Research in the Aeronautics Department is related to all aspects of flight in the atmosphere. In the Department of Space History, research is conducted on the history and technology of spaceflight and exploration. This research provides an invaluable foundation in developing exhibits for the public, in selecting artifacts for the Museum's collection, in writing publications, and in educating the public through lectures and other means.
These five projects are just a sampling of the scholarly activities performed in 2013 by Aeronautics and Space History Department curators. A complete list of activities is at the bottom.
- Speech: "Looking Backward/Looking Forward: The Potential for Spaceflight in the New Millennium," American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Ohio State University Section Distinguished Lecture, Columbus, Ohio, April 3, 2013, by Roger Launius
- Presentation: "Space Artifact or Nazi Weapon: Displaying the Smithsonian's V-2 Missile, 1976-2012," Smithsonian Congress of Scholars Lecture Series, Washington, DC, Feb. 2013, Michael Neufeld and David DeVorkin.
- Paper at Professional Conference: "The Lehigh Airports Competition of 1930: What the Judges Missed," Airport Landscape: Urban Ecologies in the Aerial Age, Harvard University Graduate School of Design, November 15, 2013, by Dominick Pisano
- Presentation: "Arctic Flight: A Century of Alaska Aviation," Presentation Series for Arctic Flight Exhibition, Anchorage Museum, Anchorage, Alaska, February 2013, by Jeremy Kinney
- Recurring Scholarly Event: The Smithsonian Institution Contemporary History Colloquium meets monthly, October through June, at the National Air and Space Museum and, drawing together academics from the many local universities, Smithsonian staff, and, importantly, Smithsonian fellows, serves as a forum of discussion and analysis of recent historical scholarship relevant to the collecting and exhibition responsibilities of the Smithsonian's history and art museums.
Complete list of Aeronautics and Space History Department projects