Air & Space Magazine

"The Martian" star Matt Damon and director Ridley Scott (far right) on location in Jordan.

Wait, When Does <em>The Martian</em> Take Place, Anyway?

Author Andy Weir mostly got his facts right, but his hero’s contempt for disco doesn’t quite add up. An <em>Air & Space</em> investigation.

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Osprey Aboard

Manikins packed with sensors to measure G-force and other effects are ready for a crash test at the NASA Langley Research Center in Virginia.

Happy Birthday, Dummies

At age 75, the anthropometric manikin is smarter than ever.

The "How Things Work" gallery is full of hands-on demonstrations on the principles of flight.

A Lot of Explaining to Do

A donation from GE Aviation gives the education program at the National Air and Space Museum a boost.

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Eye of the Typhoon

Recurring Slope Lineae (RSL) appear as dark streaks on the slopes of Coprates Chasma on Mars.

Mars Just Got a Little More Life-Friendly

Water on the surface? Check. But that doesn’t automatically make the planet habitable.

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Welcome Home, Moonwalkers

A ticker tape parade down Broadway and Park avenues in New York City awaited the Apollo 11 astronauts when they returned from the moon.

Perlan 2 makes its first flight on September 23, 2015.

A High-Flying Glider Takes Its First Baby Step

5,000 feet down, 85,000 more to go.

"Exploring Io"

Space Artists Go Where the Cameras Can’t

A new book shows the beauty, and the value, of space art.

It will take master craftsman Marc Stamsta about eight months to rebuild this set of Howard wings. “They’re big wings,” he says.

Wooden Wings, Made by Hand

If you want the wings of your Howard DGA-15 restored, Mark Stamsta is your man.

A donated Cessna sporting a speckled livery undergoes a controlled crash at the Langley center; the dots allow cameras to track crash loads.

NASA Nosedives for Your Safety

The best way to test an emergency beacon is to set one off.

Burt Rutan’s Ski-Gull and Other Would-Be Seaplanes

There’s more than one way to build an amphibious aircraft.

Into the sunset? An F-16 Fighting Falcon flies over South Korea during an operational readiness exercise in 2012.

Is It Time to Abolish the U.S. Air Force?

A political scientist says yes.

Vought F-8J Crusaders based on the carrier Oriskany fly in formation in 1971. The F-8 was a beloved dogfighter, but its day in the sun was short.

Have Gun, Will Dogfight

On its 60th anniversary, pilots remember the Vought F-8 Crusader.

Geospatial engineer Private Miranda Yost of the 117th Space Battalion works with software that helps troops and emergency response teams target locations.

Need a Satellite Link? Call the 117th Space Battalion

Sometimes a soldier’s best friend is an IT guy with a satellite dish.

Boeing's Phantom Swift concept might look odd, but the idea is tried and true: A scale model "marketing tool" flew in 2013.

The Next X-Plane

Who will win the competition to build an airplane that can fly fast and hover?

In “Spread Your Wings,” part of the new exhibit Above and Beyond, three Museum visitors learn about flight by moving their bodies to control birds on a screen.

Spread Your Wings at the Museum’s New “Above and Beyond” Exhibit

The fun part of aerospace.

Europe sends its Philae lander to Comet 67P (artist concept).

Tell the Astronauts: The Law’s Coming

Can we stake a legal claim in space?

Ken Hyde’s collection, arrayed near his workshop (clockwise from top, left): 1911 Model B; 1909 Military Flyer; 1910 transitional Flyer; 1902 glider; 1911 EX Vin Fiz; 1911 glider (not shown: a second 1909 Flyer).

Airplanes Seeking Good Home

A one-of-a-kind collection of scratch-built Wright aircraft is up for sale.

The wreckage of “Rapid Rabbit,” the SR‑71 that pilot Dennis Bush crash-landed in 1972 at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa.

Blackbird Down

Normally SR-71 pilots weren’t a chatty bunch, but I could hear the anxiety in the voice of this one.

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