Julius Montgomery, a pioneering African American in the space program, died on January 22, 2020, in Florida. He was the first African American ever hired at the Cape Canaveral space facility to work as a technical professional. Additionally, he integrated the Florida Institute of Technology and was the first black member of the Melbourne, Florida, City Council.

What is a hybrid rocket motor? What advantages does it have over conventional liquid and solid propellant rocket motors? These questions point to an exciting breakthrough that occurred on December 13, 2018, when Virgin Galactic successfully launched VSS Unity on its first suborbital flight.

Zipline uses drone technology to connect essential medical products with people in need in the developing world.

John F. Kennedy's assassination on November 22 and his funeral on November 25 occurred at a moment in which "live via satellite" was beginning to enter the Cold War world. Satellites broadcast information about his death around the world in a way never possible before.

Emily Martin, of the Museum's Center for Earth and Planetary Science, is a co-author on an exciting new study, discovering new features of Saturn's moon Dione 

Scientists have been looking for creative solutions to clean up space junk. One proposal from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory looks to nature for inspiration: the gecko. 

At Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico on December 10, 1954, the Sonic Wind No. 1 rocket sled let loose 40,000 pounds of thrust and propelled United States Air Force flight surgeon Col. John Stapp more than 3,000 feet in a few seconds. The benefits of Stapp’s research are evident every time a driver pulls on a seatbelt or a jet pilot safely ejects from a damaged aircraft.

Samantha O’Sullivan grew up visiting the National Air and Space Museum. Now, she works in our "How Things Fly" gallery as part of the Explainers Program.

On the 35th anniversary of Sally Ride's historic trip to space, a look at other groundbreaking women in aerospace.