Space & Aviation
Explore Space & Aviation across the Smithsonian through stories, events, and exhibitions. Use the filters to browse by format, then bookmark events and exhibitions to keep track of what you want to visit or attend.
377 results
Cambridge, MA (December 11, 2025)— Astronomers have produced the first continuous, two-dimensional maps of the outer edge of the Sun’s atmosphere, a shifting, frothy boundary that marks where solar winds escape the Sun’s magnetic grasp. By . Shortened snippet. View full page for more details.
We have launched all manner of satellite and machinery into low-Earth orbit — but what goes up must come down. Most often, these items burn up in the atmosphere upon re-entry, which isn’t good for air quality or the ozone layer.
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 has set foot on the Moon’s surface since.
How the smallest Airship drones are performing jobs that conventional drones can’t.
An interview with former U.S. Air Force pilot David Dale.
How a WWII WASP pilot’s flight jacket came to be part of the museum’s collection.
Cambridge, MA (March Date, 2026) — The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation has awarded the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) $3.2 million to advance the key mirror technology for the new Lynx X-ray Observatory. Once launched, Lynx will . Shortened snippet. View full page for more details.
A new project from the Chandra X-ray Observatory reveals stunning connections between the vast universe and the microscopic world that we cannot see with the naked eye.