Finding and watching the enemy were aircrew’s most important wartime duties. Aviators helped their comrades on the ground through reconnaissance and observation. From balloons, observers informed ...

The Tuskegee Airmen were the Black aviators and ground crews that served with the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II. They were the first Black people allowed to fly for the U.S. military. Their ...

What exactly was the Space Race? Why did we care so much? The Space Race grew out of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, the most powerful countries after World War II. For 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.

Between 1899 and 1905, the Wright brothers’ program of research and experimentation led to the first airplane in 1903, and an improved, practical aircraft two years later. Their basic design and ...

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.

Art of the Airport Tower takes you on a photographic journey to airports in the United States and around the globe. Smithsonian photographer Carolyn Russo explores the varied forms and functions of ...

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.

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.

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.

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.

This is a tricky one for the innermost planets. Humankind has known about them for thousands of years. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are all visible in the night sky with the unaided eye.