The Smithsonian Book of Air & Space Trivia

116 Pages·2014·79 MB·English

by  Smithsonian Institution

© 2014 Smithsonian Institution.
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Production Editor: Christina Wiginton
Smithsonian Advisory Committee,
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum:
Paul E. Ceruzzi and F. Robert Van der Linden
Compiled and written by Amy Pastan
Foreword by John R. Dailey
Edited and designed by Kensington Media Group
Editorial Director: Morin Bishop
Design: Barbara Chilenskas
eBook ISBN: 978-1-58834-462-5
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Pastan, Amy.
   The Smithsonian Book of Air & Space Trivia / Amy Pastan.
       p. cm.
   ISBN 978-1-58834-461-8 (paperback)
1. Astronautics—Untied States—Miscellanea. 2. Aeronautics—United States—Miscellanea. 3. Astronautics—Miscellanea .4. Aeronautics—Miscellanea.
I. Smithsonian Institution. II. Title. III. Title: Air and space trivia.
   TL793.7.P37 2014
   629.10973--DC23
2014002172
All photographs courtesy of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum with the following exceptions:
© 1965 The Norman Rockwell Family Entities, printed by permission of the Norman Rockwell Family Agency: 5.1; © SSPL via Getty Images: 4.1;
Courtesy of the Library of Congress: 7.1; Courtesy of NASA: pages 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 3.1, 3.2, 6.1, 8.1, 8.2, 9.1, 9.2, and 9.3;
Courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution Libraries: 5.2 and 5.3; Courtesy of U.S. Air Force Photo: 1.4; Courtesy of the U.S. Navy: 8.3
For permission to reproduce illustrations appearing in this book, please correspond directly with the owners of the works, as seen above. Smithsonian
Books does not retain reproduction rights for these images individually, or maintain a �le of addresses for sources.
v3.1
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Foreword
       Pioneers of Air and Space
one:
The Famous and the First
       Centuries of Discovery
two:
Exploring Beyond Earth
     Launches and Landings
three:
From Cockpit to Capsule
       Getting on Board
four:
Civil and Commercial Flight
        Dog�ghts and Aliens
five:
Air and Space in Popular Culture
         Women Take Wing
six:
Female Aviators Breaking Barriers
     War in the Skies
seven:
Men and Machines in Combat
      Controversies and Calamities
eight:
Turbulent Moments in Air and Space History
       From Monoplanes to Moon Buggies
nine:
Technological Feats
A Revolution in the Skies
AVIATION AND SPACE FLIGHT HAVE TRANSFORMED THE WORLD. In little over a century, as chronicled
here in the pages of The Smithsonian Book of Air & Space Trivia, the barriers of time and distance have come tumbling
down under the unrelenting pressure of new aerospace technologies. As travel times have diminished, the movement of
people around the globe has brought nations together, greatly facilitated commerce, and changed all our lives in
unimaginable ways. Space travel has �red the imagination while communications satellites have ushered in a new era of
instant information. Navigation satellites have revolutionized personal travel while making commercial air travel safer
and more efficient. These and other changes have drastically altered how the world is governed and how it does
business. They have also transformed how and what we now know about our universe. Just as important, but in a
much more sobering way, aviation and space �ight have made war more destructive. So destructive, in fact, that in
some instances the new technologies have raised the stakes high enough to actually prevent global con�ict, although
regional struggles still �ourish with unfortunate regularity. Today, air power is a key to victory in most con�icts.
This revolution is not just a tale of technology; more importantly, it is a story of people, of groups and individuals,
of companies and nations. The Spirit of St. Louis would be just a collection of steel tubes, spruce lumber, and cotton
fabric without Charles Lindbergh, the courageous young man who �rst �ew the width of the Atlantic—alone—in this
simple, frail aircraft. Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong correctly summed up his place in history when he described
his pioneering arrival on the lunar surface as “one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind.” He never forgot
that he was only the vanguard for thousands of people who labored night and day in order for him and 11 other
astronauts to walk on the Moon. His mission was driven by the efforts of an entire nation and it served to inspire the
world.
This delightfully engaging volume presents a wonderful collection of facts and anecdotes that help to put a human
face on the history of aviation and space �ight. Entertaining, fun, and eminently readable, the book reveals a host of
intriguing facets of air and space travel while underscoring how much better connected the world is because of it, and
how much the world now depends on it.
Almost all of these fascinating stories involve people and events that loom large in the remarkable assemblage of
aerospace objects that has educated and inspired the public for decades at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space
Museum. From the world’s �rst successful airplane, the 1903 Wright Flyer, to the Space Shuttle Discovery and almost
every signi�cant aviation or space �ight object in between, the museum tells the exciting, complex story of these
critical technologies. Included too is Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis and Neil Armstrong’s Apollo 11 Command Module
Columbia.
These technological innovations and the people who made and tested them have played a critical role in forming
the modern world and will remain equally vital in shaping our future. So the next time you �y off on business or
vacation, or watch a live broadcast of your favorite sports team, or navigate your way home, thank the Wright brothers
and the aerospace pioneers who followed them.
John R. Dailey
Director
National Air and Space Museum
1

Pioneers of
Air and Space
The Famous and the First
“For some years I have been afflicted with the belief that flight is possible to man. My disease has increased in severity
and I feel that it will soon cost me an increased amount of money, if not my life.”
–Wilbur Wright
AVIATION PIONEER
Who launched the first successful liquid-fuel
Q:
rocket?

A: Robert Goddard. In 1926 Goddard (1882–1945) constructed
and successfully tested the �rst rocket using liquid fuel. For this
achievement, he is considered the father of modern rocket
propulsion. Even in the 1920s, Goddard was convinced there
was a possibility of using rockets to reach the Moon, a theory for
which he was sometimes ridiculed. But the physicist, with
support from the Smithsonian and other institutions, developed
gyro control, fuel pumps, and other mechanisms that paved the
way for future rocket-propelled vehicles and heralded the space
age.
P-series rocket constructed by Robert Goddard.
What daring aviator flew solo around the world in
Q:
the Winnie Mae?

A: Wiley Post. Making only 11 stops, Post (1898–1935)
accomplished a solo 25,750 km (16,000 mi.) circuit of the earth
in seven days, 18 hours, and 49 minutes in the summer of 1933.
The special Lockheed 5C Vega �own by Post was named Winnie
Mae after the daughter of the plane’s original owner, F. C. Hall.
Post had �own around the globe once before, in 1931, with
Harold Gatty as navigator. That �ight had 14 stops and took
eight days, 15 hours, and 51 minutes.
Wiley Post’s Lockheed 5C Vega.