Airspace

Georgia "Tiny" Broadwick was 15 years old when she first jumped out of a hot air balloon with a parachute in 1908. Over the next 14 years she would make over 1,000 jumps, first out of balloons and then as the first woman to jump from an airplane. Her talent and skill was sought after by the Army in WWI when they first started training their balloon and airplane pilots to use parachutes as a safety device. Tiny even accidentally invented the ripcord that's a staple in parachute design today. Her legacy stretches long, even if she's not as well known of a name as some in early aviation. We're exploring her life and legacy today on AirSpace. Thanks to our guest in this episode:Dr. Alex Spencer, Aeronautics Curator - National Air and Space MuseumSign up here for the monthly AirSpace newsletterAirSpace is made possible by the generous support of Olay.

In the 1930s, rocketry was basically a joke among the scientific establishment in the U, but that didn't stop a rag tag group out of Pasadena from trying to build rockets. That group would first be known as The Suicide Squad (for all the dangerous experiments they conducted on campus) and later as the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Over its first decade, the JPL story includes funding challenges, communist intrigue, brushes with the occult, building weapons, building engines and ultimately--building rockets. Buckle in, this one's a wild ride. Thanks to our guests in this episode: Fraser MacDonald, Author, Escape from Earth: A Secret History of the Space Rocket Erik Conway, JPL Historian Interview with Frank Malina from the Caltech Archives and Special Collections Sign up here for the monthly AirSpace newsletter AirSpace is made possible by the generous support of Olay.

AirSpace will be back in two weeks with brand new epsiodes. In the meantime, enjoy this episode from our friends at the podcast, This is Love. When twin rovers named Spirit and Opportunity landed on Mars twenty years ago, they were only supposed to last 90 Martian days. But years passed, they were still alive, and engineers kept taking care of them. “I remember telling myself, ‘Please don’t die, Opportunity. Please don’t die.’” Find more information about this episode here. AirSpace is from the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum.

While we get Season Nine ready for you, we turned to our friends at Sidedoor to bring you a story of running and running and running and running…in Space! We’ll let them take it from here: Until the 1970s, women were barred from competing in U.S. marathons because of the belief that the "violent movements" of running would wreak havoc on their reproductive system, "thus defeating a woman’s true purpose in life, i.e., the bringing forth of strong children." Through a series of steps, stumbles—and one epic tackle—running pioneers like Roberta "Bobbi" Gibb and Kathrine Switzer blazed the trail for women marathoners who followed, including Sunita Williams—the first person to run the Boston Marathon in space! Sunita Williams, astronaut Jennifer Levasseur, curator, Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Peter Sagal, marathoner; host of NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! Bobbi Gibb, first woman to run the Boston Marathon Kathrine Switzer, first women to officially run the Boston Marathon — Sign up here for

You’ll have new AirSpace episodes soon, but since they may have found Amelia Earhart’s plane(!!!) we thought we’d revisit our episode on her and Eleanor Roosevelt’s somewhat unlikely friendship. On a spring evening in 1933, Amelia Earhart took first lady Eleanor Roosevelt on a joyride. Imagine two women—dressed for dinner at the White House (white gloves and all)—stealing away from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave to pilot and co-pilot a nighttime flight to Baltimore. On this episode of AirSpace, we’re detailing the high-flying friendship of these two women – from their shared background as social workers to their mutual love of flight and advocacy of women’s empowerment and social justice. Amelia and Elanor took the business of being role models seriously, leading by example and using their influence to elevate important societal issues. Talk about an influencer power couple! Thanks to our guests who helped us contextualize their history and friendship – biographers Allida Black and Susan Butler. AirSpace is made po

As we look forward to the upcoming total solar eclipse over North America, AirSpace is looking back in time to a much much older eclipse. In 1142 a total solar eclipse with much the same path as the one coming up April 8. It was also the sign in the sky the Seneca needed to join the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, a representative democracy that would govern six tribes below Lakes Erie and Ontario. Before a 1997 journal article, Western Historians insisted the eclipse that decided the Seneca happened much later in the 15th or 16th century. We talk to one of the authors of the paper about the tradition, evidence, and astronomy behind the more accurate date. Thanks to our guest in this episode: Dr. Barbara Alice Mann, Professor Emerita-University of Toledo Sign up here for the monthly AirSpace newsletter AirSpace is made possible by the generous support of Olay.

