July 2014
Smithsonian magazine delivers trusted and incisive reporting on history, science, nature, culture and travel.
Features
Life Aboard an Aircraft Carrier
“Inconceivably noisy,” says the author, but a blast.
Infrared Dawn
The next space telescope will see to The Edge.
A Slow Boat to Kourou
How to ship an $8.8 billion telescope
Fighter Pilot’s Survival Guide
Today’s manual of fighter tactics was written 100 years ago, in World War I.
Restoration: Northrop X-4
All X-planes ask a question. Sometimes the answer is no.
747: The World’s Airliner
The first jumbo jet has transported the equivalent of 80 percent of the human race.
Russia’s Rocket Town
A stroll through the Baikonur Cosmodrome’s neighborhood.
The Spaceport in Siberia
Russia is building a rocket launch complex six time zones from Moscow. Will its aerospace industry follow?
Build Your Own Drone
Made from scratch, a Kestrel takes flight.
Night Fighter
Why Douglas Skyknight crews weren’t afraid of the dark.
Departments
Searching for Secrets at Area 51
A guide to snark hunting at Nevada’s secure test-flight base.
Row, Row, Row Your Airship
However impractical, the hydrogen airship was a big hit with crowds in 1905.
Jumping into History
Items from the Austrian daredevil’s record-setting jump enter the Museum’s collections.