The Women's Airforce Service Pilots were a huge part of civilian aviation during WWII. Ahead of our new limited series, Home Front, we've brought back our season four episode. Episodes of Home Front start August 14th. On this episode of AirSpace we’re spotlighting the heroic service and enduring legacy of the Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASP. More than 1,000 of these fearless women flew as civilians for the Army Air Forces during World War II. These skilled pilots performed jobs on the hom...
Jul 24, 2025•39 min
In just a few weeks, five brand new galleries are opening in the museum down on the mall, including galleries where we are once again hanging some (really big) things from the ceiling. We're revisiting this season eight behind-the-scenes episode to remind you just how they get up there. AirSpace is looking up! (We know, we know, we're usually looking up what with the air and the space-ness of our podcast) But today we're exploring how we hang really big, priceless artifacts from the ceiling in t...
Jul 10, 2025•34 min
AirSpacers are watchers of movies, but we are also readers of books. In our inaugural Book Club we're reading The Milky Way: An Autobiography of Our Galaxy by Dr. Moiya McTier. This book is a non-fiction romp through the Milky Way's life (and future death) told from its perspective. How does the Milky Way feel about consuming other galaxies? Does watching us humans get boring? Can a galaxy be self-conscious about its black hole? Dr. Moiya explores these questions and more with personality, or sh...
Jun 26, 2025•21 min•Season 10Ep. 12
If you've been to visit us on the National Mall in the last several years you may have noticed that we've been under construction. Which is very exciting! But even more exciting is some of that construction is done! On July 28, we're welcoming visitors into five brand new galleries. But you, lovely AirSpace listener, get a little bit of a sneak peek. A behind the scenes look at Futures in Space, one of the new galleries with two of its curators — including AirSpace host Matt Shindell. Thanks to ...
Jun 12, 2025•26 min•Season 10Ep. 11
Pancho Barnes was larger than life. Born at the turn of the century, she spent the next 75 years defying every societal norm she found stuffy, boring or just plain stupid. She rode horses and then flew planes in the movies. She raced airplanes and briefly held the women's airspeed record. She owned a notorious inn/restaurant/club/hotel/airport in the desert near what would become Edwards Air Force Base. The Happy Bottom Riding Club was populated by Pancho, her personality and famous people from ...
May 22, 2025•29 min•Season 10Ep. 10
If you were curating a mixtape that might be heard by aliens billions of years from now, but definitely would be seen by your fellow Earthlings, what would you put on it? In 1977, two Voyager spacecraft launched from Cape Canaveral on a journey that would take them out to our outer solar system and beyond. Affixed to the side of these two planetary explorers was the Voyager Golden Record. This ultimate mixtape of humanity contained 27 pieces of music and also pictures, greetings in many language...
May 08, 2025•43 min•Season 10Ep. 9
Bats are the only mammals that truly fly. And the way they do it is very different from other flying things. The way they fly has only recently been understood and there are still questions. Scientist and engineers are trying to use what they do know to create bat-inspired flying machines, but things like bats self-cambering stretching wings skin, skeleton muscles and tiny hair sensors are proving difficult to replicate. Thanks to our guests in this episode: Dr. Sharon Swartz-Brown University Dr...
Apr 24, 2025•23 min•Season 10Ep. 8
There are a lot of different aircraft that fight wildfires, from Host Matt's favorite Sky Crane helicopter to giant cargo jets that dump tons of fire retardant. But today we're taking about a truly unique, purpose-built firefighting airplane: the Super Scooper. This plane skims the surface of a body of water, collects a shocking amount through tiny scoop ports, flies off, and dumps it on a wildfire. We talk to a pilot about what it's like to fly one. Thanks to our guest in this episode: Scott Bl...
Apr 10, 2025•21 min•Season 10Ep. 7
If you haven't listened already, go back and check out Part One. When you hear 'space race' you probably (correctly) think about the 1960s Soviet Union v. U.S. race to put an astronaut on the Moon. But a few hundred years before, the space race was all about Venus. About twice every century we here on Earth get to see Venus pass in the front of the Sun. Back the 18th and 19th centuries, this was a Big Deal. At the time, all astronomers wanted to be the first to use the transit of Venus to figure...
Mar 27, 2025•22 min•Season 10Ep. 6
When you hear 'space race' you probably (correctly) think about the 1960s Soviet Union v. U.S. race to put an astronaut on the Moon. But a few hundred years before, the space race was all about Venus. Twice every century or so we here on Earth get to see Venus pass in front of the Sun (with proper eye protection. Don't stare at the Sun, kids.) Back in the 18th and 19th centuries, this was a Big Deal. At the time, all astronomers wanted to be part of the effort to use the transit of Venus to figu...
