CURRENT ISSUE

September 2020

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Features

Discovery blasts off

Escape From a Speeding Shuttle

They said it couldn’t be done. But it was.

Bob Ellis' RV-8

Love Letter to the RV-8

Happy 25th Birthday to one of the world’s most popular kitplanes.

sailors watch surrender document be corrected

The Surrender Spectacle

General Douglas MacArthur was a war hero—and an old soldier who knew how to put on a show.

Bad Mojo races Phantom

To Be the Fastest Biplane

The long battle between classic and cutting-edge.

Carolina Anderson

What Are U.S. Airlines Missing? Women.

Despite recruiting efforts, the number of women in airline cockpits has increased in the last decade by a dismal one percent.

artist's conception of Dragonfly on the surface of Titan

In the Skies Over Titan

NASA returns to Saturn’s largest moon with a rover that can fly.

Amelia Earhart on the wing of her plane

Department of Lost Causes

The airplanes and artifacts that museum curators dream of finding.

Departments

Viewport

Someplace Like Home, Sort Of

Of all the exotic worlds in our solar system, this one may be the most irresistible.

Up to Speed

Signs of Civilization

A NASA-funded project will search for technosignatures that might indicate the presence of advanced alien cultures.

Up to Speed

Safe Port in a Covid-19 Storm

Asian aircraft diplomacy

Up to Speed

Terry Virts

The NASA spaceflight veteran talks about what happens to astronauts when they live in space for months.

I Was There

The Day We Killed 23 Tanks

In Operation Desert Storm, the A-10 Warthog was primitive, but it got the job done.

At the Museum

Pass the Torch of Aviation History

Help the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum transcribe the William J. Powell collection.

One More Thing

Mitchell U-2 Superwing

This unique kitplane showed how versatile (and fun) an ultralight can be.

Reviews & Previews

Deep Dives

Could extraterrestrial seas be strikingly similar to our own?