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 61 - 70 of 353

April 16, 2020 Conserving the Creativity that Saved the Apollo 13 Astronauts Story | Inside the Conservation Lab

Conservator Lauren Gottschlich explores the conservation work recently done on a replica of the altered lithium hydroxide filter used during the Apollo 13 mission.

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April 09, 2020 3D Scanning Space Shuttle Discovery Story

The Smithsonian's Digitization Program Office takes you behind the scenes of how they captured a comprehensive 3D dataset of the largest museum artifact ever to be digitized: Space Shuttle Discovery

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March 23, 2020 Transcribing the Sally K. Ride Papers Story | From the Archives

We are pleased to announce that the Sally K. Ride Papers, consisting of over 23 cubic feet (38,640 pages!) of archival material chronicling Ride’s career from the 1970s through the 2010s, have been fully scanned and are available digitally. Air and Space fans can help make them more accessible by transcribing them in the Smithsonian Transcription Center.

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February 03, 2020 Conserving Michael Collins' Apollo 11 Razor Story | Inside the Conservation Lab

Conservation of Michael Collins' razor from the Apollo 11 mission presented conservators with a complex ethical dilemma for deciding the best treatment approach: how to arrest degradation while maintaining the historical elements of the artifact.

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December 03, 2019 Touching a Piece of the Moon Story | Air and Space Photos

In the over 40 years our lunar touchrock has been on display, millions of people have walked through our doors and touched a piece of the Moon. Intrigued by this idea, staff photographer Jim Preston took over 60 photos of visitors touching our little piece of the Moon.

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November 26, 2019 Conducting Planetary Research Here on Earth Story

Planetary scientist Emily Martin takes you behind the scenes of a recent field work trip to Iceland. 

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November 15, 2019 Ford v. Ferrari Reminds Us That We Are a Nation of Speed Story

Ford v. Ferrari reminds us that the United States, throughout its history, has cultivated a deep-rooted connection with fast-moving technology, whether it is on land, sea, or in the air.

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November 04, 2019 Farewell to the Zeiss Planetarium Projector Story

Since its opening, and until recent years, our Zeiss Model VIa optical planetarium projector has brought the wonder of the night sky to countless visitors.

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September 30, 2019 The Power of Black and White Photography: Learning to See in Shades of Grey Story | Air and Space Photos

A museum staff photographer reflects on photographing in black and white and learning to see in shades of grey.

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August 15, 2019 Preserving Flak-Bait's Fabric Panels Story | Inside the Conservation Lab

To the best of our knowledge, Flak-Bait is the only World War II bomber of its kind to retain the original insulating fabric panels lining the interior of the forward fuselage. To preserve the original fabric, we performed a number of innovative conservation treatments.

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