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National Air and Space Museum

Smithsonian Voices

Inside a large hangar filled with natural light, three white people maneuver a small red, white, and blue airplane into its display space. At least eight aircraft are suspended from the hangar's ceiling.

How to Build an Airplane in Seven Days

Aircraft manufacturing doesn't have to be a commercial activity.

Mark Strauss | July 25, 2025

Photographed against a dark blue background is a studio image of a set of cream-colored ceramic dishware bearing a pattern of star-shapes in blue, yellow, and green. There are several pieces, including a platter, a gravy boat with a ladle, a creamer and s

This Space Age Tableware Is Now a Prized Collectible

A passion for space exploration influenced how one family set the dinner table

Diane Tedeschi | July 22, 2025

Black-and-white image of a white man in his early 50s. He is bald and has a mustache. Wearing a white lab coat, he is sitting at a work table supporting a large metal cylinder.

Robert Goddard Was All Business in Launching His Rocket Career

The inventor's handmade tools are now museum artifacts.

Colleen Anderson | July 7, 2025

A white man in his 30s stands in front of a restored biplane displayed on a polished concrete floor inside a museum. He is wearing glasses and a dark suit with a white shirt and burgundy tie.

A Beautiful Biplane Represents a Future That Never Was

The U.S. Navy once dreamed of floating airships that could launch clusters of tiny fighter airplanes.

Thomas Paone | April 7, 2025
A large hand-carved teakwood chest with scalloped edges and four round feet. The chest appears to be stained a rich reddish brown. The front panel on the chest has a bas-relief globe pattern flanked by a pair of airplane wings.

This Trophy Chest Belonged to Amelia Earhart

A husband's holiday present for his famous wife is now a museum artifact.

Dorothy Cochrane | March 27, 2025
A white man in his early 70s stands inside a museum gallery. He is wearing glasses and smiling. Behind him, is the nose and forward fuselage of a Boeing 747 airplane. The 747 is painted in a red, gray, and white paint scheme.

How to Display a 747 in a Museum

Boeing's 747 is big, but not so big that the forward fuselage can't be part of a museum exhibit

Bob van der Linden | November 8, 2024
An artist's renderign of a cavernous museum exhibit space with a dark ceiling illuminated by images of bright white stars and a spiral galaxy. On the floor of the gallery, numerous visitors wander past glass display cases filled with artifacts.

A New Museum Exhibit Gives a Grand Overview on the History of the Telescope

Behind-the-scenes of the upcoming U.S. National Science Foundation Discovering Our Universe gallery

Samantha Thompson | August 16, 2024
Starship Enterprise

Get a Closer Look at the Star Trek Enterprise Model

The starship model used in filming underwent an extensive conservation

| June 10, 2024
SR-71 Blackbird on display in a museum

Why the SR-71 Blackbird Never Gets Old

The beauty of Lockheed's Blackbird

Mike Hankins | May 28, 2024
A German fighter aircraft is painted dull grey, with some black markings including a Nazi swastika. A large gun in mounted near the nose of the plane, which has a single large propeller.

Where to See World War II Aircraft Up Close

Seven National Air and Space Museum aircraft on display in your neighborhood

Mark Strauss | May 9, 2024
A small silver pin shows a smiling Snoopy, a cartoon dog, wearing a spacesuit with a large clear glass helmet, performing his iconic happy beagle dance.

The Story of Snoopy in Space

How a cartoon beagle helped popularize NASA’s Apollo program

Dave Kindy | April 20, 2024
NASM2017-02421 - Copy.jpg

Celebrate the April 8 Solar Eclipse With the National Air and Space Museum

On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse will cross North America. For those not within the path of totality, a partial eclipse will be visible from everywhere in the contiguous United States. Learn about the science and safety of eclipses with the National Air and Space Museum.

Amy Stamm | March 28, 2024
A young woman wearing a U.S. Navy olive-green flightsuit and black combat boots perches next to the cockpit of her F/A-18C miltary jet. "Lt Sharon Cummins" is stenciled onto the side of the airplane.

Meet the First American Women to Fly Combat Missions

An Air & Space Quarterly exclusive reveals the names of five pioneering women in military aviation.

Mike Hankins | February 8, 2024
The Boeing Aviation Hangar at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center is a vast open space filled with airplanes on both the floor and hanging from the ceiling, tilted at angles that convey the impression of flight.

20 Years of the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

The National Air and Space Museum’s second location celebrates a milestone anniversary

| February 2, 2024
Peregrine Lunar Lander

This Object Represents a New Approach to Moon Exploration

The Peregrine test model is the first commercial lunar lander in the National Air and Space Museum collection

Mark Strauss | January 22, 2024
Underside view of space shuttle in flight with blue sky background.

Space Shuttle Astronauts Tell All

A new book by NASA astronaut Tom Jones shares intriguing stories about the agency’s longest-running space exploration program

Diane Tedeschi | January 12, 2024
The pitch black night is illuminated by a bright white-hot rocket engine plume, which illuminates clouds of smoke surrounding the launch pad.

How Commercial Landers Are Changing Lunar Exploration

These companies are taking a faster, cheaper approach to landing on the moon

Kellie B. Gormly | January 8, 2024
Chuck Yeager's Ribbon Bar

What Chuck Yeager's Medals and Ribbons Tell Us About His Career

A ribbon bar in the National Air and Space Museum's collection offers a timeline of the famed aviator’s illustrious military career

Reilly Tifft | January 5, 2024
A black-and-white photo, tinged light brown, shows around 3/4 of massive airship as it exits a pitch black hangar opening.

Are We in an Airship Renaissance?

One hundred years after the first U.S. Navy airship took to the skies, zeppelins and blimps are poised to make a comeback

Mark Piesing | January 2, 2024
Categories
  • Air and Space History (92)
  • Air and Space Museum (59)
  • Airplanes (38)
  • Astronauts (21)
  • Astronomy (14)
  • Aviation (51)
  • From the Archives (6)
  • Planetary Space (15)
  • Science Fiction (11)
  • Space (57)
  • Women in STEM (9)
  • World War ll History (16)
Archive
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  • 2021 (18)
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