All Stories
Stories of daring, stories of technological feats, stories of prevailing against the odds ... these are the stories we tell at the National Air and Space Museum. Dive in to the stories below to discover, learn, and be inspired.
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Amelia Earhart's trophy chest will be displayed in the Barron Hilton Pioneers of Flight gallery in 2025.
We were devastated when we heard of Nikki Giovanni's passing earlier this week. We are in the process of sharing our favorite episodes from the past and felt it was fitting to bring you back our QueerSpace episode featuring Nikki among other futurist artists.
An Interview with Capt. Theresa Claiborne, the first African American woman pilot in the U.S. Air Force.
Recent discoveries and news in aviation and space.
Today we're talking about Afrofuturist space and Afronauts and walking through the Afrofuturism exhibit by our friends at the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Frederick Drew Gregory, is the first astronaut born, reared, and educated in the nation’s capital, Washington, DC, which is also home to the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. He is a veteran of three space shuttle missions and the first African American to pilot and command a mission in space. He is also the first African American to rise to the second-highest NASA leadership position, Deputy Administrator.
Dr. Guy Bluford launched on the STS-8 mission on August 30, 1983, becoming the first Black American in space. Bluford served as a mission specialist and his jobs were to deploy an Indian communications-weather satellite, perform biomedical experiments, and test the orbiter’s 50-foot robotic arm.
On August 19, 1942, Fairchild Aircraft Division of the Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation opened Plant 7, the first unit in the company to employ Black workers, both men and women, as part of their WWII aircraft manufacturing efforts. In late 1944, Plant 5 at Wilson Boulevard and Kuhn Avenue, manufacturing corrugated parts for the Martin PBM Mariner, replaced Plant 7 as the designated plant for Black employees. A rich, yet incomplete, record of their wartime service can be found in the Fairchild Industries, Inc. Collection at the National Air and Space Museum Archives.
The Pioneers of Flight gallery preview.
When Barbie first became an astronaut in 1965, she was more than a decade ahead of NASA sending a woman to space. Since then, there have been several versions of astronaut Barbie.