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 ...

Discover our exhibitions and participate in programs both in person or virtually. Facing a two-front war in Europe and the Pacific, the United States mobilized its vast human and industrial resources ...

The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum (NASM) is dedicated to responsibly lending artifacts for exhibition to increase access to the Museum’s premier collections. Through our lending program, ...

Built by Hughes Aircraft, this early version of the Lightweight Exoatmospheric Projectile Kinetic Kill Vehicle (LEAP KKV) was successfully tested at the hover facility at Edwards Air Force Base in ...

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.

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 ...

Leonardo da Vinci created masterpieces of art and sculpture. Equally remarkable, his aggregate achievements in engineering, mathematics, anatomy, geology, physics, music, military technology, ...

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.

When the Apollo 17 spacecraft carrying U.S. astronauts Gene Cernan, Harrison Schmitt, and Ron Evans returned to Earth on December 19, 1972, the Apollo lunar landing program came to its end. No human ...

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 ...