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 1 - 10 of 89
November 14, 2024What Makes a Moon a Moon?Story
A moon is a planetary body that goes around another planetary body. Usually, this is one or more moons going around a planet, but it doesn’t have to be a planet. In Star Wars, the Death Star is not a moon because it isn’t a naturally occurring satellite: the International Space Station, the Juno spacecraft orbiting Jupiter, or any of the telecommunications satellites we rely on in low Earth orbit are satellites, but are not moons.
Read moreSeptember 23, 2024A Breath of Fresh AirStory
| Air & Space Quarterly
Recent discoveries and news in aviation and space.
Read moreSeptember 12, 2024AirSpace Season 9, Episode 9: Birds of a FeatherStory
| AirSpace Podcast
It's a bird? It's a plane? Its a guy pretending to be a bird?? We have a very odd aircraft in the collection.
Read moreAugust 16, 2024Is the “Dark Side of the Moon” Actually Dark?Story
This dark side is also known as the farside (and the side facing Earth is called the nearside). The phrase "dark side of the Moon" is used to refer to something mysterious or unknown. For most of human history we did not know what the farside of the Moon looked like. It wasn’t until 1959 when the Soviet Union launched the Luna 3 spacecraft that we got our first look at the farside.
Read moreAugust 08, 2024AirSpace Season 9, Episode 7: Lasso the MoonStory
| AirSpace Podcast
Over six missions, the Apollo astronauts collected and brought back 842 pounds of Lunar samples. Who decides what rocks go where? And how did the National Cathedral get a rock to put in a stained glass window??
When the Chandra X-Ray Observatory launched 25 years ago, it showed us our universe in a whole new light (literally).
Read moreMarch 20, 2024Lost and Found?Story
| Air & Space Quarterly
What’s new in aviation and space. The latest on the search for Amelia Earhart’s Lockheed 10-E Electra.
Read moreMarch 13, 2024AirSpace Season 8, Episode 12: When the Sun Went OutStory
| AirSpace Podcast
In 1142 a total solar eclipse with much the same path as the one coming up April 8. It was also the sign in the sky the Seneca needed to join the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, a representative democracy that would govern six tribes below Lakes Erie and Ontario.
Read moreNovember 13, 2023Remembering Col. Frank Borman (1928-2023)Story
Frank Borman was one of the great explorers of the 20th century. As commander of Apollo 8, he was one of the first three humans to leave low Earth orbit, travel into deep space, and orbit the Moon. Yet exploring space was not his dream. An Air Force officer, patriot, and ardent Cold Warrior, he wanted to beat the Soviet Union in the Moon race and played a central role in making that happen.
Read moreSeptember 20, 2023How Commercial Landers Are Changing Lunar Exploration Story
| Air & Space Quarterly
These companies are taking a faster, cheaper approach to landing on the moon