Air & Space Magazine

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The 500-mph Telescope

<p>An eye in the sky opens for the first time.</p>

The flags of Russia, Japan, the United States and Kazakhstan are seen flying shortly after the Soyuz TMA-17 spacecraft was raised into vertical position at the launch pad of the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Friday, Dec. 18, 2009. The launch of the Soyuz spacecraft with Expedition 22 NASA Flight Engineer Timothy J. Creamer of the U.S., Soyuz Commander Oleg Kotov of Russia and Flight Engineer Soichi Noguchi of Japan, is scheduled for Monday, Dec., 21, 2009 at 3:52a.m. Kazakhstan time. Photo Credit (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Multicultural Soyuz

<p>A little diversity on the launch pad.</p>

An artist's concept shows how the STS-111 segments each come with winglets made of carbon fiber rods with nylon material stretched over them to aid with lift, steering, and overall stability.

Sky Snake

Flexible blimps are bending the rules on UAV design.

Feoktistov’s Starship

The pioneering cosmonaut who dreamed of interstellar flight.

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Wet World

Announcements of newly discovered planets come so frequently these days that it's hard to tell which ones are significant. But GJ 1214b deserves its moment of fame.Discovered by a team led by David Charbonneau of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, the planet is only 5.4 times the diam...

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Good Vision

<p>Hubble's eyes get <em>better</em> with age.</p>

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A Meteorite From the Moon

In 1982, the idea that a chunk of rock could be hurled from the moon to Earth by a lunar impact was considered pretty far out. For one thing, wouldn't such a massive, high-energy explosion destroy the evidence by turning the excavated rocks to glass? Besides, meteorites were well known to come from...

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The Dream is Aloft

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner made its long-awaited first flight yesterday. The Seattle Times has full coverage here.Watch Boeing's video here (click on Webcast), or see just the takeoff (below) courtesy of the Everett (Washington) Daily Herald.

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Arguing about Human Space Exploration

Hot rumor has it that, like Christmas, the Obama Administration’s response to the Augustine Committee Report is imminent. 

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An Artist in Metal

The latest Internet tsunami flooding e-mail boxes is the work of Young C. Park, who constructs magnificently intricate airplane models of aluminum. Several of his models are on display at the Craftsmanship Museum in Vista, California, which maintains a web version of the exhibit with photos of doze...

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Ready For Takeoff

<p>Not an ordinary sight in Southwest Asia.</p>

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Googling Mars

Real Mars exploration has been at an impasse lately, what with the Spirit rover stuck in the sand, and the Mars Odyssey and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft both experiencing  service interruptions.But virtual Mars exploration is going gangbusters. Google Mars, if you haven't tried it yet, is...

An Air Force T-38A trainer over Texas.

Batstrike!

A loud thud. A shower of purple-white sparks. This can't be good.

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First Flight

<p>A new cargo lifter joins the flock.</p>

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NASA's Bolden on International Cooperation

NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden’s talk at a Women in Aerospace luncheon in Washington D.C. this week is worth watching. Four months into his tenure, Bolden seems as committed as ever to using NASA—and his own example—to push education and diversity.He also had interesting things to say about inte...

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Fear and Dread

In 45 years of photographing Mars up close, no spacecraft had ever gotten a picture of both its moons, Phobos (Fear) and Deimos (Dread), together—until last month.The High Resolution Stereo Camera on Europe's Mars Express orbiter took advantage of a rare alignment to snap this image of the two moon...

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Spying the Shuttle

<p>A little lonely looking up there.</p>

Ross and Keith Smith in 1921, two years after their epic flight.

England to Australia in 1919

The Smith brothers covered 11,000 miles in 27 days.

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Down-Under Numbers

The September 2009 issue of Australian Aviation magazine contains the country’s Aircraft Census as of July 21. Some random selections:1 Airbus A319 38 Rotorway Exec 162Fs 4 Beech 17 Staggerwings 1 Bell 206A JetRanger 1 Boeing 707 111 Boeing 737s 207 de Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moths 1 Douglas C-54 1 ...

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Designing a Better Torch

Think of Bombardier Aerospace, and one of the company's business airplanes—they build Learjet aircraft—might come to mind. But the well-known transportation and aerospace firm also designed the torch for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.The torch, which will twist and turn its way across Canada’s wintry...

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