Did you know that it takes the Earth 365-ish days to orbit the sun? It’s that ‘ish’ that makes February 29 a thing every four years. We talk to one of the Museum’s astronomy educators to get the low down on Leap Day. Thanks to Astronomy Educator Shauna Brandt Edson for joining Emily for this episode. Sign up here for the monthly AirSpace newsletter AirSpace is made possible by the generous support of Olay.

Afrofuturism is a cultural movement that explores the possibilities of Black futures and pasts and presents through art, literature, music, film and pop culture. And a lot of Afrofuturism has a lot of space in it. Today we're talking about Afrofuturist space and Afronauts and walking through the Afrofuturism exhibit by our friends at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Thanks to our guests in this episode: Dr. Kevin Strait, Curator National Museum of African American History and Culture Tim Fielder, Author and Artists Matty’s Rocket Sign up here for the monthly AirSpace newsletter AirSpace is made possible by the generous support of Olay.

Hollywood is in love with airports and airplanes and we are too! How many rom-coms can you name where the meet cute, the almost meet, the epic chase or the long distance relationships happens thanks to a terminal or twist of fate seat assignment? We can name at least six. And if we missed your favorite, drop us a comment on Instagram or Twitter! Thanks to our guest in this episode: Scott Meslow, Author From Hollywood with Love: The Rise and Fall and Rise Again of the Romantic Comedy Sign up here for the monthly AirSpace newsletter AirSpace is made possible by the generous support of Olay.

From when it started in 1981, MTV used an iconic neon scribbled astronaut as its channel ID for years. And even today the award you get when you win a VMA is a statuette of an Apollo era astronaut, but why is MTV obsessed with the Moonman? And why do we have two of those statuettes in our collection? We're digging into the history of cable's giant leap, today on AirSpace Thanks to our guest in this episode: Dr. Margaret Weitekamp, National Air and Space Museum Space History Chair Sign up here for the monthly AirSpace newsletter AirSpace is made possible by the generous support of Olay.

Hurricanes are a fact of life in the Caribbean but in 2017, the season was so bad that it changed everything for the people of Puerto Rico. Only two weeks after another major hurricane, Maria barreled into the island bringing more than 200 mile per hour winds, rain and flooding. In the aftermath, the Coast Guard with their helicopters are crucial to search and rescue, aid drops and surveying damage. We spoke to two Coast Guard members, as well as one of our own colleagues, about what the hurricane was like, and what happened after. We’re joined by Vanessa Parés, Digitization Coordinator NASM Thanks to our guests for this episode: Captain Ed Aponte, U.S. Coast Guard Avionics Technician First Class Mari DeLong, U.S. Coast Guard Sign up here for the monthly AirSpace newsletter AirSpace is made possible by the generous support of Olay.

In January 1942 a B-314 flying boat operated by Pan American World Airways landed in New York after making arguably the first around the world flight by a commercial airliner. But when they set out from San Francisco in 1941, they never intended to hold that record. Trapped in the Pacific by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Captain Bob Ford and his crew were forced to return home flying west. It took them more than a month and several tight spots to get their important aircraft back to the U.S. Thanks to our guest in this episode: Ed Dover, former Pan Am Radio Operator and Author of The Long Way Home: A Journey into History with Captain Robert Ford Sign up here for the monthly AirSpace newsletter AirSpace is made possible by the generous support of Olay.

In a lot of political and financial circles space exploration is often talked about in terms of human space exploration VERSUS robotic space travel. But most scientists and engineers who work on space missions think this question is better answered with a yes, and. We're diving into the pros, cons and uses of both human and robotic space exploration today on AirSpace. We’re joined by Dr Erica Jawin, Postdoctoral Research Geologist at NASM’s Center for Planetary Studies Thanks to our guests for this episode: Dr Brett Denevi, Geology Lead Artemis III, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab Bobak Ferdowsi, Systems Engineer on Robotic Space Missions Sign up here for the monthly AirSpace newsletter AirSpace is made possible by the generous support of Olay.

