image was taken at Horizon Wings.

Raptors: Portraits of Birds of Prey

Everything from cute baby chicks to majestic birds of prey, as seen through photographer Traer Scott’s lens.

Will this help or hurt? We'll find out...

Should Localities Decide on Drone Policy? Not Everyone Thinks So

A new Federal pilot program will give local jurisdictions more say on drone flights, but the rationale is unclear.

Nolan studied epics of the silent era while preparing to make "Dunkirk," which used thousands of extras in scenes like this one.

Dunkirk Director Looked to Silent Films—and Sci-Fi—for Inspiration

Filmmaker Christopher Nolan presses the case for film preservation at the Library of Congress.

Laika, before the launch that made her the first living creature in orbit.

Laika Declassified

The truth about the first dog in space came out a little at a time, over decades. And we still may not know the full story.

The Ivy Mike test, November 1, 1952. "Mike" stood for "megaton."

The First Hydrogen Bomb

Sixty-five years ago, a test of a fearsome new weapon.

James Bridenstine at today's nomination hearing.

The Frankness of Bridenstine

NASA’s proposed new chief gets grilled about the home planet.

This crew named their B17 “Bad Penny” for luck, since bad pennies are returned.

Beware of Black Cats Before Flying

Dancing on the wing with an umbrella and other pilot superstitions

A scene from Access Mars, showing the landscape around Curiosity's position in early October 2017. Gray areas are lower resolution images taken by the navigation cameras. The dashed line indicates where the controller is pointing. Click on any spot, and you're there, at least virtually.

Access Mars Introduces Space Exploration for Everyone

We can’t all go to Mars, but Mars can come to us.

Nose view of the Consolidated B-24D Lady Be Good crash site.

World War II’s Most Famous Ghost Plane

In time for Halloween, a look back at “Lady Be Good.”

A hydrothermal pond in Yellowstone National Park: an analog site for where life originated?

Back to Darwin’s Warm Little Pond

Reviving an old hypothesis about the origin of life on Earth.

Jack Schmitt strolling on the lunar surface during the Apollo 17 mission in December 1972.

Mr. Moonwalk

Walter Kuehnegger has been researching lunar locomotion for more than half a century.

Kestrel Eye being prepared for launch.

The Army Has a New Eye in the Sky

Kestrel Eye will demonstrate the usefulness of small imaging satellites for battlefield commanders.

Europa, a PET I moon with an ice-capped ocean thought to lie above a rocky mantle.

A New Classification System for Water-Based Life

But how different can life on other planets really be?

Skynet's King Air, C-GJBV, now has a footnote in history.

It Finally Happened: A Passenger Airplane Hit a Drone

Luckily, there was little damage.

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