Mar 13, 2025•20 min•Season 10Ep. 5
The oldest Earth rocks we have are 4.3 billion years old, and samples we've brought back from the Moon are even older. But what does that have to do with craters on Mars? When the Apollo missions brought back samples, those rocks let us confirm the age of parts of our lunar bestie for the first time. Now, scientific models use data from those samples to extrapolate the age of other geologic events in our Solar System. Thanks to our guest in this episode: Dr. Beau Bierhaus, Senior Research Scient...
Feb 27, 2025•22 min•Season 10Ep. 4
Right now there are seven women on Mars... kind of. The women of Hypatia Mars started out as a small group of friends from Catalonia who wanted to work together tp advance space science and women in STEM. Today they're on their second analog mission at the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah, testing systems and equipment, doing multidisciplinary research, and continuously working to reach out to girls and young women about what their careers are like. Thanks to our guests in this episode: Carl...
Feb 13, 2025•25 min•Season 10Ep. 3
We want to hear from you! Fill out our listener survey at s.si.edu/airspace2025 All the military aircraft and some of the civilian ones in our collections have to be demilitarized before they go on display or into storage. This process, usually called demilling, means taking anything out that might leak, corrode, explode or give away military secrets. Thanks to our guest in this episode: Dr. Mike Hankins, Curator of Modern Military Aviation-National Air and Space Museum Find the transcript here ...
Jan 23, 2025•14 min•Season 10Ep. 2
We want to hear from you! Fill out our listener survey at s.si.edu/airspace2025 Our museum collection, like a lot of other museums' collections, can be a working collection. That means that scientist come to do air or space research using objects in the museum. Sometimes it's as simple as an engineer coming after hours to look a little closer at a plane or spacecraft so they can better understand how it works. And other times researchers leave seismometers on the Viking Lander for several weeks....
Jan 09, 2025•29 min•Season 10Ep. 1
In the lead up to Season 10 we're reviving some of our favorite episodes. Today we bring you Emily's favorite, The Ninety-Nines. It took a certain amount of pure grit to be a pilot in the early days of aviation – and even more for the women who had to defy convention just to get up in the air. And if you’re thinking the only aviatrix was Amelia Earhart – think again. She was just one of a daring group of women aviators who were walking on wings, flying under bridges, breaking altitude records, a...
Dec 26, 2024•29 min
In the lead up to Season 10 we're reviving some of our favorite episodes. Today we bring you Matt's favorite, Smoke from a Distant Fire. Wildfire season is getting longer, according to the US Forest Service, making firefighting a bigger, more vital operation each year. In this episode, Emily, Matt, and Nick take a look at how the pros fight wildfires with everything from large water-carrying airtankers and helicopters to daring smokejumpers who parachute into the blaze equipped with axes, shovel...
Dec 19, 2024•35 min
We were devastated when we heard of Nikki Giovanni's passing earlier this week. Her poetry evokes life on Earth and in the universe in such a beautiful, thoughtful and inclusive way. We are in the process of sharing our favorite episodes from the past and felt it was fitting to bring you back our QueerSpace episode featuring Nikki among other futurist artists. When researching QueerSpace, we repeatedly saw creators blending themes of space and themes of queerness in their art. Many of these arti...
Dec 12, 2024•17 min
Hey Y'all! Since we've made it to season 10 (!!!) we thought we'd take the opportunity to re-introduce ourselves. In this episode you can hear a little more about Hosts Matt and Emily as well as a little bit about the rest of the team behind your favorite pod (we hope). We reference a lot of past episodes, here's some links for your listening pleasure: AirSpace, Live at South by Southwest Rock on the Moon (Matt interviews Ian Anderson) Smoke from a Distant Fire (Matt gets to meet wildfire fighti...
Dec 05, 2024•15 min
While we get Season 10 ready we're bringing you this episode from our friends at the Federal Aviation Administration's Podcast, The Air Up There . Find our transcript here . Did you know that airplanes have two black boxes and they are actually orange? Or that airplanes have closets? Or that one of the tools used to fix an airplane’s auxiliary power unit is referred to as a fishing rod? In this episode we’re talking with Max, aka Airplane Facts With Max, an aircraft mechanic who hosts social med...
Nov 28, 2024•14 min
As we wait for season TEN (!!!) we're looking back on this season six favorite. Every day, satellites orbit Earth taking pictures. These images are used for everything from intelligence to weather prediction and even today’s topic – archaeology. When you hear the term “space archaeology” you might envision a khaki-clad astronaut excavating the Moon. But these space archaeologists are actually Earth-bound researchers who use satellite and other aerial imagery to assist in archaeological applicati...
