All Stories

Learn about the integral role speed played during the Cold War.

To tell the story of the Space Age, the new RTX Living in the Space Age exhibition will share how the Space Age impacts the lives of people worldwide, through the stories of people and objects which brought it about. Learn more about the upcoming reimagined gallery.

The Apollo program, which landed the first human on the Moon, ended in December 1972 with Apollo 17. Why did we stop? 

President Kennedy's decision to land men on the Moon before 1970 required the quickest, most efficient method possible. At the center of the United States success was an integral component of landing men on the Moon: the Moon rocket.  

Despite the Soviet Union's initial lead in technological advances during the Cold War, it was the United States who was able to land the first person on the Moon in 1969. The diaries of rocket engineer Vasily Mishin shed some light on why the United States was able to catch up to the Soviet Union's early lead in space.

Artist Raquel Forner became one of the earliest artists to depict outer space in paintings and continued to create images of space almost exclusively throughout her life. Forner’s humanistic vision in expressed her work which was a crucial note of optimism during the uncertain period of Cold War politics. Explore Forner's vision of space through her unique paintings.

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.

Welcome to Season 3! Today we’re talking about secret space shuttles--seriously! 

Curator Margaret Weitekamp reflects on the return of human spaceflight from US soil, and the implications of that capability.

Curator Michael Hankins examines the history of the World War II fighter plane P-38 Lightning and its connections with the fan-favorite SR-71 Blackbird.