Tammie Jo Shults was one of the first female fighter pilots in the U.S. Navy and then went on to a career with Southwest Airlines. In this year's Amelia Earhart Lecture in Aviation History on May 30, hear from Shults about her inspiring career: s.si.edu/3xYoGCw

'To see the Earth as it truly is,
Small and blue and beautiful
In that eternal silence where it floats,
Is to see ourselves as riders on the Earth together.'
-- American poet Archibald MacLeish on the Apollo 8 Earthrise photo

#EarthDay

Jim Dean left an indelible mark in the fields of art and science as director of the NASA Art Program from the early 1960s to 1974 and as the Museum’s first art curator from 1974 to 1980. Our current art curator reflects on his life and legacy: s.si.edu/447WjOx

Happy #EarthDay ! In 1972, the Apollo 17 mission gave us our first good view of the whole Earth. This iconic photograph, often called the Blue Marble, is one of the most widely distributed images in existence.

Only one astronaut has went to the Moon, the International Space Station, and blasted into orbit on the space shuttle. In 2022, he also hitched a ride aboard the record-breaking flight of Artemis I. Read “Snoopy in Space” on the latest #ASQ : s.si.edu/3HS97yc

In April of 2001, Space Shuttle Endeavour launched on STS-100. It was a mission with the primary objective of installing Canadarm2 at the International Space Station

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield is pictured here on a spacewalk during the mission.

George Carruthers developed and built a compact and powerful ultraviolet electronographic telescope for Apollo 16 which became the first, and still the only, astronomical instrument sent to the Moon. More on Carruthers and the telescope: s.si.edu/3Ut30aO

On #TDIH in 1955, a two-stage Aerobee Hi sounding rocket for upper atmospheric research made its first successful flight. It could reach an altitude of about 168 miles.

A model of the rocket is pictured.

One year ago today, SpaceX launched Starship, the tallest and most powerful rocket ever launched.

The first free flight of the Bell Rocket Belt was performed at Niagara Falls Airport on #TDIH in 1961. This small propulsion device enables a person to fly short distances using low rocket power with non-combusting gas.

📸: Bell No. 2 Rocket Belt

Three years ago today, #MarsHelicopter Ingenuity became the first craft to achieve powered flight on another planet, when it took off from the surface of the Red Planet. Ingenuity ceased operation earlier this year after its 72nd flight.

Spread my wings like a parachute / I'm the albatross / I swept in at the rescue #tsTTPD

📸: Gossamer Albatross, the first human-powered aircraft to fly across the English Channel #AirSpacePhoto

On this day in 2012, we also said goodbye to Space Shuttle Enterprise. Enterprise was on display at the Udvar-Hazy Center for nearly a decade and is now at Intrepid Museum. We reflect on Enterprise and its display at both museums: s.si.edu/2QDPP3z

On this day in 1960, the Grumman A-6 Intruder prototype flew for the first time. The Intruder’s twin-engined design increased reliability and delivered superior performance to other single-engine designs. This A-6E Intruder is on display at the Udvar-Hazy Center.

On April 18, 2018, the NASA Exoplanets mission TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) launched on a planet hunting expedition. Since then, it has confirmed hundreds of exoplanets and identified thousands of potential ones. More on our AirSpace from the National Air and Space Museum: s.si.edu/3Uo0wdx