Air & Space Magazine

Head-on view from slightly above the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, beautifully lit from the darkness of its storage building at the National Air and Space Museum, September 21, 2000.

The SR-71 Was Close to Perfect

A member of the Blackbirds' ground crew looks back on the airplane's flight-test beginnings.

Stowage gets a little tight up there on the Space Station, as John Phillips illustrates in 2011.

These Companies Want to Revolutionize Trash Day on the Space Station

When the nearest dumpster is 250 miles away, recycling becomes a necessity.

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Stallion Aboard

Marines practice rope drills from a CH-53E Super Stallion onto the deck of the USS <em>New York</em>.

If only artificial dragonflies had the staying power of real ones.

Flap Like a Dragonfly

Bio-mimicry makes drones better.

A Spectre jettisons flares during training in 2007.

Vampires and Gnats: When Airplanes Do (or Don’t) Fit Their Names

Aircraft and the creatures that inspired them.

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Raptor Over the Gulf

An F-22 Raptor flies alongside a KC-135 Stratotanker over the Gulf of Mexico in a flight to honor employers of National Guard and Reserve Airmen.

Tear Down This Wall

Sometimes even experienced workers make mistakes.

An Air Force MQ-9 Reaper comes in for a landing after a mission over Afghanistan.

How Syrian No-Fly Zones Could Lead to the First Drone-vs-Drone War

When it comes to UAVs in contested airspace, we’re in uncharted territory.

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Saturn's North Pole

NASA's Cassini spacecraft took this image of the unusual hexagon pattern at Saturn's north pole last December.

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Lightning Lands in England

Three F-35A Lightning IIs land at Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England in April. This was the first deployment to the U.S. European Command area.

Eagles have spectacular long-distance vision that drones can only envy. At least for now.

Eagle Eyes for Flying Robots

Making drones better includes improving their vision.

The last KC-135R Stratotanker flown by Brad Mordan as an Air Force pilot sits on the ramp at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. 

Old Men, Older Airplanes

In fine Air Force tradition, a retiring buddy makes his “fini flight.”

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Namib Sand Dunes

This image from the International Space Station shows the dunes on the Namib Sand Sea in southern Africa.

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Hop On Deck

Crew of the USS <em>New York</em> perform amphibious training.

We hoped extraterrestrials could decode the plaque attached to the Pioneer spacecraft in the 1970s. Would we be able to figure out theirs?

The Wow! Controversy and Decoding Alien Messages

Would you be able to decipher an extraterrestrial broadcast?

Map of the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin on the far side of the Moon. This view is an orthographic projection centered on 56 S, 180 E, the center of the basin. Colors represent different elevations, with white being highest and dark grey the lowest. The basin is about 2,600 km across and over 13 km deep. The white box outlines the area shown in the photo at the bottom of the page; the arrow indicates the proposed Chang’E-4 landing site.

China’s Journey to the Lunar Far Side: A Missed Opportunity?

New details about China’s Chang’E-4 mission suggest there might be a better place to land.

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Aurora From Orbit

A beautiful aurora lights up the atmosphere as seen from the International Space Station.

One of the Missile Defense Agency's modified MQ-9 Reapers

Could Drones Shoot Down ICBMs?

The Missile Defense Agency meets Reapers, and likes what it sees.

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Vapor Refractions

An F-22 Raptor flies during a demonstration in Australia, its vapor contrails refracting the sunlight colorfully.

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Super Guppy Flight Line

A B-377 Super Guppy is parked at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph in Texas last March.

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