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Air & Space Magazine

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Holes on Mars

Our robot ambassador on Mars is exercising its Curiosity by drilling nearly-dime-sized holes on the surface.

Forty years ago, Viking went looking for life on Mars. Time to look again?

The Right Time to Search for Martian Life

After decades of geology-focused Mars missions, should we send one dedicated to biology?

Ed White, in his element. Back inside the spacecraft, he told McDivitt, “That was the most natural feeling, Jim.” Said his friend, “You looked like you were in your mother’s womb.”

The First U.S. Spacewalk

Ed White’s trip outside was exhilarating, improvised, and at times scary.

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Time To Go

A pararescueman jumps out of a C-130 Hercules during a training mission over Japan.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson plays a helicopter pilot in his new action movie.

How to Drop Like “The Rock” When Your Helicopter Engine Dies

A lesson on autorotation in Dwayne Johnson’s new movie, San Andreas

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Rainbow Double Aurora

Just another day on board the International Space Station with the best views off Earth.

Artist’s rendering of the solar-powered Europa Clipper, the leading contender to become NASA’s mid-2020s mission to the icy Jovian moon.

NASA’s Europa Mission Gets A Little More Real

Scientists select nine instruments to assess the Jovian moon’s habitability.

A little mystery: The Air Force X-37B mini-shuttle gets serviced after its landing at Vandenberg AFB in California last October.

Now We Know at Least Two Payloads on the X-37B

But most everything else about the Air Force spaceplane’s current mission remains secret.

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Downtime for Floatplanes

A Vought OS2U-3 Kingfisher (left) and a Naval Aircraft Factory N3N-3 sit in a hangar at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi in 1942.

The far side of the Moon, a mosaic of Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter wide-angle camera images.

China and the “Dark Side”

A proposed Chinese mission to the Moon’s hidden hemisphere.

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United Front

A formation of international aircraft fly during an exercise off the coast of Guam.

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Pink Perseus

This multi-wavelength shows galaxy NGC 1275 at the center of the Perseus Cluster.

The author (in his office) has written several books on American history, including1776 and The Great Bridge.

David McCullough on the Wright Brothers

The Pulitzer Prize winner tells the human story behind the invention of the airplane.

Doomsday: When the sun becomes a red giant, Earth will become uninhabitable.

The Search for Future Earths

A rare variety of exoplanet may give us a preview of what’s in store for our planet billions of years from now.

British Airways is one of the carriers that now offers fully reclining beds—in its premium-class cabins only, naturally.

The Recline of Civilization

The science of designing an airline passenger seat.

During his flight, Lindbergh made a mark on the instrument panel for each hour of fuel consumed.

An Inside Look at the Spirit of St. Louis

The Explorer I balloon being inflated at the Stratobowl on July 28, 1934, in preparation for an ascent.

Winning the Stratobowl in 1935

A geologic formation became the perfect launchpad for flights into the stratosphere.

Both Pan-STARRS1 and Planck observed a mysterious cold spot in the universe.

What Created the Universe’s Cold Spot?

A super(void) explanation

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See The World From 100,000 Feet

Companies on both sides of the Atlantic are building capsules to carry you into the stratosphere.

Grand Prize Winner Jeff Cook (Over Mt. Rainier, Washington) | August 2012. “NASA chose the Museum of Flight to be the recipient of the full-size trainer used by all space shuttle astronauts at the facility in Houston,” says Cook. “Because of its size, the trainer had to be moved by one of the largest transport craft available, the Aero Spacelines B-377-SG/SGT Super Guppy. It took three flights to deliver all the components.”

Winners of Our Second Annual Photo Contest

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