Air & Space Magazine

Year of the Moon

An hour-by-hour time lapse view of our satellite’s changing look.

Dominik Hanke's "Lost in the Field" won Grand Prize in our Fourth Annual Photo Contest.

Cast Your Vote In Our Photo Contest

Pick your favorite image for the Readers' Choice winner by midnight, January 14.

The Eridania Basin on Mars is about 3.7 billion years old. Seafloor deposits, which likely contain evidence of hydrothermal activity, are shown in color.

Follow the Energy

How living things draw energy from the environment may be a clue to their history.

Helicopter escapades, Cassini's final plunge, and love for the Warthog make up some of our most interesting stories this year.

12 <em>Air & Space</em> Stories from 2017 You Need to Read

Some of our favorite space and aviation stories from the last year.

The Dragonfly rotorcraft could travel far from its original landing site on its own power.

NASA May Send a Drone to Titan in 2025

The space agency selects a mission to Saturn’s moon and a comet sample return for possible future funding.

Drawing of a reported UFO sighted over Watsonia, Australia, June 25, 1972. Official verdict: Probably a Boeing 727, seen at an altitude of 2,000 feet while approaching a nearby airport.

That Secret Government Program to Track UFOs? It’s Not the First

The Air Force has been documenting weird aerial happenings since the 1940s.

Might other areas of Antarctica not covered by snow and ice also have bacteria that take their energy from the oxidation of trace gases?

These Bacteria Survive by Drawing Trace Gases From the Air

A novel way of making a living under extreme conditions.

A Delta 747 in better times—at Tokyo's Narita International Airport in 2013

The Last 747

The “jumbo jet” makes its final flight for a U.S. airline.

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Blue Origin Tests Its New Vehicle, and This One Has Windows

Another step closer to the start of space tourism.

A nearly full Earth rises above the lunar surface, soon to be visited again by American astronauts.

Why We Need Humans—Not Just Robots—On the Moon

Machines alone won’t be able to satisfy our curiosity.

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Human Beats AI in a Drone Race, But Just Barely

In the long term, bet on the machine.

The way it was: SLC-40, a U.S. Air Force pad dating back to the 1960s, looked like this before SpaceX improved it over the last year. New pictures of the complex have not been released, due to worries about photographing militarily sensitive hardware.

SpaceX’s Old and Improved Launch Pad Re-Opens for Business

The rocket company turns a tragedy into an opportunity.

Artist’s impression of the interstellar asteroid Oumuamua.

It Came From Beyond

ʻOumuamua, the first known interstellar asteroid, may lead us to rethink the idea that life came here from other stars.

Before the 1980s, most alien encounters were friendly, not scary.

When Did Alien Sightings Turn Into Alien Abductions?

Reports of encounters with extraterrestrials took a turn in the 1980s. The question is why.

In his second novel, Andy Weir moves the scene from Mars to the moon.

<i>Artemis</i> is a Step Backwards to the Moon

Andy Weir's second novel combines fun action scenes with a snoozer corporate plot.

The mission patch for NPR's Planet Money satellite, featuring their famed squirrel.

Just How Do You Get a Smallsat into Orbit?

NPR’s Planet Money podcast documents the journey of a cubesat from design to launch.

A French freeflying champion who is either Frédéric Fugen or Vincent Reffet chases a Pilatus Porter over Switzerland.

French Daredevils Leap Off a Perfectly Good Mountain into a Moving Airplane

James Bond once did it without a wingsuit. But these guys did it for real.

"I think it's watching me" is just one of the complaints Nikolas Kubli (not pictured) gets.

If Someone Has a Complaint About Drones, This FAA Inspector Hears About It

He knows whether a drone pilot has been naughty or nice, but he also keeps the cranks off their backs.

Looking out the window at Earth, gobbling chocolate? Sounds good to us.

Let’s Make Chocolate in Space!

Candy lovers aim for new heights.

A Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter view of the far side crater Antoniadi, an example of some of the spectacular vistas that await future inhabitants of the Moon.

Take a Step on Another World

What will it be like to be on the Moon?

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