CURRENT ISSUE
May 2014
Features
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The Spacewalk That Almost Killed Him
How Luca Parmitano survived the scariest wardrobe malfunction in NASA history.
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Cops and Robots
Law enforcement prepares for its newest rookies: drones.
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Slow Boat to Space
A little company dreams of replacing rocket power with buoyancy.
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Comet Chaser
A European spacecraft is about to make history’s first landing on a comet.
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Solo Around the World
Twenty-seven years after Amelia Earhart tried, Geraldine Mock did it.
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Old, Bold Pilots
In Oceanside, California, there are 300 of them. And oh, the stories they tell.
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Q: What Fighter Pilot Used Gum on His Windscreen as a Gunsight?
The answer* is in a new Air & Space trivia book, guaranteed to win your bar bets.
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The Puzzle of Vertical Takeoff
Followed by the failure of vertical landing.
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The Most Talented Aviation Pioneer You’ve Never Heard of
Starling Burgess beat the Wright brothers at their own game.
Departments
The Great Pacific Roller Coaster Ride
My flight through a Pacific thunderstorm in 1945.
When Failure Was an Option
When Reagan fired air traffic controllers in 1981, replacements had to be found. Not everyone who tried out made the cut.