Just how accurate is the portrayal of lighter-than-air flight in the third season of Bridgerton? Ballooning curator Tom Paone provides historical context.

Sci-fi is full of giant ships full of humanity living and dying and reaching out to new places far far away. Usually, these are called generations ships. And they rely on well, generations.

On June 7, 2024, Gen. William A. Anders died at age 90. Bill Anders dedicated his life to aerospace, first as a pilot and then as an astronaut, and his life was filled with inspirational moments for us to reflect upon as we mourn his passing. 

Rockoons—combinations of rockets and balloons—launched notable atmospheric experiments in the mid-20th century. Some rocket clubs and private companies are beginning to try using them again today.

When NASA astronaut Ellison Onizuka rode Space Shuttle Discovery into space on shuttle mission STS-51-C in 1985, he made history on several counts. He was the first Asian American astronaut, the first astronaut of Japanese descent, the first person from Hawai‘i in space, and the first Buddhist in space. His second space flight occurred just a year later in 1986 when Space Shuttle Challenger launched on STS-51L.

Georgia "Tiny" Broadwick was 15 years old when she first jumped out of a hot air balloon with a parachute in 1908. Over the next 14 years she would make over 1,000 jumps, first out of balloons and then as the first woman to jump from an airplane.

Many books have been written and movies made about the possibility of humans colonizing Mars. Some include descriptions of growing food in habitats or even changing the Martian climate via “terraforming” to enable large scale agriculture. But how realistic is it to think that Earth plants could grow unprotected on Mars today?

In the 1930s, rocketry was basically a joke among the scientific establishment in the US, but that didn't stop a rag tag group out of Pasadena from trying to build rockets. 

It’s 1961. You’re a 24-year-old pilot. You’re also one of 25 women invited to undergo the rigorous testing that the Mercury 7 astronauts went through. You are one of the 13 women that pass, greatly defying everyone’s expectations. Most people would dine out on this story for the rest of their lives. Gene Nora Jessen, however, isn’t “most people.”

Geraldine “Jerrie” Mock touched down in her Cessna 180 at Port Columbus Airport in Ohio, on April 17, 1964, completing the first round-the-world solo flight by a woman. Having departed on March 19, she accomplished her 23,103 mile (37,180 kilometer) journey in 29 days, 11 hours, and 59 minutes.