Stories of daring, stories of technological feats, stories of prevailing against the odds ... these are the stories we tell at the National Air and Space Museum. Dive in to the stories below to discover, learn, and be inspired. 

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September 04, 2024 AirSpace Season 9, Episode 9: Birds of a Feather Story | AirSpace Podcast

It's a bird? It's a plane? Its a guy pretending to be a bird?? We have a very odd aircraft in the collection. 

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August 30, 2024 Forty Years of Discovery Story

In total, six of unique Space Shuttle orbiters were built but Discovery stands out with the greatest flight history record: 39 missions and 365 total days spent in space. That’s quite a feat for the journeys the orbiter took, but it’s also a testament to the team that made each of those flights possible. On its 40th anniversary, Discovery’s curator Jennifer Levasseur takes a look at features that distinguish the vehicle from the other orbiters and looks back on its first flight and crew.

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August 19, 2024 AirSpace Season 9 Episode 8: Limited Edition Story | AirSpace Podcast

Back in the 'Golden Age' of air travel in the 50s, 60s and 70s going on a trip in an airplane was an event. On those flights you would often get a little souvenir of your air travel; a deck of cards, a little toy, a trading card, captain's wings and a hat for your little tyke.

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August 16, 2024 Is the “Dark Side of the Moon” Actually Dark? Story

This dark side is also known as the farside (and the side facing Earth is called the nearside). The phrase "dark side of the Moon" is used to refer to something mysterious or unknown. For most of human history we did not know what the farside of the Moon looked like. It wasn’t until 1959 when the Soviet Union launched the Luna 3 spacecraft that we got our first look at the farside.

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August 09, 2024 The Martin K-III Kitten Story

When the K-III’s designer James Vernon Martin offered the diminutive aircraft to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum in 1924, he presented it as “the first aeroplane in the entire world to incorporate the retractable chassis.”  The aircraft is a one-of-kind, experimental World War I era single-seat scout biplane.

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August 08, 2024 AirSpace Season 9, Episode 7: Lasso the Moon Story | AirSpace Podcast

Over six missions, the Apollo astronauts collected and brought back 842 pounds of Lunar samples. Who decides what rocks go where? And how did the National Cathedral get a rock to put in a stained glass window??

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August 07, 2024 What Happened to the Concordes? Story

These days, it takes seven hours to fly from New York to London, compared to under three hours flying at twice the speed of sound on the Concorde. When I started my internship at the National Air and Space Museum, I was determined to learn why.  

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August 05, 2024 The Man Who Brought Home Earth: Stories of Bill Anders Story

Maj. Gen. William A. Anders was an Air Force pilot and a U.S. Ambassador to Norway. He served his country in various other roles, including as the first chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and founded a museum that celebrates aviation history. But he’s best known as one of three astronauts who flew on the Apollo 8 mission in 1968, during which he captured one of the most iconic and influential photographs in history. 

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July 31, 2024 Soaring Into History: Al Parker’s Record-Breaking Flight in the Sisu Sailplane Story

On July 31, 1964, Al Parker flew from Odessa, Texas, to Kimball, Nebraska, in the Sisu sailplane, which is on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. It was the first time anyone had flown a motorless aircraft more than 621 miles nonstop.

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July 25, 2024 “General Joe”: Remembering Pilot and Astronaut Joe Engle Story

Maj. Gen. Joe Engle's experiences as a test pilot of both the X-15 aircraft and Space Shuttle orbiters Enterprise, Columbia, and Discovery made him the first person to ever fly two winged vehicles to space, amongst his many noteworthy achievements. The Museum was most honored to host him as the earliest Space Shuttle commander to attend the arrival ceremony of Discovery at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in 2012.

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