Aerospace Technology
Inventions and engineering achievements, including rockets, jet engines and navigation systems
The 120,000-Foot Leap
Can space-diver Felix Baumgartner break the sound barrier without breaking his neck?
July 2012 |
By Mark Betancourt
Hurry-Up Satellites
These Pentagon mavericks want to launch spacecraft within a week of taking the order. Wish them luck.
July 2012 |
By Todd Neff
DARPA and Boeing to Dream Up New Airborne Launcher
Wanted: an airborne system than can launch 100-pound satellites for under $1 million.
June 04, 2012 |
By Heather Goss
Student Rocketry Challenge Blasts Off
Winners take home big prizes (and compete to be the next generation of aerospace leadership) in the Team America Rocketry Challenge.
May 11, 2012 |
By Heather Goss
A Saturn V’s Final Journey: From Mildew to Museum
A new book recounts (sort of) the difficult restoration of a deteriorating Saturn V.
May 01, 2012 |
By Heather Goss
The Ultimate Fighter?
With the F-35, Lockheed Martin takes a turn trying to make one combat plane that can do everything.
February 2012 |
By Richard Whittle
Is SpaceX changing the rocket equation?
1 visionary + 3 launchers + 1,500 employees = ?
January 2012 |
By Andrew Chaikin
The Flying Winnebago
For some reason the heli-camper never really caught on.
January 2012 |
By James R. Chiles
The Candle Lighters
Alan Shepard was brave enough to ride the Mercury-Redstone rocket. These guys were brave enough to light it.
January 2012 |
By Tony Reichhardt
From Point A to Point A
Twenty-five years ago, Burt Rutan’s Voyager became the first aircraft to make an around-the-world flight without refueling.
January 2012 |
By George C. Larson, Member, NAA
Where Were You?
In this 50th anniversary year of human spaceflight, we ask you to remember your own space milestones, and record where you were, and how you felt.
November 22, 2011 |
By Rebecca Maksel
Lost in America
Airplanes that go missing are often untraceable. Why is effective tracking technology being ignored?
November 2011 |
By Michael Behar
Just One Word: Plastics
The world's first all-composite airplane may fly again.
November 2011 |
By Stephen Joiner
Scratch One Spysat
An eyewitness recalls one of history's great rocket explosions.
October 26, 2011 |
By Pat Trenner
Following the Race to the Moon
In their efforts to "ignite a new era of lunar exploration," the Google Lunar X Prize wants competitors to reach out through social media so the rest of us can follow along.
October 25, 2011 |
By Heather Goss
Europe to Launch First Soyuz from South America
When a Soyuz lifts off from French Guiana on Thursday, it will be the first one to launch outside of Russia or Kazakhstan in the rocket's 44-year history, and the first step in assembling Europe's new GPS system.
October 19, 2011 |
By Heather Goss
Heroes in the Tower
Stories about air traffic controllers that you probably didn’t see on the evening news.
September 2011 |
By Michael Klesius
