Military Reconnaissance

From George Washington to Abraham Lincoln, letters in our archives reveal interest from some of the nation’s earliest presidents in ballooning.

During the Civil War, both the Union Army and the Confederacy used balloons. This is the story of one unique balloon.

Frank Luke Jr. was an American pilot, whose short but impressive air combat career made him one of the top “balloon busters” of World War I.

On October 14, 1962, Maj. Richard Heyser approached the small island of Cuba. He reached into the controls of his U-2 spy plane and flipped on the camera. Heyser was in Cuban airspace for about 6 minutes and took 928 pictures. What those photos revealed triggered a crisis that pushed the world to the brink of nuclear Armageddon. 

In the 1950s, reconnaissance specialists needed an aircraft to carry the cameras directly over Soviet territory without risking interception. They found that in the U-2 spy plane—but what they didn't know was that this aircraft would be an integral part of what was to be known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. 

On Monday morning, October 15, 1962, CIA photo interpreters (PIs) hovered anxiously over a light table at the National Photographic Interpretation Center (NPIC). The images were just 24 hours old and top secret—taken on a flight over Cuba in a high flying U-2 aircraft. This light table was at the epicenter of this unparalleled national crisis.

The Museum's Blackbird accrued about 2,800 hours of flight time during 24 years of active service with the U.S. Air Force.

As the fastest jet aircraft in the world, the SR-71 has an impressive collection of records and history of service.

Walter Watson was the first and only African-American to qualify as a crew member in the SR-71. Hear from this amazing aviator.

Visitors are often surprised to find that SR-71 Blackbird is deeply connected to one of the greatest World War II fighter planes, the P-38 Lightning.

The Museum is fortunate that among our corps of docents, or guides, are people with direct experience flying or flying in a number of our aircraft. Among those docents is Buz Carpenter who knows what it's like to fly in a Blackbird.

In this live chat, hear from Sharon Caples McDougle, who began working with pressure suits for the SR-71 in 1982. 

In this episode of STEM in 30, we take a look at the Blackbird's performance and operational achievements that placed it at the pinnacle of aviation technology developments during the Cold War.

On March 25 1961, in the heart of Soviet Russia, an ejector seat parachuted from a space capsule. Who was this mysterious space traveler? 

After decades of unsuccessful attempts to gain access, the public is now finally able to review the President’s Daily Briefs (PDBs) from the Kennedy through Ford administrations. In this story, curator James David as he discusses some of his preliminary findings in the documents.

Quick name some famous spies! Who did you come up with? Jack Ryan? James Bond? Movie spies are fun and resourceful, but real life spies rely on a lot more than fancy gadgets and powerful informants.

People have been spying on each other for forever. This episode is about what changed when spies upped their game (literally), rising into the sky.