All Stories

At the turn of the 20th century, astronomy got a serious glow-up. On today’s episode, we’re telling the story of how the work of many astronomers contributed to a complete redesign of how big we know our universe to be and what we think it looks like.

How an accident gave us the checklist, and safer flying.

Many artifacts from the Apollo missions are closer than you think.  Through collaborations with affiliate organizations, the Smithsonian sponsors traveling exhibits and shares artifacts with museums throughout the U.S. and abroad, including more than 300 artifacts from the Apollo program.

More than 50 years ago, a fire killed three Apollo astronauts. My grandfather was there.   

Ambitious plans for gas stations in space could extend the lives of satellites

What's new in aviation and space.

Artists have envisioned stunning possibilities of our futures in space, from living on distant worlds to constructing orbiting fuel depots. many of these paintings, drawings, and even models can be found in the collection of the National Air and Space Museum.

This review of Apollo astronaut Fred Haise's autobiography provides a detailed account of Apollo 13, which he flew with crew mates Jim Lovell and Jack Swigert. 

When the Apollo 17 astronauts splashed down in the Pacific Ocean 50 years ago, they were the last humans to visit the Moon. NASA’s Artemis program is set to return humans to the Moon, but not for two to three years from now. Why has it taken more than five decades to send humans back to the Moon?

When the crew of Apollo 17, the last Apollo Moon landing, returned to Earth after their record-breaking mission in December 1972, commander Gene Cernan brought back the pair of lunar overshoes he walked on the surface of the Moon with. The boots that left the last human footprints on the lunar surface now live in the Destination Moon exhibition at the Museum.