Aerospace142 articles archived since 1845

NASA Technology Fights Flight Delays

A new air traffic control system could ensure that you spend less time flying the crowded skies

Forget Flying Cars: Passenger Drones May Be Hovering Soon at a Location Near You

Self-piloting quadcopters make more sense than an airplane–automobile hybrid—but safety and logistics problems remain

Jupiter Moon to Be Searched for Life

If anything's alive on the ice-covered ocean world of Europa, a future NASA mission hopes to find it.  

Aviation in 1917: The State of the Industry and Science

Human Activity Will Heat Alaskan Skies—Deliberately and Picturesquely

This week powerful radio waves will disturb the ionosphere to probe satellite disruptions and create strange glows

Aviation in 1917: The State of the Industry and Science [Slide Show]

Race to Provide Commercial Weather Data Heats Up

A movement to privatize Earth-observing satellites is gaining ground

Exit Interview: Presidential Science Advisor John Holdren

Scientific American executive editor Fred Guterl talks with Pres. Obama’s science advisor, John Holdren, about climate science, space travel, the issue of reproducibility in science, the brain initiative and more...

Best Science Books of 2016

Barbara Kiser, books and arts editor at Nature, talks about her favorite science books of 2016, especially three works about the little-known history of women mathematicians.

How the Military Surveils Santa

In a Christmas tradition, the defense organization NORAD helps us keep track of Santa as he zips around the world delivering toys.

What Trump Will Mean for Air Travel

He hasn't said much, but his influence on the industry could be profound

Hurricane Matthew Monitors Fly into the Belly of the Beast

NOAA storm scientists describe their harrowing trips into a swirling chaos of rain, dust, salt and bacteria

Aviation Is First Global Industry to Limit Carbon Emissions

Gauntlet is now thrown down to maritime and land transportation

A War of Information, 1916

Reported in Scientific American, this Week in World War I: September 30, 1916

Air Traffic Control without Towers

Virtual towers located miles away from airports would be far more cost-efficient and—in principle, at least—just as safe

Rocket Launches Are Actually Surprisingly Successful

The recent SpaceX launchpad explosion is a reminder that rocketry is tricky, but also remarkable for accomplishing as much as it does

Aerial Combat, 1916

Reported in Scientific American, this Week in World War I: September 2, 1916

Aerial Resupply Invented, 1916

Reported in Scientific American, this Week in World War I: August 12, 1916

Glider Aims to Break World Record—and Boost Climate Science

Perlan mission will surf stratospheric waves and conduct atmospheric research

Aviator’s Dilemma: Pilots Encounter Illusions Everywhere

Military aviators learn to second-guess their senses