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. 

Showing 1 - 10 of 91

AirSpace, a podcast, logo

February 27, 2025

Crater Dating

Story | AirSpace Podcast

The oldest Earth rocks we have are 4.3 billion years old, and samples we've brought back from the Moon are even older. But what what does that have to do with craters on Mars? 

A person smiling at a booth with a display labeled "ONE OF SIX RCA TV CAMERAS ON RANGER VII", showcasing a camera and other equipment.

February 25, 2025

James E. Martin, the Engineer Who Captured America’s First Images of the Moon’s Surface

Story

James E. Martin, an electronics technician who worked in the RCA Space Center, helped build the Ranger 7 spacecraft’s camera system, which sent back over 4,000 detailed images in less than 17 minutes before crashing into the Moon in 1964.

The Earth and Moon as viewed from the International Space Station

November 14, 2024

What Makes a Moon a Moon?

Story

A moon is a planetary body that goes around another planetary body. Usually, this is one or more moons going around a planet, but it doesn’t have to be a planet. In Star Wars, the Death Star is not a moon because it isn’t a naturally occurring satellite: the International Space Station, the Juno spacecraft orbiting Jupiter, or any of the telecommunications satellites we rely on in low Earth orbit are satellites, but are not moons.

A photo of the desolate lunar surface shows an Apollo astronaut standing beside a moon rover, parked on the edge of a vast deep crater.

September 23, 2024

A Breath of Fresh Air

Story | Air & Space Quarterly

Recent discoveries and news in aviation and space. 

AirSpace, a podcast, logo

September 12, 2024

AirSpace Season 9, Episode 9: Birds of a Feather

Story | AirSpace Podcast

It's a bird? It's a plane? Its a guy pretending to be a bird?? We have a very odd aircraft in the collection. 

An illustration of a realistic image of the Moon where a darker side is at the foreground of the image.

August 16, 2024

Is the “Dark Side of the Moon” Actually Dark?

Story

This dark side is also known as the farside (and the side facing Earth is called the nearside). The phrase "dark side of the Moon" is used to refer to something mysterious or unknown. For most of human history we did not know what the farside of the Moon looked like. It wasn’t until 1959 when the Soviet Union launched the Luna 3 spacecraft that we got our first look at the farside.

AirSpace, a podcast, logo

August 08, 2024

AirSpace Season 9, Episode 7: Lasso the Moon

Story | AirSpace Podcast

Over six missions, the Apollo astronauts collected and brought back 842 pounds of Lunar samples. Who decides what rocks go where? And how did the National Cathedral get a rock to put in a stained glass window??

AirSpace, a podcast, logo

July 09, 2024

AirSpace Season 9, Episode 5: X-Ray Vision

Story | AirSpace Podcast

When the Chandra X-Ray Observatory launched 25 years ago, it showed us our universe in a whole new light (literally). 

A black-and-white portrait of Amelia Earhart standing on an airport tarmac, with her twin-propellered airplane behind her.

March 20, 2024

Lost and Found?

Story | Air & Space Quarterly

What’s new in aviation and space. The latest on the search for Amelia Earhart’s Lockheed 10-E Electra

AirSpace, a podcast, logo

March 13, 2024

AirSpace Season 8, Episode 12: When the Sun Went Out

Story | AirSpace Podcast

In 1142 a total solar eclipse with much the same path as the one coming up April 8. It was also the sign in the sky the Seneca needed to join the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, a representative democracy that would govern six tribes below Lakes Erie and Ontario.