Because of its light weight, this five cylinder engine was selected by Emile Berliner, an inventor possibly better known in the acoustics field, to drive a helicopter's vertical shaft in a 1908 "test ...

After their trip, Spencer and White drew this map of their route, including the unplanned stops.

This MTV "Moonman" statuette is the trophy given during the music television network's annual Video Music Awards. When Music Television (MTV) began in 1981, the new network about music, attitude, mood ...

Sherman M. Fairchild’s 1922 K-3B aerial film camera featured a between-the-lens shutter that produced precision photography for vertical and oblique missions. This first practical aerial camera became ...

The invention of the balloon struck the men and women of the late 18th century like a thunderbolt. Enormous crowds gathered in Paris to watch one balloon after another rise above the city rooftops, ...

This metal arming key is the last remaining piece of the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth. It prevented contact between the batteries and transmitters until Sputnik was prepared for ...

The Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall will showcase some of the museum’s most iconic objects. With artifacts arrayed along walls and suspended from the ceiling—and interpretive displays that provide ...

This black and white television camera made by Westinghouse is similar to the camera used to transmit images of astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on Apollo 11. Stored in the Modularized ...

The Smithsonian Institution received a $200 million donation from Jeff Bezos, founder and executive chair of Amazon, and founder of aerospace and space flight company Blue Origin. A portion of the ...

The Global Positioning System (GPS) is the most significant recent advance in navigation and positioning technology. In the past, the stars were used for navigation. Today's world requires greater ...

The James S. McDonnell Space Hangar opened in November 2004 and displays hundreds of famous spacecraft, rockets, satellites, and space-related small artifacts. The centerpiece of the Space Hangar is ...

When naval air strategists had crafted the requirements for the new fighter, the need for speed had overridden all other performance goals. With this in mind, the Bureau of Aeronautics selected the ...