Lecture

Fantasy and science fiction authors Christopher Paolini and Charlie Jane Anders join National Air and Space’s curator and chair of the Space History Department Margaret Weitekamp in this live discussion about science fiction writing

This month, the two biggest planets in our solar system, Saturn and Jupiter, are coming together in the sky in a once-in-a-lifetime way called a Great Conjunction.

Join NASA astronaut Jessica Meir in conversation with scientists from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and the Smithsonian’s Movement of Life Initiative to discuss their complementary expertise and the role of space and aviation technologies in studying our changing world. This series is part of Smithsonian’s Earth Optimism initiative, a global partnership which aims to further research and discussion of climate change in order to identify, promote, and share solutions to this global crisis.

Tune in to hear experts in the field and students reflect on our recent project flying balloons around the world. 

Brigadier General Charles McGee, USAF (Ret.), has accomplished a lot in his life, but the two accomplishments he’s most proud of both involve flight: breaking racial barriers as a Tuskegee Airman and his own part in the aerial defeat of Germany in World War II. 

This week, scientists announced that they have detected phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus. On Earth, that gas is produced by microbial life. While we don’t know what is causing its presence on Venus, life may not be required to explain its presence. 

This year we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope. For three decades thousands of astronomers from around the world have exploited the remarkable capabilities of the telescope and its scientific instruments to revolutionize our understanding of the universe.

Michael Werner, the Spitzer Project Scientist for over 30 years, discusses Spitzer’s technical innovations and the scientific advances they enabled.

Sheperd Doeleman, founding director of the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration, talks about how his team accomplished the historic achievement of imaging a black hole.

A century ago there was a "Great Debate" among astronomers if galaxies exist. Today, a new debate has arisen: How old is the Universe? Join Wendy Freedman, John and Marion Sullivan University Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Chicago, as she explores the options in this newest and most fascinating question.