Flying Machines
Vehicles designed for air and space flightExplore Air & Space articles about types of air and spacecraft.
Portrait of a Breakup
First-time views from inside a re-entering spacecraft.
September 28, 2012 |
By Tony Reichhardt
Artifacts on the Road
A gallery of traveling air- and spacecraft loaned out by the Smithsonian.
September 18, 2012 |
By Heather Goss
Kounotori’s End
A Japanese camera will try to catch first-time pictures of a satellite's breakup.
September 10, 2012 |
By Tony Reichhardt
Free Enterprise and “New Space”
Is "New Space" free enterprise?
September 08, 2012 |
By Paul D. Spudis
Neil Armstrong, In His Own Words
The first moonwalker's storied aviation career
August 27, 2012 |
By Tony Reichhardt
Passing of an Era
Neil Armstrong will always be remembered for his "one small step" but his contributions to spaceflight are numerous.
August 26, 2012 |
By Paul D. Spudis
A Cheap Date
Determining rock ages remotely would create new possibilities for planetary science.
August 24, 2012 |
By Paul D. Spudis
Carlotta, the Lady Aeronaut
An 1880 balloon jaunt ends with our heroine up a tree.
August 16, 2012 |
By Rebecca Maksel
How Things Work: Space Station Steering
How do you maneuver a million-pound spacecraft?
August 2012 |
By Roger Mola and Tony Reichhardt
Last of Their Kind
Airplanes without equal at the National Air and Space Museum.
August 2012 |
By Patricia Trenner
Soul of the Skyraider
A U.S. Air Force Heritage Flight Foundation pilot describes what it’s like to fly three generations of ground attack aircraft.
August 14, 2012 |
By Linda Shiner
One-and-Onlies: The Complete List
All the Smithsonian’s one-of-a-kind aircraft
August 14, 2012 |
By Patricia Trenner
Let George Fly the Plane
Autopilot is one of the greatest inventions ever for pilots. But have we paid a price?
August 10, 2012 |
By Steve Satre
Scooping the Soviets
The radio telescope at England's Jodrell Bank Observatory got the news scoop of the century in the early days of the space race.
August 08, 2012 |
By Paul D. Spudis
Awaiting Curiosity’s Fate
As the rover rocketed down to the Martian surface, the team at JPL could only wait and hope.
August 06, 2012 |
By Bruce Lieberman
A Tale of Two Mars Cameras
Director James Cameron's 3D camera may have been bumped from the Curiosity Mars lander. But MARDI will give us first-time color views of the descent.
August 03, 2012 |
By Tony Reichhardt
Newt Space
Does the history of two early pioneers of aviation offer an analogy for spaceflight?
July 31, 2012 |
By Paul D. Spudis
What’s Under the Thames?
Almost 100 aircraft were lost in the river during World War II alone, and it's not certain how many are still to be recovered.
July 27, 2012 |
By Rebecca Maksel
