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 21 - 30 of 181

A digital rendering of a museum gallery shows several people standing in front of a display of three vintage biplanes. Behind the airplanes is a huge, floor-to-ceiling projection screen.

September 23, 2024

The Birth of Military Aviation

Story | Air & Space Quarterly

The National Air and Space Museum’s World War I: The Birth of Military Aviation gallery will highlight the war's central role in defining the nature of military aviation and the remarkable experiences of World War I aviators.

Photo illustration of a small, unpiloted biplane with a metal and brown wood chassis flying over a countryside with a tiny white biplane below.

September 23, 2024

The Secret History of Drones

Story | Air & Space Quarterly

A short history of early 20th-century drones.

An astronaut holding a camera whiling inside of a command module.

August 05, 2024

The Man Who Brought Home Earth: Stories of Bill Anders

Story

Maj. Gen. William A. Anders was an Air Force pilot and a U.S. Ambassador to Norway. He served his country in various other roles, including as the first chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and founded a museum that celebrates aviation history. But he’s best known as one of three astronauts who flew on the Apollo 8 mission in 1968, during which he captured one of the most iconic and influential photographs in history. 

AirSpace, a podcast, logo

June 25, 2024

AirSpace Season 9, Episode 4 - Welcome to Roswell

Story | AirSpace Podcast

The city of Roswell, New Mexico is kind of in the middle of nowhere. Out in the desert west of Texas, this small oasis in the dessert was first home to indigenous peoples, then cowboys, ranching and farming and then the military before becoming the crash site of a possible UFO in 1947.

Four military jets fly in a diamond formation across a blue sky. On the underside of each jet's wings, "US Navy" is painted in bold yellow letters. White airshow smoke streams from each jet. The moon is visible in the sky.

June 20, 2024

Diamonds in the Sky

Story | Air & Space Quarterly

Amanda Lee is the first woman to fly jet formations as a Blue Angel.

A woman in her 40s wearing pilot gear sits in the cockpit of a German bomber, flying the aircraft with an airman by her side.

June 20, 2024

The Countess Who Crossed Hitler

Story | Air & Space Quarterly

The mystery surrounding the shoot-down of Melitta von Stauffenberg aircraft over the skies of Germany has finally been solved.

Three quarter side view of flat spear-shaped white and blue Boeing X-45A aircraft

June 20, 2024

Drones in the Desert

Story | Air & Space Quarterly

Pulling back the curtain on artifacts in storage. For this issue, we feature the Boeing X-45A UAV.

Three white men in their 20s or early 30s use hand tools to adjust the curved metal framing of a machine gun emplacement on a World War II airplane. All three men wear ballcaps, and two of them are shirtless in the bright sunlight.

June 20, 2024

Team Navy

Story | Air & Space Quarterly

A message from the John and Adrienne Mars Director of the National Air and Space Museum.

In the late afternoon sun, a blue military jet is being towed on a concrete ramp in front of a large hangar-shape building. A person stands to the left of the jet. There are puffy white clouds in the blue sky, and the jet casts long shadows on the ramp.

June 20, 2024

The Blue Hornet

Story | Air & Space Quarterly

An F/A-18C with a distinguished combat history makes a late-life career change.

Three men sit under the shade of a massive airplane wing; one of the men is wearing an officer's hat. Two huge aircraft are parked in the background, both are painted black. Behind thems is a lush island landscape. The photo has been given a green tint.

June 20, 2024

Bombs, Beer, and Black Cats

Story | Air & Space Quarterly

This 100-year-old Navy veteran flew PBYs in World War II.