All Stories

A set of prosthetic ear tips made for Leonard Nimoy to portray Mr. Spock in “Star Trek: The Original Series” have been donated to the Museum by his son Adam Nimoy.

In the early days of commercial air flight, airlines struggled to turn a profit and remain afloat. The United States government, hoping to foster the success of commercial airlines, met this challenge by using airplanes to move mail across the country.

One area in which commercial airlines were able to make a splash and successfully market themselves during the 1960s and 1970s was through what their flight attendants wore. To appeal to the mostly male travelers, airlines introduced miniskirts and hot pants, to the dismay of many flight attendants.

By 1940 the modern airport had come into being. Today's airports are basically similar, but over the years airport designers have had some interesting ideas when planning for the future of air travel. 

In 1929, a group of 99 women pilots decided to form an organization for social, recruitment, and business purposes. Living in a society that limited women's social and economic independence, these group formed for women to mutually support each other in the aviation profession. Thus the Ninety-Nines were born.

93% of televisions in the United States tuned in to see Neil Armstrong walk on the Moon. Can you believe 7% were watching something else? At 11pm on a Sunday?? But as much as we love it now, Apollo 11’s contemporary acclaim wasn’t exactly universal. Many people, all over America, had reservations about spending billions of dollars on space exploration instead of solving problems here on Earth. And some Americans had their eyes on a very different, much more important prize. The rise of Apollo coincided with the peak of the Civil Rights Movement (which technically ended with the signing of the Civil Rights Act in 1968—but we all know the struggle and the movement didn’t end there). In this episode, Emily, Matt, and Nick explore the intersection of these two moments in American history, discuss the protests, activists, and anthems of the time, and talk to Sylvia Drew Ivie about the issues then and how we’re still working to turn it all around.

The image of the space–suited Apollo 11 astronaut standing and facing the camera became an iconic symbol of American accomplishment and was reproduced in books, films, television, and items of popular culture.  

Brown made history again and again as a pilot, civil rights advocate, and leader. 

Ever wonder what would happen to your body in space without a spacesuit? Given it’s spooky szn, we figured we’d do something a little different for this Halloween episode of AirSpace and dissect one the scariest situations an astronaut could be in. For a crash course in the intersection between astronaut life and rapid decompression we talk to the Mary Roach.  And having authored the nonfiction books Packing for Mars, Stiff, and Grunt she’s kind of perfectly qualified to talk about this bizarre venn diagram.

Although space itself remained inaccessible to private citizens until the 21st century, other places where Earth and space meet—such as NASA centers—have long been popular destinations for a different kind of space tourist. Read about how people have been incorporating space activities as part of their leisure time since the dawn of the Space Age.