All Stories

We all have ideas that defy in our back pocket. My personal idea that defies, the thing I dream of humans achieving, is sailing on an alien sea. 

Teacher in Space Christa McAuliffe’s lesson plans fly in space 32 years later. 

The National Air and Space Museum is full of ideas that defy. Ideas that defy any obstacle, ideas that defy our expectations, ideas that literally defy gravity. Follow us as we discover the remarkable, the audacious, the outrageous, the #IdeasThatDefy.

Scientists have been looking for creative solutions to clean up space junk. One proposal from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory looks to nature for inspiration: the gecko. 

During a major storm, we take satellite tracking for granted. Before 1960 this type of weather observation was not possible.

Want to know what it’s like in outer space? Your best bet is under the sea. 

Space Shuttle Enterprise, the first space shuttle orbiter ever built, was once displayed where Discovery is today. Despite both being part of the Space Shuttle program, the two served very different purposes and tell very different stories.

While the Discovery is hard to miss at the Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, the little-known details help tell the orbiter’s unique and important history.  

The international community has contributed more to the exploration of space and our understanding of the universe than you might think. From India to Israel, lots of countries are sending missions to Mars, landing on comets, and observing Earth from orbit.

The Viking 1 lander, which launched on a 10-month journey to Mars in August of 1975, paved the way for the future of scientific inquiry in space. Here's a closer look at how the lander worked.