CURRENT ISSUE
October 2019
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer_public/3b/ba/3bbada56-405b-4e58-b301-2a17c8e867d5/smithmag-evergreen-banner-1300x290-0823_1.jpg)
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer_public/76/4f/764fa73f-7aa3-4b73-9c86-92e3d3f84cc5/smithmag-evergreen-homepage-mobile-0823.jpg)
Features
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/7a/84/7a8435fc-a433-4e32-acde-f45e4f423373/40a_on2019_1-20190712_spacedayonhill_1398_live.jpg)
The 21st Century Moon Suit
The date for the next lunar landing has been set, but the astronauts don’t have a thing to wear.
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/ac/64/ac644e7a-d9c0-414c-866f-b6326b8cdc50/39e_on2019_2_greyhound151231-n-nu281-066_live.jpg)
The Greyhound and the Osprey
What it lacks in glamour, the Grumman C-2 Greyhound makes up for with utility. Will the Osprey measure up?
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/f1/3a/f13acba3-93c7-42cc-a21d-ac994fa1ce86/15k_on2019_20170928yl-15vandermeulen_rv84313_live.jpg)
The Only Flying YL-15 Scout
The only flying what?
:focal(571x685:572x686)/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/d6/4a/d64a80d9-b93f-4fb6-813f-cf6d0319b6d5/14b_on2019_marssamplereturnfinalsize_live.jpg)
Return from a Martian Crater
NASA has spent decades sending probes to explore other worlds. Now, it’s trying to bring one back home.
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/ee/35/ee35bbe3-fadc-4dbf-9c76-549bad636287/29h_on2019_sommerfest2018_7245_live.jpg)
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/42/04/4204c161-938f-45b3-8d46-1e6dcdc98162/29q_on2019_twahotel_live.jpg)
Trans World Hotel
A design icon of the Mad Men era returns
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/3d/f8/3df85d58-ae40-499b-83cc-0695b85b9e84/nattercockpit.jpg)
World War II’s Worst Airplane
The product of an ambitious designer and a doomed regime, the Bachem Ba 349 Natter was a radical idea that almost worked.
Departments
An Early Start in STEM
From the Director of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum
Scouting the Cosmos
New Girl Scout badges encourage young women to study stars and exoplanets.
Who Was Frank Malina?
Fraser MacDonald examines the controversial life of the brilliant rocket scientist who co-founded the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
My Flight with a Legend
If one of aviation's all-time champions learned to live without flying, I'll be able to learn, too. Right?
Going Places in a Herk
Michael Lenoch, C-130 Pilot trainee, Illinois Air National Guard, 169th Airlift Squadron
How Dangerous Are Asteroids?
A new book explains the risk, tells us about the scientists tracking near-Earth asteroids, and offers advice on how to defend the planet.