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. 

Showing 511 - 520 of 1707

December 16, 2020 Revisiting the Soviet Lunar Sample Return Missions Story

China’s Chang’e 5 lunar sample return mission successfully brought back pristine Moon samples to Earth. The last time such a feat was accomplished was during the Soviet Union’s Luna 24 mission in 1976. A total of three robotic sample return missions, as part of the Cold War Moon Race with the United States, were successfully executed.

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December 15, 2020 Bee Falk’s 100th Birthday Story

December 15, 2020 marks the 100th birthday of aviation ‘sheroes’, Bernice “Bee” Falk Haydu, a WWII Women Airforce Service Pilot (WASP), entrepreneurial aviator, and lifelong advocate for women military pilots. Happy birthday, Bee!

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December 15, 2020 AirSpace Presents
Voyages to Mars: Dreaming
Story | Voyages to Mars

Interplanetary road trips take a WHILE. So for this episode of Voyages to Mars, while we cruise onward towards the Red Planet, we’re listening to some poetry that pays tribute to long duration space travel.

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December 14, 2020 The Great Conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter Story

This month, gas giants Jupiter and Saturn are coming together in the sky for a once-in-a-lifetime event called a great conjunction. It will peak on December 21, 2020.

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December 12, 2020 Failure to Launch: The Heart-Stopping Pad Shutdown of Gemini VI-A Story

Moments after ignition on December 12, 1965, one of Gemini VI's engine suddenly shut down. Astronauts Wally Schirra and Thomas Stafford waited tensely in the cockpit for a plan to get them out of the life threatening situation. What happened over the next three days is nothing short of remarkable.

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December 11, 2020 Reflections on Arecibo | Reflexiones Sobre Arecibo Story

Four Puerto Rican scientists share their reflections on the Arecibo Observatory, its importance to PR, and its legacy. Cuatro científicos puertorriqueños compartan sus reflexiones sobre Arecibo, su importancia para PR y su legado.

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December 10, 2020 AirSpace Season 3|Ep.11
Blinded by the Light
Story | AirSpace Podcast

Most of us live in places that give us a less than ideal view of the stars because of light pollution from our cities and suburbs. But keeping our skies dark is important for so many reasons – for nocturnal animals, for science and astronomy, and for cultural traditions around the world.

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December 08, 2020 Remembering Chuck Yeager, a Pilot with the Right Stuff Story

The greatest pilot of the Greatest Generation has passed. Seventy-nine years to the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, famed test pilot, World War II ace, and the first person to fly faster than the speed of sound, Brig. Gen. Charles “Chuck” Yeager, died at the age of 97.

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December 07, 2020 A Blue Angel Makes Its Final Flight Into The National Collection Story | At the Museum

On November 18, 2020, Cmdr. Frank “Walleye” Weisser, USN, a member of the Navy’s Blue Angels flight demonstration team, flew into Dulles International Airport to deliver a McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C Hornet to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.

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December 02, 2020 DC Delivery: Moving the Douglas DC-3 Story

The Douglas DC-3 was once considered by many the greatest airplane of all time. However, although the DC-3 has a flight range of over 1,400 miles, once an aircraft becomes an artifact in our collection, moving it even a few short miles involves a range of complexities. Learn more about the complexities of its recent move!artif

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