All Stories

Only two survived the crash of the Wingfoot Express—Henry Wacker, the chief mechanic, and John Boettner, the pilot.  They became known as members one and two of the Caterpillar Club, an organization formed in November 1922 consisting of people who had used parachutes to make an emergency jump.

Geraldyn “Jerrie” Cobb, who died in March 2019, will likely be remembered for her role campaigning for women to be considered as possible space travelers in the beginning of the space age, but the Museum’s upcoming exhibits will also showcase how important she was as an award-winning pilot who flew for years as a missionary in the Amazon.

As you may have heard, astronauts Christina Koch and Anne McClain were scheduled to perform a spacewalk today. AirSpace hosts Emily, Matt, and Nick break down why this changed. 

AirSpace listeners know that no space mission is complete without a cool name, and there’s no “higher” recognition than having a space probe named in your honor (see what we did there?). 

Pioneering female pilot Jackie Cochran set eight world speed, altitude, and distance records in our Northrop T-38 Talon. In this blog, we talk to a member of our collections team about the process of moving the aircraft's fuselage from Maryland to Virginia in December 2018.

National Air and Space Museum director reflects on the trailblazing women in aviation and space that inspire her.

Earhart's red Lockheed Vega was the plane she set many of her records in. Looking closely at the object tells a story. 

As the first Chief of Astronomy at NASA, Nancy Grace Roman opened the skies to humanity in new ways without ever leaving the ground.

At age 30, Afghan-American pilot Shaesta Waiz became the youngest woman to circumnavigate the globe solo in a single-engine aircraft. (She managed to snap a photo or two along the way.) Waiz shared some of her favorite images from her record-breaking journey.

Jeannie M. Leavitt became the Air Force’s first female fighter pilot in 1993.