All Stories

Scientists and engineers are trying to use what they do know to create bat-inspired flying machines, but traits like bats' self-cambering stretchy wing skin, skeletal muscles and tiny hair sensors are proving difficult to replicate. 

The Moon is pockmarked with impact craters. Everywhere you look, you can see a crater. On Earth, however, impact craters are few and far between, with barely any visible. Why do we see so many craters on the Moon but so few on Earth?

During ongoing renovations to reimagine the Museum's galleries and entryways, the large sculpture Ad Astra was deinstalled and treated by the conservation team. After careful documentation and treatment, the sculpture was reinstalled in front of the new awning at the north entrance on the National Mall.

There are a lot of different aircraft that fight wildfires, but today we're taking about a truly unique, purpose-built firefighting airplane: the Super Scooper. This plane skims the surface of a body of water, collects a shocking amount through tiny scoop ports, flies off, and dumps it on a wildfire. We talk to a pilot about what it's like to fly one.

Over the years the Museum's Conservation Unit has received grant funding from the National Collections Program to help care for our most vulnerable artifacts. These projects showcase the artistry and engineering innovations of early aviation while addressing unique treatment challenges posed by fragile materials and past repairs.

Beginning in the late 1920s, spaceflight enthusiasts banded together into groups to advance their cause. Known as “rocket societies,” these groups of enthusiasts especially flourished in the Soviet Union, Germany, and the United States. 

We pick up where Part One left off! When you hear 'space race' you probably (correctly) think about the 1960s Soviet Union v. U.S. race to put an astronaut on the Moon. But a few hundred years before, the space race was all about Venus. 

In preparation for its new display in the Barron Hilton Pioneers of Flight gallery, Amelia Earhart's chest came to the Emil Buehler Conservation Laboratory at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center for assessment and treatment.

A look at the NASA's manned maneuvering unit (MMU) in detail.

The Cold War story of the Nuclear Test Aircraft, the NB-36H, the world’s first flying nuclear reactor.