Air & Space Magazine

The privately funded Falcon 1 rocket reaches orbit on its fourth try.

Success!

The privately funded Falcon 1 rocket reaches orbit on its fourth try.

Artist's depiction of the Jupiter-120 arriving at the launch pad.

End Run

A small band of rogue rocketeers takes on the NASA establishment.

Swiss adventurer Yves Rossy crosses the English Channel in his home-built, jet-powered wing.

FusionMan!

Swiss adventurer Yves Rossy crosses the English Channel in his home-built, jet-powered wing.

Will the Falcon finally spread its wings?

Fourth and Ten

Will the Falcon finally spread its wings?

A space probe comes in from the cold.

Found

A space probe comes in from the cold.

Eighty years ago, a beautiful blimp took to the sky.

High Style

Eighty years ago, a beautiful blimp took to the sky.

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First Steps

Chinese astronauts are preparing for their first spacewalk. What's in store for them?

Pilot Max Miller and Air Mail Service superintendent Benjamin Lipsner (right) before Miller's pathfinding flight between New York and Chicago in 1918.

The Great Race

When the Air Mail Service decided to establish a route between New York City and Chicago, two pilots competed to fly it first.

Hurricane Ike messes with Texas.

Evil Eye

Hurricane Ike messes with Texas.

From left to right, Airmail Pilot Robert Shank; Dr. Julius Juhlin, postmaster general of Sweden; and Second Assistant Postmaster General Otto Praeger pose for a photograph at the Washington, D.C., airfield in College Park, Maryland, on March 8, 1919.

The Father of Airmail Looks Back

On the 20th anniversary of airmail service, three key players recalled the early days.

Tokyo, typified by the blue-green lighting of Japan's cities, curves around its bay. The Emperor's Palace is visible as the dark spot in the city center, as is Narita International airport, a bright point of light to the east.

Cities at Night: An Astronaut’s View

Urban nightscapes are among the most beautiful sights in orbit

A crowd stands near a mailplane equipped with lights on the nose and wingtips for night flying, sometime in the mid-1920s.

No Longer Afraid of the Dark

The civil engineering project that got the airmail through the night.

There was plenty of buzz at Reno this year.

Speed Freaks

There was plenty of buzz at Reno this year.

Postmaster Farley did his part to promote airmail on its 20th anniversary.

“Receive To-morrow’s Mail To-day!”

For an entire week in 1938, the country celebrated airmail.

Pilot Eddie Gardner was wearing these goggles when he died in an airplane crash in 1921. Following another, earlier crash, he had made a point not to blame the airplane. He muttered "the ship was alright" while being carried to the hospital.

Crash Course

Accidents were everyday occurrences in the early days of airmail. Part of the problem was finding the right airplane.

Airmail pilots (from left) Jack Knight, Harvey Lange, Lawrence Garrison, “Wild Bill” Hopson, and Andrew Dunphy pose for photographer Nathaniel Dewell in 1922.

Delivery Men

In the 1920s, photographer Nathaniel Dewell produced iconic portraits of daring airmail pilots.

Addison Pemberton pilots his restored Boeing 40C earlier this year. On the September 10 flight, the author rode in the compartment beneath the upper wing.

A Ride in the Boeing 40C

Onboard “Airmail 1” for the first leg of the trip, from New York to Bellefonte.

A war horse heads to pasture.

Hello Kitty

A war horse heads to pasture.

Jack White (right) was among the hardy few who flew the first mail routes.

“Hell Stretch”

The man who saved the airmail describes the fearsome flight across the Alleghenies in 1919.

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Galactic Looking Glass

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