Air & Space Magazine

The Venus Flytrap isn't the only meat-eating plant.

On Alien Worlds, Some of the Plants Might Want to Eat You (If You’re a Bug)

Especially in environments where there’s not much else to eat.

Amy Adams tries to figure out how to talk to the aliens in the 2016 film Arrival.

The Science of Aliens, Part 5: How Would They Communicate?

Contact with intelligent aliens would happen on their terms, not ours.

Could Neptune-size planets host life?

Hycean Worlds, a “New” Type of Ocean Planet

Only a tiny fraction of them may be habitable, though.

According to the so-called “giant impact” theory, Earth's moon was created when another large body smashed into our planet early in its history. Such collisions may be one way life spreads throughout the galaxy.

The Astrobiological Potential of Rogue Planets

Not only could they hold subsurface life, they may spread it throughout the galaxy.

A Navy aircraft tracks a tiny moving object, referred to as "GOFAST," off the East Coast of the U.S. in 2015.

Perspectives on UAP From Across the Atlantic

Takeaways from a German workshop on mysterious sightings in the sky.

An inauspicious start: The newly arrived Nauka science module (right) alongside a Soyuz crew vehicle.

What’s Going on With Russia’s Space Program?

Was the recent ISS emergency an aberration, or a warning of things to come?

The Trappist-1 system, shown here in an artist's conception, has seven known planets, but only three are thought to be habitable.

Ocean Worlds in the Trappist-1 System

A new evaluation of a nearby star system’s potentially habitable water worlds.

Still unidentified: Navy pilots tracked and photographed what appeared to them to be a fast-moving object off the Florida coast in 2015.

UFOs, UAPs—Whatever We Call Them, Why Do We Assume Mysterious Flying Objects Are Extraterrestrial?

For better or worse, sightings of unidentifiable things in the sky have become inextricably linked to spacecraft from outer space.

Prasinohaema prehensicauda, a green-blooded skink found in New Guinea.

The Science of Aliens, Part 4: What Color Would Their Blood Be?

Not every animal bleeds red, even on Earth.

Astronaut Gus Grissom on the recovery aircraft carrier, still wondering what happened following his Mercury-Redstone 4 flight and ordeal in the water.

New Evidence Shows That Gus Grissom Did Not Accidentally Sink His Own Spacecraft 60 Years Ago

Careful analysis of the recovery film showed it was static electricity that doomed the <i>Liberty Bell 7.</i>

Scientists might someday announce that they've found life in the seas on Saturn's moon Titan (shown here in a Cassini radar image). But how will they -- and we -- be sure?

NASA Wants Standards for Evaluating Claims of Extraterrestrial Life

Scientists aim to help the public judge: Is this discovery believable or not?

We All Fly

Our readers share their own adventures in the air.

Jessica Voruda and a passenger fly in a Piper J3C Cub over farmland near Hartford, Wisconsin in July, 2017.

For the Fun of It

An Eastern Air Lines Boeing 727 takes flight in October 1978. Although Eastern ceased operations in 1991, the 727 flew for major U.S. airlines into the 2000s.

Adventures in Coach

The 31st of more than 100 parachute-deployment “saves,” according to the Cirrus Owners & Pilots Association, happened in November 2012 in New South Wales, Australia.

Close Calls

The “perfect red fabric” of Ferdinand Seeman’s Waco, over Point Bonita, California, in 2018.

Such a Lot of World To See

Kellogg’s Tony the Tiger hot air balloon program lasted 22 years, flying in nearly every U.S. state and around the globe.

It's a Family Affair

A reproduction Wright Flyer, with pilot Kevin Kochersberger, was foiled by bad weather on this particular attempt on December 17, 2003. But it had already flown successfully to mark the 100th anniversary of Orville and Wilbur’s triumph.

Encounters With History

Instructor Erin Brueggen of CubAir enjoys the Wisconsin breeze in her 1946 Piper JC3 Cub in May 2021.

Why We Fly

On his first skydive in 2016, Anthony Killeen took this shot of a circular rainbow in New Zealand.

Wonders Above

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