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August 2019

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Features

David Martin

David Martin, Marathon Man

To this airshow star, a day without flying is like a day without sunshine.

Kitty Hawk Kites

Like Birds

Hang gliding is not as popular as it once was, but its fans say it is still the purest form of flight.

Subaru Telescope

The First Photograph of Another Earth

Astronomers are working today on the camera that will see habitable planets in other solar systems.

Water drop Simi Valley

Wildfire Wars

With a squadron of ancient airplanes, these firefighters are usually the first on the scene.

NASA lander depiction

Moon Rush

The first U.S. moonshot was done in a decade. Can NASA make it in half that time?

Harman and others

The Helicopter Goes to War

In World War II Burma, a strange new craft became vital in guerrilla warfare.

Departments

Viewport

A Procession of Explorers

From the Director of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum

Up to Speed

L'anniversaire d'or

A formation flight for l’anniversaire d’or

Up to Speed

A Piece of IceCube Arrives at the Smithsonian

An Arctic sensor finally gets its day in the sun.

Up to Speed

How to Turn a Freeway into a Runway

Taiwan conducts an emergency drill to keep its aircraft flying.

Up to Speed

How to Be a Space Tourist

Beth Moses, the chief astronaut instructor at Virgin Galactic, will train the people who want to fly on SpaceShipTwo.

Up to Speed

The Air Force Wants An Air Taxi For Downed Pilots

Drones to the rescue

Up to Speed

Fat Albert’s Last Flight

Swan song for a C-130

At the Museum

The Prowler's Last Prowl

The iconic Northrop Grumman EA-6B flies into history—and the National Air and Space Museum collection.

A&S NEXT

A Career Built on Flying Models

RJ Gritter, aeronautical engineer, Aurora Flight Sciences, a Boeing company

Apollo at 50

Dear Neil Armstrong

In Thailand in 1969, teens meet the first man on the moon.

Apollo at 50

My Apollo Adventure

The week of my 18th birthday, I drove 1,100 miles to Kennedy Space Center to watch a Saturn V rocket launch men to the moon.

Sightings

Acrobats of the Sky

The top aerobatic pilots show how seeing can still be unbelieving.

Ideas That Defy

Voyager

Voyager 1 and 2 were designer to explore the outer planets of the solar system. They've since traveled beyond it.