All Stories

The National Air and Space Museum collection is full of objects that tell the history of air and space exploration. Supervising photographer Jim Preston reflects on one of his favorite objects to photograph—Neil Armstrong’s Apollo 11 spacesuit.

The next few months will also bring some exciting developments in space science. There are new missions about to launch and spacecraft that will reach their destinations after long journeys. Here are six out-of-this-world things to look for in the news over the next few months.

In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, museum Explainer Karina demonstrates the effects of gravity on our bodies in space.

First Man is almost certainly is the most accurate fictional depiction of human spaceflight in the 1960s ever made. A curator weighs in on what the film got right and wrong.

Cyrus K. Bettis was a leading US Army Air Service pilot in the 1920s that became the world’s fastest air racer in 1925. In July 2018, members of his family visited the Museum to donate artifacts and archival materials documenting his life near the airplane that he flew and the prizes that he won.

Wildfire season is getting longer, according to the US Forest Service, making firefighting a bigger, more vital operation each year. In this episode, Emily, Matt, and Nick take a look at how the pros fight wildfires with everything from large water-carrying airtankers and helicopters to daring smokejumpers who parachute into the blaze equipped with axes, shovels, and chainsaws. 

Since the earliest days of flight, Hispanic men and women have shaped aviation—breaking records, exploring the farthest reaches of our world, and shaping what’s possible in the aerospace field.  

On October 1, 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration was officially created, beginning a 60-year journey of American innovation and space exploration. While there are many (many, many!) unique NASA objects in the Air and Space collection, these six highlight milestones that shaped our nation’s quest to better understand our universe.

We all have ideas that defy in our back pocket. My personal idea that defies, the thing I dream of humans achieving, is sailing on an alien sea. 

Teacher in Space Christa McAuliffe’s lesson plans fly in space 32 years later.