The new World War I: The Birth of Military Aviation exhibition will use fascinating artifacts and the distinctive sights and sounds of early combat aircraft to tell the story of how remarkable people ...

The Space Race grew out of a conflict known as the Cold War. While not a war in the traditional sense, the two countries were in a state of military and political tension that lasted nearly 50 years ...

Close-up, real-time surveillance was required to succeed at these demanding missions. Since the Vietnam War, military forces have used the unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV, to closely track the enemy ...

After the competitive short-term goals of human spaceflight had been met in the 1960s, many advocates of space exploration envisioned a permanent human presence in space.

The Cuban Missile Crisis was a major Cold War confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union.

When the National Air and Space Museum opened its doors in July 1976, it featured in its theater a film produced specifically for the Museum called To Fly in a large format called IMAX.

In 1941, a new air base at Tuskegee, Alabama, became the center for the training program of Black air personnel. First with the 99th Fighter Squadron and later with the 332nd Fighter Group, African ...

The NASM B-26B-25-MA named "Flak-Bait" (AAF serial number 41-31773) survived 202 combat missions over Europe, more than any other American aircraft during World War II. Workers at the Baltimore ...

Maj. Richard I. Bong, America's leading fighter ace, flew this P-38J-10-LO on April 16, 1945, at Wright Field, Ohio, to evaluate an experimental method of interconnecting the movement of the throttle ...

Learn more about the evolution of the commercial flying experience in the United States using objects from the Museum's collection.

The Wright brothers—you may have heard of them. But who exactly were they and what did they do? The invention of the airplane by Wilbur and Orville Wright is one of the great stories in American ...

Explore Alma W. Thomas' vibrant artistic response, showcasing her unique painting style and colorful interplay of patterns at the National Air and Space Museum.