Today, satellites are the battle fleet's keenest eyes. But during World War II, crews aboard lumbering flying boats provided distant, early warning of enemy ships and aircraft at sea. The Consolidated ...

The 1909 Wright Military Flyer is the world's first military airplane. In 1908, the U.S. Army Signal Corps sought competitive bids for a two-seat observation aircraft. Winning designs had to meet a ...

Visit us in Washington, DC and Chantilly, VA to explore hundreds of the world’s most significant objects in aviation and space history. Free timed-entry passes are required for the Museum in DC. The ...

In the spring of 1917, Britain's most famous World War I fighter, the Sopwith Camel, made its debut. Shortly after deliveries to front-line squadrons of the Camel began, Sopwith designed a new ...

Tumansky developed increasingly powerful versions of this engine. The 60,800 N (13,668 lb) thrust R-11 F2S-300 final production model was also manufactured under license by both India and China. Some ...

Although her flight is not considered “official,” this day in history we remember Blanche Stuart Scott, the first American woman to take a solo hop into the air.

On July 20, 1969, humans walked on the Moon for the first time.We look back at the legacy of our first small steps on the Moon and look forward to the next giant leap.

The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum will reopen half of its flagship building on the National Mall Friday, Oct. 14. Eight new and renovated exhibitions, the planetarium, museum store and ...

Mercury spacecraft #5 was launched on the Mercury-Redstone 2 (MR-2) mission on January 31, 1961. Onboard for the 17-minute suborbital flight was the chimpanzee "Ham." Due to problems with the Redstone ...

The Mercury spacesuit was a close-fitting, two-layer, full pressure suit developed by the B.F. Goodrich Company from their Mark IV pressure suit, as used by the U.S. Navy. It was selected by NASA in ...

Learn how the Wright brothers conducted aeronautical research in pursuit of making the first powered airplane.

Five Lunar Orbiter missions photographed both the near and far sides of the Moon in 1966 and 1967 to prepare for the Apollo landings.