Flight

Eileen Collins in space in 1995, when she became the first woman to pilot a space shuttle.

What It Was Like to Become the First Woman to Pilot and Command a Space Shuttle

Eileen Collins talked to <i>Smithsonian</i> about her career in the Air Force and NASA, women in aerospace and more

Massive 'Ice Dragon' Ruled the Skies Above Ancient Alberta

The newly described pterosaur with a wingspan over 30-feet was one of the largest flying creatures to ever exist

"New Horizon" is a roving art installation traveling through Massachusetts this summer.

A Giant, Mirrored Hot Air Balloon Is Currently Traveling Over Massachusetts

Called 'New Horizon,' the roving art installation by Doug Aitken reflects on nature and the future

Life reconstruction of the bizarre membranous-winged Ambopteryx longibrachium.

Newly Discovered Bat-Like Dinosaur Reveals the Intricacies of Prehistoric Flight

Though <i>Ambopteryx longibrachium</i> was likely a glider, the fossil is helping scientists discover how dinosaurs first took to the skies

If Light Can't Escape Black Holes, How Do We Get Photos of Them... and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

The breakthrough propeller, its blades shaped by hatchet and drawknife from two-ply spruce, was sheathed in linen and sealed with aluminum powder mixed into a heavy varnish.

Why Wilbur Wright Deserves the Bulk of the Credit for the First Flight

A new book advances a controversial theory about the singular contribution that went into the brothers’ pioneering achievement

A time-lapse image showing the plane flying across a gymnasium.

MIT Flies Model Airplane Powered by the Blue Glow of Electric Fields and Ionic Winds

The model plane, with no moving parts, could pave the way for new flight technology that emits no pollutants

Sean D. Tucker says the Oracle Challenger III is "truly a magic carpet—just a dream to fly."

This One-of-a-Kind Biplane Embodies the Thrill of Airshow Flight

The Air and Space Museum’s new “We All Fly” gallery will encourage imaginations to soar

Pictured at center, Yekaterina Budanova was one of the only women fighter pilots of World War II, and remains one of the most successful in history.

A Soviet Ace Shot Down Nazi Pilots With Great Skill, But Her Feats Are Mostly Forgotten Today

Yekaterina Budanova, who died in combat 75 years ago today, reveals a larger story about the complicated history of women soldiers in the Red Army

A crab spider spins out fine silk fibers for its aerial dispersal. The image is displayed as a negative to make the silk easier to see.

Before Soaring Through the Air, Tiny Crab Spiders Study the Wind

A recent study sheds new light on spider flight

“Inverted Jennies” grew in notoriety; as one writer note, they “blossomed into the Taj Mahal of stamps."

How the Inverted Jenny, a 24-Cent Stamp, Came to Be Worth a Fortune

Mark the centennial of an epic mistake at the National Postal Museum where several of these world-famous stamps are on view

The story of Laika (above, in a postage stamp from the Emirate of Ajman, now part of the UAE) lives on today in websites, YouTube videos, poems, and children’s books, at least one of which provides a happy ending for the doomed dog.

The Sad, Sad Story of Laika, the Space Dog, and Her One-Way Trip Into Orbit

A stray Moscow pup traveled into orbit in 1957 with one meal and only a seven-day oxygen supply

An artist’s concept of the low-boom flight demonstrator outside the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company’s Skunk Works hangar in Palmdale, California.

Five Things to Know About NASA’s Supersonic X-Plane

The $247.5 million aircraft could revive supersonic flight for civilians

This digitally-colorized negative-stained transmission electron microscopic (TEM) image shows recreated 1918 influenza virions that were collected from supernatants of 1918-infected Madin-Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK) cells cultures 18 hours after infection.

Flu Skies: How Influenza Might Spread On a Plane

A new study suggests the chances of contracting a sick passenger's flu virus is surprisingly low

Get a Front Row Seat to Rocket Launches at Kennedy Space Center

On July 24, 1950, NASA launched its first rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, ushering in the space era.

Tuskegee Airmen and P-47

Why African-American Soldiers Saw World War II as a Two-Front Battle

Drawing the connection between fascism abroad and hate at home, pre-Civil Rights activists declared the necessity of “double victory”

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Time to Renew my CFI

Why go to the trouble to renew a certificate I don’t use? The bottom line is that I just worked too hard to get it

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Barron Hilton Pioneers of Flight Gallery Opens Tomorrow

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