It's Memorial Day weekend in 1911, and an American institution is about to emerge, engines roaring and tires screeching, to capture the imagination of the public. It's the very first Indy 500.

The first Indy 500 had its share of thrills and spills (1:51)

After two years of incubation, a swarm of mayflies rise from the bottom of the Mississippi River, like a biblical plague. They'll live for just one day.

This swarm of mayflies is big enough to fool weather satellites (3:09)

"Houston, we've had a problem": Those words, uttered by Apollo 13 astronaut Jack Swigert on April 13, 1970, were a prelude to one of the most thrilling rescue operations in human history.

A deadly leak on Apollo 13 endangers the entire mission (4:16)

A thorough examination of the wreckage of TransAsia Airways Flight 235 has so far failed to yield any clues about its February 4, 2015 crash. If NTSB investigators are going to arrive at answers, they'll need to expand their thinking.

Crossing off reasons why TransAsia Airways Flight 235 crashed (3:14)

Until January 30, 1968, the Vietnamese New Year had always brought an informal ceasefire. But this year, the cessation of hostilities would vanish in a deadly attack on the U.S. Embassy in Saigon.

The New Year's attack that turned the tide of the Vietnam War (2:48)

A solider stationed in Iraq set out to find a solution to the deadly ambushes that were plaguing U.S. convoy trucks. His journey led him to a Vietnam vet, who became a mentor and a friend.

A U.S. soldier in Iraq turns to a Vietnam vet for answers (3:56)

F/A-18 Hornets, crop dusters, Corsairs, a VariEze lookalike, raceplanes, a blimp! Planes has them all. Sure theyre cartoons and they talk, but we dare you to watch this clip without smiling.

Planes Trailer (2:33)

When we read on photographer Eric Curry's Web site that he views certain machines as metaphors for values of character, honor, integrity and pride, we thought his approach would be the perfect way to illustrate the affection many Earth-dwellers have come to feel for NASAs twin Mars Exploration Rovers, which, having long outlasted their life expectancies, are still transmitting from the Martian surface.In this slideshow, Curry explains how he built our March 2010 magazine cover, shot by carefully lit shot.

Painting With Light (4:04)

In 1998, during eight tests including this one with an SR20 out of Ocotillo Wells Airport in California, engineers and pilots from Cirrus Aircraft and Ballistic Recovery Systems took the plunge. They fine-tuned many items, including how the whole-airplane parachutes rocket extracts the system, and how the slider, the white ring that travels down the cords, keeps the parachute from opening too quickly, which would damage the chute and airplane.After each deployment, the SR20 released the parachute and returned to the airport rather than stranding itself in the desert. This meant that guides had to be added to the empennage to prevent damage to the vertical and horizontal tail surfaces. "Design of the test harness and parachute release mechanism were nearly as difficult as the design of the recovery systems itself," says Jay Yeakle, a Cirrus engineer. Less complex was the animal tracking system used by wildlife management groups that located the abandoned parachutes.

Whole-Airplane Parachute (0:24)

If the spinning 38-foot tiltrotors of the V-22 Osprey look odd, theyll soon become more familiar. The U.S. Marine Corps begins operational use of the aircraft in September 2007. The Osprey can transport 24 combat troops or up to 20,000 pounds of cargo. With its vertical/short takeoff and landing capabilities, it can fit in tight spots like a helicopter, but can fly twice as fast. In this video, distributed by V-22 manufacturer Boeing during the 2007 Paris Airshow at Le Bourget, the Osprey is seen doing its thingflying like an airplane, taking off like a helicopter, and dropping commandos like Pez. Variants of the V-22 will be ready for use by the Air Force and Special Operations Command in 2009. Video: Boeing

Osprey in Flight (4:26)

The X-47B, an unmanned combat vehicle built as a demonstration aircraft for the U.S. Navy, had its inaugural flight at California's Edwards Air Force Base on February 4, 2011. The Navy hasn't committed to an operational vehicle, but is planning for the X-47B to make an unmanned aircraft carrier landing in 2013. Video: US Navy/Northrop Grumman

X-47B First Flight (1:04)

One of James McDonnell's early concepts, the XP-67 Moonbat was a blended-wing-body design whose performance, thanks to anemic engines, was stamped FAIL. But get a load of the demo flight (and stellar landing) filmed by the U.S. Army Air Forces Air Technical Service Command in 1944. Video: U.S. Army Air Corps

The XP-67 Moonbat (2:08)

During a February 2013 U.N. meeting on international strategies for protecting Earth from incoming asteroids, astronaut Chris Hadfield, a member of the Association of Space Explorers, addresses attendees from onboard the International Space Station. Video: Association of Space Explorers

Chris Hadfield On the Asteroid Threat (6:44)

In this clip from the 1967 Soviet movie A Cruise to the Stars, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin is shown training for his historic mission as engineers test various systems of the Vostok capsule. Accepting the task before him, Gagarin tells space officials that if he encounters any difficulties in space, I will overcome them as the communists do. On launch day, April 12, 1961, Chief Designer Sergei Korolev radios his best wishes as Gagarin takes off. After his 108-minute flight, Gagarin becomes an international sensation, with parades and celebrations in his honor.A Cruise to the Stars, which runs 52 minutes, was made to commemorate the first 10 years of the Soviet space program. We do not consider the conquest of space as the achievement of only our people but as that of all mankind, the narrator says. We happily place it at the disposal of all nations and peoples in the name of progress, happiness, and welfare of all men.

Excerpt: "A Cruise to the Stars" (13:54)

Before John Young and Robert Crippens STS-1 mission in April 1981, no astronauts had ever landed a spaceship on a runway. In their postflight briefing, Young (the first voice in this clip) and pilot Crippen describe their first-time return of a shuttle from orbit, during which the vehicle executed a series of S-turns, or roll reversals, like a skier slaloming downhill to manage speed.

STS-1: The First Shuttle Landing (5:55)

Considered one of the most appealing fighters ever built, Lockheeds XF-90 enjoys a first-rate reputation with aviation enthusiasts something of a surprise, given that only two were ever built. While researching and writing Lockheeds Missing Link for our June/July 2008 issue, authors Jorge and Karen Escalona compiled rare footage of the XF-90 at Muroc (now Edwards) Air Force Base in California in 1949. The footage, which has no sound, includes scenes of the first XF-90 prototype being trucked to Muroc, and a brief glimpse of engineers attaching ribbonlike strips to the wing to gauge airflow patterns during preflight tests. Also seen are ground crews affixing Jet-Assisted Takeoff (JATO) canisters to the aircraft (to provide additional thrust) before Tony LeVier, Lockheeds chief test pilot, takes it for a spin. The Escalonas write: The XF-90s dashing good looks earned it movie-star status throughout the 1950sfar beyond its operational lifeattracting readers and advertisers to prominent aviation periodicals and comic books of the time. Video: Courtesy Jorge and Karen Escalona

Test Flying the XF-90 (3:45)

The Convair XFY-1 Pogo, the first airplane to accomplish a vertical takeoff, transition to forward flight, and change back to a vertical landing. Video: airspacemag.com

The Pogo Landing (0:12)

Leonardo da Vinci's Codex on the Flight of Birds will be on view at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC from September 13 through October 22, 2013. The exhibit's curator, Peter Jakab, explains the importance of this rare work.

Codex on the Flight of Birds (2:10)