All Stories

The prototype for the popular Women of NASA LEGO® set joined the Museum’s collection last week, helping tell the story of how Americans are inspired by groundbreakers in aerospace.

The international community has contributed more to the exploration of space and our understanding of the universe than you might think. From India to Israel, lots of countries are sending missions to Mars, landing on comets, and observing Earth from orbit.

At Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico on December 10, 1954, the Sonic Wind No. 1 rocket sled let loose 40,000 pounds of thrust and propelled United States Air Force flight surgeon Col. John Stapp more than 3,000 feet in a few seconds. The benefits of Stapp’s research are evident every time a driver pulls on a seatbelt or a jet pilot safely ejects from a damaged aircraft.

The Viking 1 lander, which launched on a 10-month journey to Mars in August of 1975, paved the way for the future of scientific inquiry in space. Here's a closer look at how the lander worked. 

The Museum’s She Can STEM summer camp is aimed at introducing aviation to 60 underrepresented middle school girls in the DC metro area.

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.

In honor of the 75^th anniversary of the WASP founding in August 1943, we are excited to bring you some original, newly digitized images from the National Archives. 

It took a certain amount of pure grit to be a pilot in the early days of aviation – and even more for the women who had to defy convention just to get up in the air.

On October 15, 1910, Kiddo the cat became the first of his kind to attempt to cross the Atlantic Ocean by airship—and he wasn’t very happy about it.

Seventy-five years ago, on August 5, 1943, a remarkable group of women stepped into roles as part of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). Their story is one of courage, and their legacy is crucial to understanding the role of women as aviators within the United States Military.