Aviation & Space Exploration Story Briefs

From ancient to modern times, people have studied "the heavens" and wondered "what's out there?" Technology helps us to take a closer look. Meet the pioneers of space and aviation in this collection of stories.

Shepard was the first American in space when he blasted off in a Redstone rocket on May 5, 1961.

Did Amelia land at Nikumaroro, a Pacific atoll, when she couldn't find Howland? Why did she lose radio contact? Historic footage from her last flight ...

Apollo 11's Lunar landing is a dangerous mission without alarms going off. Getting close to the Moon's surface, the astronauts receive a program warn...

This is the official portrait of the Apollo 11 crew.

During the Apollo 13 accident, the crew used the three modules of their spacecraft in unplanned ways.

Gene Kranz was a key player, among other NASA employees, who helped Apollo 13's flight crew safely return to Earth after a life-threatening situation ...

Some people wondered whether Apollo 13 should have had that number..."13." When a life-threatening situation developed, how did collaboration between ...

Colonel Benjamin Oliver Davis, Jr. was commander of the 332nd Fighter Group, composed entirely of Tuskegee Airmen. The character of Colonel A.J. Bulla...

This image, as described by NASA, depicts “NGC 6302: Big, Bright, Bug Nebula.”NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day website tells us m...

The Bubble Nebula - NGC 7635 - is known as a “space bubble.”  What created this space bubble? To answer that question, let’s ch...

This diagram depicts what happens if the Space Shuttle's Orbiter needs to return to the launch site.

Meet the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft, built for a soon-to-end mission to Saturn. Cassini is the orbiter; Huygens is the probe.

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