All Stories

Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how we wonder . . . well, where to even begin? We brought in one of the Museum's astronomy educators for a stellar conversation about the birth, life, and death of stars. 

For the first time, a spacecraft will explore the Mars moons, Phobos and Deimos. 

While you wait for AirSpace Season 11, check out this episode on the science and history of auroras from our friends at Smithsonian Magazine's podcast, There's More to That.

Over 5,800 exoplanets have been discovered, with more and more being observed almost every day. But what makes these objects planets and not stars? How different are planets and stars, actually?

The majority of what has been accomplished in space has been carried out by uncrewed robotic craft. 

In 1920, Astronomers Heber Curtis and Harlow Shapley debated at the Smithsonian whether Andromeda was a separate galaxy.

A hundred years ago, astronomer Edwin Hubble revealed a universe of galaxies that existed beyond ours. His influence in astronomy continues to this day.

With the advent of the Space Age, scientists began searching for extraterrestrial life using radio waves, believing advanced civilizations might send signals across space. Despite Cold War tensions, researchers from different countries worked together to explore this possibility. Their efforts led to international meetings, shaping modern SETI research in the search for cosmic communication.

We pick up where Part One left off! When you hear 'space race' you probably (correctly) think about the 1960s Soviet Union v. U.S. race to put an astronaut on the Moon. But a few hundred years before, the space race was all about Venus. 

We pick up where Part One left off! When you hear 'space race' you probably (correctly) think about the 1960s Soviet Union v. U.S. race to put an astronaut on the Moon. But a few hundred years before, the space race was all about Venus.