All Stories

Before Patrick Leonini was a museum specialist for the National Air and Space Museum in the Photography department, he spent 24 years in the United States Air Force. He reflects on his career experiences in the military as an airfield manager, working in and around aircraft, crews, and ground support personnel.

In modern society, we often take the daily weather report for granted. We turn on the news, open the weather app on our smart phone, or look up our region’s weather on the internet. Have you ever thought about how meteorologists predict the forecast? For a big part of the answer, we need to look to the sky. 

There is perhaps no résumé in existence quite as long as Barbie’s. One of her oldest and arguably most iconic careers is as an astronaut. Let's take a look through some of her most iconic space looks, spanning 1965 to today.

In the early 1960s, thousands of unaccompanied children fled Cuba by plane, moving to the United States on  visa waivers from the U.S. government.

Son los principios de la década de 1960 en Cuba, miles de niños sin acompañante huyeron de Cuba en avión, mudándose a los Estados Unidos con exenciones de visa del Gobierno de los Estados Unidos. 

The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) launched the first GAMBIT-1 high-resolution photoreconnaissance satellite on July 12, 1963. It enabled the United States intelligence community photo analysts to see more detailed images.

The recent launch of VA261 closes out the Ariane 5 rocket’s 117 launches. Take a look back at Europe’s workhorse launcher and the next generation in Ariane 6. 

Launch vehicles require a vast ground-based support system, which is an important part of the stories told at the National Air and Space Museum. Collecting these objects is challenging due to their size and reuse in subsequent programs. Learn more about these artifacts and how Air and Space preserves their ongoing histories.

During World War I, a new form of espionage took flight—literally. Photography from aircraft was introduced as a new way to spy.

It’s been nearly 50 years (!) since humans last walked on the Moon.  But NASA’s upcoming Artemis missions will soon return astronauts to the lunar surface.

Picture the Earth from above. In your mind's eye, what do you see? Today, we have access to air and space technology that lets us see various views of the Earth with ease.