Air & Space Magazine

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Space Exploration Sets Sail on Lunar Water

The recent finding of water on the Moon has generated considerable comment in the space community.

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Balloon Man

<p>Round the world, ten years after.</p>

A C-130 carrying an Advanced Tactical Laser.

Video: Airborne Laser Test

Boeing and the U.S. Air Force begin testing the Advanced Tactical Laser.

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Who broke the sound barrier?

Was it really Chuck Yeager? Or did George Welch beat him to it? If so, it happened on this day in 1947.

A Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat from Fighter Squadron 5 awaits clearance to launch from the aircraft carrier Yorktown on November 20, 1943. Squadron 5 had been assigned to hit targets in the Marshall Islands.

Steichen Sent Me

Led by famed fashion photographer Edward Steichen, a group of camera men captured the action of World War II naval aviation.

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Send up the clowns

Okay, that was one of the strangest sendoffs in launch history. Not only did space tourist and Cirque Du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté keep putting on his red clown nose, the whole crew periodically broke into the cheesy pop song "Mammy Blue" as they were getting ready to board their Soyuz rocket f...

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Craters, yes

<p>No, it's not the moon.</p>

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Gas stations in space

The debate over what kind of rocket to use for NASA's exploration program has become so clouded by politics and salesmanship that it's hard for outsiders to tell any more which approach would be best, or even if it's still possible to send people beyond Earth orbit. The Augustine commission says it...

Rare Bear, sporting new war paint, heads for Pylon 4 and the "valley of speed" during the Gold heat at this year's Reno Air Race.

Is Winning Everything?

For an air racing legend named Rare Bear, yes.

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Wasser von Braun

Old Wernher the rocket scientist, if he were alive, would want one of these babies on holiday. It's a water-powered jet pack conceived in Canada by JetLev and licensed to German company MS Watersports GmbH, and it appears to address at least two major problems of jet packs: If the engine quits, you...

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Take Your Pick

<p>Fighter or floater?</p>

Reno Wrap-up

What was hot—and what was not—at the 2009 National Championship Air Races.

Airmen 1st Class Patrick Holter (left) and Patrick Dixon start the high-five salute as they prepare to launch the first B-2 Spirit of the day Sept. 8, 2009, on the Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., flightline. The Airmen are crew chiefs with the 509th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron and work around the clock to stay prepared for real world missions. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Kenny Holston)

High Five

<p>Launching stealth bombers.</p>

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Earhart's goggles go on the block

Normally, the folks at Profiles in History, based outside Los Angeles, auction off Hollywood memorabilia. On October 8-9, they'll sell what they're billing as "the single most important flight-worn aviation artifact to ever be offered at public auction"—the goggles worn by Amelia Earhart during her...

NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper, an instrument on the Indian Space Research Organization's Chandrayaan-1 mission, took this composite false-color image. Water-bearing minerals appear blue.

Water, Water Everywhere…

Even on the Moon?

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Phobos grunts

It's the biggest open secret in the space community: the Russian Mars probe Phobos-Grunt will not be leaving for the Red Planet this year, as scheduled, and will have to wait for 2011 when the orbits of Earth and Mars synch up again.The Russian space agency Roscosmos, which is responsible for the e...

Airliners carry their own portable atmosphere. How much can they afford to lose?

What happens if an airliner suddenly loses cabin pressure?

Let's just say it's not like it is in the movies

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Andromeda Unrestrained

<p>Our galactic next-door neighbor.</p>

An MQ-9 taking off in Afghanistan.

Robot airplane goes AWOL, gets shot down

The future of aerial warfare

F-16s from the Ohio Air National Guard patrol over Iraq during Operation Northern Watch in 2002.

Over the No-Fly Zone

Patrolling over northern Iraq in 2001 felt like driving through a small town with Hell's Angels.

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