CURRENT ISSUE
February/March 2018
Features
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/7f/b4/7fb4236a-8109-40ff-869c-db5a086f12d3/08b_fm2018_62_pisky_frontline_wendle_main_img_2279_live.jpg)
The Fighting Drones of Ukraine
In garages and warehouses around Kiev, an army of gadgeteers takes on the Russian war machine.
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/16/73/16738bc7-4eac-41ae-87b2-cf6ef9f13570/06t_fm2018_zero0505_crop.jpg)
Winged History
At the Flying Heritage & Combat Armor Museum, the thrill of standing face to face with the past.
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/51/0d/510d5b4e-c05d-4ecd-a3b8-16c1e123e7e7/050607-f-1234p-085.jpg)
Why Wars Happen
An interactive exhibit explores the tough question.
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/e9/48/e9480635-1ad3-434c-9940-9fd1febeeae5/02f_fm2018_opener_live-wr.jpg)
Astronauts' Little Helpers
Robots are coming to the space station, but R2-D2 they ain’t.
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/5d/91/5d9133d1-0b22-43c8-8f51-84ac24c86397/03k_fm2018_replace03j_live.jpg)
Cleared to Approach the Future
U.S. Air Traffic Control finally enters the 21st century.
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/1d/a7/1da74fcc-b839-455d-9770-b77d43c5d69a/mannock.jpg)
The Dark Side of Glory
An early glimpse of PTSD in the letters of World War I aces.
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/0a/80/0a80bc91-865e-420e-aa68-f85545c5f7f1/04e_fm2018_superpressureballooninflation_live.jpg)
100 Days Over the South Pole
A science balloon floats closer to the stars.
:focal(2942x828:2943x829)/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/dc/61/dc61d372-46e2-4bd5-9b46-42bc3130ea22/05b_fm2018_si-99-15420_live.jpg)
The First Black Airmen to Fly Across America
They took off with $25 and a dream.
Departments
Too Busy to Be Scared
Two fighter pilots’ vacation in a Mooney turned into an unanticipated adventure.
To Venus, If You Can Find It
The uncertainties of early space navigation led a young JPL engineer to launch the field of radar astronomy.
I Loved My Internship; Here’s How I Got It
Danielle Rowland, Columbia University, astrophysics student
A Student-made Video Wins $350,000
The Breakthrough Junior Challenge to high school students: Explain a big scientific idea with a little film.
From a Galaxy Far Far Away
An alien asteroid, shaped like a cigar, and unlike anything scientists have seen before.