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AirSpace

AirSpace

National Air and Space Museum 201 Episodes Jun 25, 2026

AirSpace is a podcast from the National Air and Space Museum that explores the connections between aviation, space, and everyday life. Twice a month, hosts discuss stories from aviation and space history, news, and culture, drawing links to movies, music, travel, and more. The show aims to make aerospace accessible and interesting to all listeners, whether they are aviation enthusiasts or casual fans.

Episodes

50 Years: Opening Day Jun 25, 2026 27:18 On July 1, 1976, the National Air and Space Museum opened its doors to the public. It was an unforgettable debut for an iconic building, complete with a flyover from the Air Force’s Thunderbirds, speeches from President Gerald Ford (and a certain Apollo astronaut), and a ribbon-cutting triggered by a signal from a spacecraft on its way to Mars. There was nothing quite like the National Ai
AirSpace Bonus! Sidedoor: The Wright Sister Jun 11, 2026 40:47 We'll be back soon with new episodes of AirSpace! In the mean time, here's a treat from our friends at Sidedoor.Orville and Wilbur Wright have been immortalized as the men who opened the skies to human flight. But could they have achieved such great heights without the wind beneath their wings—their sister? Katharine Wright was her brothers' biggest champion, official spokesperson, closes
AirSpace Revisited: How Do You Sleep? May 28, 2026 26:50 One of the most commonly asked questions about living and working in space is where and how the astronauts sleep. Watching the astronauts set up their sleeping arrangements on the recent Artemis II mission around the moon got us thinking about this topic again, so we're revisiting a favorite episode from 2022. Sleeping in space goes back almost as far as there have been people in space (s
Whirly-Girl #13 May 14, 2026 27:43 In the late 1940s and early 1950s, helicopters were creating quite a buzz. After limited use during World War II, manufacturers ramped up production and enthusiasm for vertical flight soared. Although the dream of “a helicopter in every garage” never quite materialized, more civilian pilots earned their helicopter ratings. One of them was Jean Ross Howard, who became the 13th woman in the
Snoopy in the Sky Apr 23, 2026 21:45 IT'S A BIRD! IT'S A PLANE! IT'S A . . . DOGHOUSE? Throughout Charles Schulz's Peanuts stories, Snoopy has used his incomparable imagination to go on iconic aviation and space adventures. He's transformed himself into a World War I flying ace, a charter pilot, an astronaut, and even a helicopter. Today on AirSpace, we learn how Charlie Brown's best friend Snoopy became a bona fide aerospac
GO, SPEED RACERS! The 1929 Women's Air Derby Apr 9, 2026 27:14 SPEED . . . SKILL . . . SABOTAGE? In August 1929, twenty pilots took off from Santa Monica in a historic and thrilling air race. The all-female lineup—including big names like Amelia Earhart, Pancho Barnes, and Louise Thaden—hopped from city to city across the U.S. on their way to the finish line in Cleveland. Though it was dismissed by some at the time as the "Powder Puff Derby," the Wom
A Tale of Two Satellites Mar 26, 2026 40:51 In the Cold War, space was a new and critical frontier for intelligence. Many early satellites were spy satellites (although they did a bit of science, too). In this episode, we learn about two early U.S. spy satellite programs, GRAB and CORONA. We learn what motivated these programs, why they were so important to future satellite development, and how to recover film capsules mid-air usin
Scandalous Mar 12, 2026 25:01 Today on AirSpace: the scandal of the century! Matt and Emily are joined by friend of the show and Museum curator Bob van der Linden to learn all the twists and turns of the Air Mail Crisis of 1934.The controversy centered on one question: who should fly the mail? Conflicts between brand-new commercial airlines, Congress, and the Roosevelt administration reached a boiling point that led t
Kings of the Capsule Feb 26, 2026 38:58 July 24th, 1969. After their historic mission to the Moon’s surface and back, there was one final step in the Apollo 11 mission: splashdown. As the command module floated (gracefully, we are sure) in the Pacific Ocean, a team of elite Navy divers known as Frogmen swam up to help the astronauts safely and securely onto a helicopter that would take them to the USS Hornet. Today on AirSpace,
Gone to the Dogs Feb 12, 2026 31:24 Unfortunately, there are still more humans than dogs in the average airport terminal. Still, it’s not uncommon to see dogs as you run to catch your flight. Some dogs, like humans, are just travelers passing through. But others, increasingly, are at the airport to take care of business. Today on AirSpace: it’s Canine Career Day! We discuss the surprisingly wide variety of airport dog jobs,
AirSpace Live! Cooking in Space Jan 22, 2026 35:21 Space travel is hungry work. Humans have spent nearly six decades experimenting with different ways to feed astronauts (with mixed reviews). As astronauts live and work in space on longer missions further from home, a new generation of chefs and food scientists is thinking outside the box (and can, and tube, and pouch). What if space travelers had kitchens complete with appliances and pan
Movie Mini: Arrival Jan 8, 2026 23:37 Science fiction heroes aren't usually humanities professors, but Arrival  (2016) is the exception to that rule. Amy Adams stars as Dr. Louise Banks, who may be the only person on Earth who can figure out what a pair of mysterious aliens are trying to say. Today on AirSpace, Matt and Emily discuss the film, its source material (Ted Chiang's novella Story of Your Life), linguistics, non-lin

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