Nov 14, 2024•23 min
Have you ever wondered how astronauts on the ISS or elsewhere in space vote? It turns out there's a whole Texas law about it. We'll tell you exactly how to cast a ballot from 250 miles up in orbit on AirSpace. Thanks to our guest in this episode: Katherine Schaur - NASA Near Space Network Find the transcript here . Sign up here for the monthly AirSpace newsletter...
Oct 31, 2024•8 min
I don't think we're in Kansas anymore! There are so many things that fly in Oz, from broomsticks to monkeys to bubbles. With the Wicked movie coming out this November, we thought we'd look back on all things flight in the land of Oz and tell you all about how those effects were made for the screen and the stage. Thanks to our guest in this episode: Ryan Lintelman - Entertainment Curator, Smithsonian National Museum of American History Find the transcript here . Sign up here for the monthly AirSp...
Oct 24, 2024•23 min•Season 9Ep. 12
During WWII one plane survived more missions than any other in Europe. Named ' Flak-Bait, ' this medium bomber was saved from the scrap heap after the war and immediately donated to the Smithsonian. However, public display and outdated restoration techniques have taken a toll on the plane. We're taking you inside our restoration hanger to learn all about how the Museum's conservators are reversing damage and conserving Flak-Bait so visitors can learn about her contributions for many years to com...
Oct 10, 2024•40 min•Season 9Ep. 11
What if there are intelligent lifeforms elsewhere in the universe? And what if all we need to do to find them is to listen to the right radio frequency at the right time? That's what the scientists of SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) have been working on for decades. And that research got the Hollywood Glow-Up back in 1997 with Contact , starring Jodie Foster as SETI researcher Dr. Ellie Arroway. Because if we were alone in the Universe, wouldn't that be such a waste of space? Fin...
Sep 26, 2024•23 min•Season 9Ep. 10
It's a bird? It's a plane? Its a guy pretending to be a bird?? We have a very odd aircraft in the collection. It's an ultralight. Small, highly maneuverable and based off the wings hang gliders use to jump off mountains, this particular ultralight was used to help birds migrate. And it starred in the movie in the '90s! When we heard that we were like, say more please. Thanks to our guest in this episode: Russ Lee - curator and chair of the Aeronautic Department, National Air and Space Museum Fin...
Sep 12, 2024•22 min•Season 9Ep. 9
Back in the 'Golden Age' of air travel in the 50s, 60s and 70s going on a trip in an airplane was an event. On those flights you would often get a little souvenir of your air travel; a deck of cards, a little toy, a trading card, captain's wings and a hat for your little tyke. It was a way for you to show off to your friends and for the airline to keep themselves top of mind for your next airline purchase. Like a lot of things from the era, deregulation came along in 1978 and completely changed ...
Aug 22, 2024•20 min•Season 9Ep. 8
Over six missions, the Apollo astronauts collected and brought back 842 pounds of Lunar samples. Most of those Moon rocks were put aside for science, but some were earmarked for things like touch rocks (like we have at NASM) or educational disks (which you might have seen if you had a particularly cool science teacher growing up) and to countries and states as diplomatic gifts. But who decides what rocks go where? And how in the heck did the National Cathedral get a rock to put in a stained glas...
Aug 08, 2024•40 min•Season 9Ep. 7
Our conversation with Jack Black and his brother Neil Siegal about their Mother, Judith Love Cohen was too good just to give you just the taste from the end of our Star Search episode. Here's the extended producers cut with everything from Jack's birth story, to being an engineer in the 70s, to Judy's 2nd career as a book publisher. Thanks to Jack Black and Neil Siegal for sharing their memories about their Mom. Find the transcript here Sign up here for the monthly AirSpace newsletter...
Jul 25, 2024•23 min
There are a lot of air and space celebrities; pilots, astronauts, engineers, etc etc. But there's another category of celebrities that are famous for other things but also have surprising ties to air or space. Today we're talking about three of those; a famous tv chef who also helped create a shark repellant for aviators and spacecraft, an actor from Hollywood's golden years who invented the basis for wifi, and an aerospace engineer who worked on Apollo and more--and also has a pretty famous kid...
Jul 25, 2024•30 min•Season 9Ep. 6
When the Chandra X-Ray Observatory launched 25 years ago, it showed us our universe in a whole new light (literally). From the remnants of exploded stars to Jupiter's auroras, Chandra has shown us so many beautiful and scientifically important sights. Even after a quarter decade this unique telescope is still giving us new data about black holes and whirling neutron stars and all the things out in space that give off x-rays. Thanks to our guest in this episode: Dr. Daniel Castro - Harvard Smiths...
Jul 11, 2024•30 min•Season 9Ep. 5
