All Stories

Stephanie Wilson is now one of 18 members of the Artemis astronaut team, a group of nine men and nine women from diverse backgrounds. Since NASA has announced its intent to send the first woman and the first person of color to the Moon, she is a strong candidate.

Engineer Mary Golda Ross made lasting contributions to the United States aerospace industry while opening doors for women and Native students to pursue S.T.E.M. education and careers.

Remembering Dale Snodgrass, see the sun through a new lens, become a space scientist, and more!

While fashion accessories may not be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of the National Air and Space Museum, this collection captures the diversity and playfulness of flight crew dress across the decades.

Astronomer Henrietta Swan Leavitt lived a short but deeply impactful life, during which her achievements failed to receive sufficient recognition. On the centennial of her death, we reflect on her life and legacy.

Flight attendants were some of the people at the forefront of the fight for equality in the 20th century. Meet some of these remarkable people in this article. 

At AirSpace we absolutely LOVE spotlighting stories about incredible aviators who might not already be on your radar. Today, we’re introducing you to the Chinese aviatrix Li Xiaqing: A literal movie star who learned to fly with the aspiration of serving her country. Li’s story is not only inspiring, it’s practically a screenplay waiting to be written. Born in 1911 into a rapidly changing China, she took flying lessons in Switzerland and the United States before returning to China in the 1930s. Despite being grounded by her home country during the war, she still found a way to use her skills in the war effort barnstorming across the US raising money for China. An actress, aviatrix, and altruist? Now, that’s a true triple threat.

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.

Jackie Cochran’s record-setting T-38 Talon is now on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. Discover the relationship shared between these two aviation icons.

In the era of the Space Shuttle from the 1980s to the early 2010s, NASA astronauts would receive numerous information booklets and other written materials which would explain to them how to operate the Space Shuttle. The Museum's Archives holds two rich collections related to this intense technical training in the personal papers of Sally K. Ride and David M. Brown.