History of Flight, Aviation, Space Exploration

The Space Shuttle Era

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Based on the popular print Collector's Edition Space Shuttle 1981-2011, this digital version includes bonus interactive features, extra photographs, and multiple videos.

Blogs

If it flies, hovers, launches, or orbits, you can read about it here.

Astronaut Don Pettit blogs from space—and other exotic locales.

Lunar scientist Paul Spudis on the current U.S. space program.

Inside the cockpit with airline pilot Steve Satre.

Ruminations on flight by George Larson.

Editors' Picks

Space Shuttle 1981-2011

Thirty years of adventure and exploration.

High Spy: The Amazing U-2

Still keeping watch after more than 50 years.

100 Years of Marine Aviation

A salute to 10 aircraft that carried the few and the proud into history.

Or Die Trying

After the Wright brothers flew, a handful of inventors were determined to join them.

Dragon Lady: A Portrait Gallery

Once a top secret, the U-2 is one photogenic spyplane.

Space 2012: What’s Ahead

Twelve things to watch for in space next year—if the world doesn’t end.

Bird’s-Eye View

Astonishing photos from a new book show how the world looks from inside the flock.

Design by Rutan

A retrospective of Burt Rutan's high-performance art.

Photo Essay

The Weird World of Folk Aviators

With his whimsical sculptures, Gregory Bryant celebrates early ideas about winged flight.

Need to Know

How did North Korea build its own rocket?

Air & Space Interview

Kudos for Cassini

The U.S./European Saturn mission takes home a trophy.

Air Candy

Featured Video

The Daily Planet Blog

He Saved Navy Fliers from Spam

Long before Swanson's TV dinner, there was the Maxson Sky Plate.
By Rebecca Maksel

Photos

The Spirit of Santa Monica

Between 1920 and 1975, Donald Douglas’ company—and a southern California city—helped shape aviation history.
By The Editors

History of Flight

Second Life for Hangar One

The Moffett Field landmark may yet house aircraft again.
By Kara Platoni

Photos

Ghosts of Gemini

Forgotten photos show the human face of NASA's early astronaut program.
By Tony Reichhardt

Letters To Earth Blog

What Makes a Mission Name?

If you want to know what crew I'm on, be prepared for a long conversation.
By Don Pettit

History of Flight

The Designing Life

This year’s National Air and Space Museum lifetime achievement award winner, Burt Rutan, talks about music, golf and his favorite chair.
By Perry Turner

Han Decai (among many others) would find that only a missile could down the high-altitude spyplane.

Military Aviation

I Was There: Bring Down the Spyplane

MIG-17 vs. Lockheed U-2.
By Bob Bergin

Military Aviation

Diary of a Spy

Events that made the U-2 the world's most famous player in the game of espionage.
By Paul Hoversten

On Air Blog

F-22: The Other Shoe Drops

Not grounded, but close.
By George Larson

The author at Wethersfield, England, in 1969; three of his buddies in the air traffic control tower; the checkerboard GCA unit; and an early Super Sabre.

Military Aviation

Radar Love

Before instrument landing systems, military pilots relied on controllers to steer them right to the runway.
By Robert P. Mark

Just one Brabazon made it off the assembly line.

History of Flight

Cancelled: Design by Committee

The Bristol Brabazon was big and it flew. Much more can’t be said.
By Stephan Wilkinson

Military Aviation

I Flew the U-2

One of Lockheed’s former chief test pilots for high altitude reconnaissance describes the joys and terrors of the U-2.
By Linda Shiner

In a 1935 publicity stunt, Fred Key checks the oil in flight.

History of Flight

The Pressure’s On

The ingenious—and goofy—modifications of endurance flights.
By George C. Larson, Member, NAA

The Daily Planet Blog

Spinning a Dream

Forget the Boeing 787's fuel economy. It's all about the spinning cupholders.
By Roger Mola

A pilot takes a self-portrait aboard the U-2.

Military Aviation

Killer at 70,000 Feet

The occupational hazards of flying the U-2.
By Mark Betancourt

Louis DeHatre ran a St. Louis diner that attempted to sate the young “Slim” Lindbergh’s hearty appetite.

History of Flight

Lindbergh Ate Here

The young airmail pilot logged plenty of time at the local diner.
By Greg Bailey

Military Aviation

Lin Xu’s Obsession

It started with a search for images of his hometown in China. Hundreds of miles of film later, he can't stop looking.
By Rebecca Maksel

For Molly Rose and her colleagues, a Spitfire was the best airplane in the fleet because of its ease of handling. One pilot called it "made for a woman."

Military Aviation

The Women’s RAF

In World War II Britain, a new group of pilots answered the call to serve.
By Yona Zeldis McDonough

No fan of aviation, Rudolph Dirks was persuaded by a friend to attend the air meet.

History of Flight

The Katzenjammer Kids Take to the Air

It took a cartoonist to paint the first serious depiction of aircraft flight.
By Tom Crouch, Senior Curator, Aeronautics division

The driver tailing the U-2 is himself a U-2 pilot.

Military Aviation

Wingman in a Pontiac

It takes two to land the dragon lady.
By Preston Lerner

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