Today is a very special day, parade day of course! The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade has been a holiday staple for almost 100 years, and the balloons have been a part of it for nearly as long. We got the download on these helium-filled works of art that aren't all that different from the hot-air cousins. Thanks to our guest on this episode: Kathleen Wright, Director of Production Operation at Macy’s Parade Studios Sign up here for the monthly AirSpace newsletter AirSpace is made possible by the generous support of Olay.

Space is dangerous. And as long as we've been sending people into space, we've also been thinking about what we can do to make sure they're prepared for it, and make sure they will come home again. The main way that manifests is in training astronauts before they go up, and contingency planning on how to rescue them if something goes awry. We’re joined by Dr. Emily A. Margolis, Curator of Contemporary Spaceflight. Thanks to our guests on this episode: Major Nick Barwikowski, Commander, Army SERE School Chief Warrant Officer, Retired Mike Christanson, Head Instructor, Army SERE School Grant Cates, Senior Project Manager at The Aerospace Corporation Sign up here for the monthly AirSpace newsletter AirSpace is made possible by the generous support of Olay.

When the Boeing 747 first came out it revolutionized the already revolutionary Jet Age. Able to carry more than twice as many passengers as it's predecessors, the 747 was initally designed for cargo. Boeing thought it would be quickly outstripped by the U.S.'s SST. But when the 'American Concorde' was scrapped in favor of breathable air and no sonic booms over major cities (see our episode Boom, Clap for deets), the 747 became the plane of choice for high passenger load routes. Now that Boeing's retired her, we're looking back on the more than 50 year history of the original Jumbo Jet. Thanks to our guest on this episode: Michael Lombardi, Boeing Historian Sign up here for the monthly AirSpace newsletter AirSpace is made possible by the generous support of Olay.

Europa Clipper is soon to be on its was to the outer solar system to study one of Jupiter's most interesting moons. In addition to the really awesome science it will do ('sniffing' gases with a mass spectrometer to find out what they're made of?!? How cool is that??), the spacecraft will carry a "message in a bottle" etched with your names and a poem by U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón. Icy moons, science, and poetry, all our favorite things! Thanks to our guest on this episode: Dr. Bob Pappalardo, JPL, Project Scientist-Europa Clipper Sign up here for the monthly AirSpace newsletter AirSpace is made possible by the generous support of Olay.

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 the museum. We asked two friends whose jobs are to do just that to talk to us about just what it takes to put airliners, spacecraft, X-wings and more up on the ceiling. Thanks to our guests on this episode: Tony Carp, Museum Specialist, National Air and Space Museum Hannah O’Toole, Exhibit Designer, National Air and Space Museum Sign up here for the monthly AirSpace newsletter AirSpace is made possible by the generous support of Olay.

We’re extending our Hot Barbie Summer by looking back on this gem from season seven. When Barbie first became an astronaut in 1965, she was more than a decade ahead of NASA sending a woman to space. Since then, there have been several versions of astronaut Barbie — from a spangly 80s doll to one who had a jumpsuit just like the one they give you at Space Camp. Today, astronaut Barbie actually went to the International Space Station! And she's joined by a collection of dolls that represent actual people who really contributed to space science like Sally Ride and Katherine Johnson. We're talking about all those versions of Barbie today on AirSpace. (Follow along with pictures of all of these dolls on our Instagram.) Sign up here for the monthly AirSpace newsletter AirSpace is made possible by the generous support of Olay.

From the moment it hit theaters in 1977, Star Wars has been adopted and adapted by many groups. In the past several years an explosion of Star Wars movies, shows, and books have brought more diversity into the universe than ever before. In these recent releases, Latino actors and storylines have taken center stage. We're jumping in to the past and present of Latino representation in the Star Wars universe. Thanks to our guests on this episode: Dr Michelle Martinez, Instructor of Film and Media Studies Arizona State University Dr Genevieve Carpio, Professor of Chicano/a Studies UCLA Daniel José Older, Author and Story Architect AeroEspacial is a four-part series from AirSpace that presents stories of Latino history, culture, and people at the heart of aviation and space. This limited series received federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Latino. AirSpace is made possible by the generous support of Olay.