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 15

September 23, 2024 A Breath of Fresh Air Story | Air & Space Quarterly

Recent discoveries and news in aviation and space. 

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September 23, 2024 The Secret History of Drones Story | Air & Space Quarterly

A short history of early 20th-century drones.

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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.

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December 11, 2023 AirSpace Season 8, Episode 6: These Are the Droids We’re Working With Story | AirSpace Podcast

In a lot of political and financial circles space exploration is often talked about in terms of human space exploration VERSUS robotic space travel. But most scientists and engineers who work on space missions think this question is better answered with a "yes, and."

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August 04, 2020 Delivery by Drone with Wing Story

As we collect the delivery drone used by Wing for the first commercial drone delivery to a U.S. home, we talk to Wing CTO Adam Woodworth about his work at Wing, his passion for aviation, and how it feels to have a project he worked on join the Smithsonian collection.

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December 07, 2018 Drones Making Life-Saving Deliveries Story

Zipline uses drone technology to connect essential medical products with people in need in the developing world.

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August 14, 2018 Amazon Drone Comes to Air and Space Story

The story of this emerging technology will be a cornerstone of our new Thomas W. Haas We All Fly gallery, a new exhibition that is part of the ongoing reimagining of the Museum. We are excited to feature an example of Amazon’s work in the autonomous aerial delivery field—the Amazon Prime Air Hybrid Drone.

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July 28, 2018 Bird’s Eye Viewfinder: 160 Years of Aerial Photography Story

In 1858, French photographer Gaspar Félix Tournachon took a photo of a village from his hot air balloon--the first aerial photograph. Since then, aerial photography has changed how we see the world around us. 

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March 09, 2018 The Predator, a Drone That Transformed Military Combat Story | Air and Space Photos

A look at the history and impact of the Predator UAV on military aerial combat.

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March 01, 2018 Behind the Winter Olympics' Drone Show Story

A look behind-the-scenes at the development of the 2018 Winter Olympics drone show, from Natalie Cheung, general manager of Intel’s drone light show team. 

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