http://www.airspacemag.com/rss/AirSpaceMag-How-Things-Work.html The latest articles about How Things Work from AirSpaceMag.com en-us 2013 Smithsonian Fri, 24 May 2013 01:30:57 GMT http://www.airspacemag.com/multimedia/Space-Station-Steering-166139196.html http://www.airspacemag.com/multimedia/Space-Station-Steering-166139196.html How do you maneuver a million-pound spacecraft? Tue, 14 Aug 2012 07:58:46 GMT http://www.airspacemag.com/space-exploration/HTW-Laser-Guide-Stars-187934441.html http://www.airspacemag.com/space-exploration/HTW-Laser-Guide-Stars-187934441.html Adaptive optics and lasers are giving ground-based telescopes better-than-Hubble views. Tue, 22 Jan 2013 09:23:07 GMT http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/1903-flyer.html http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/1903-flyer.html Find out why the world's first controllable airplane was a bear to control. Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:18:25 GMT http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/How-Things-Work-Dropping-in-on-Mars.html http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/How-Things-Work-Dropping-in-on-Mars.html NASA's Curiosity rover will try a new way of landing on another planet. Tue, 15 Nov 2011 03:00:00 GMT http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/How_Things_Work.html http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/How_Things_Work.html NASA's Curiosity rover will try a new way of landing on another planet. Fri, 05 Dec 2008 07:10:36 GMT http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/HTW-Chandra_jan08.html http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/HTW-Chandra_jan08.html The Chandra X-Ray Telescope, explained. Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:42:46 GMT http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/phased-array-radar.html http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/phased-array-radar.html It takes a big eye to see a missile coming. Wed, 25 Jun 2008 02:55:22 GMT http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/shuttle_tiles.html http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/shuttle_tiles.html Why the space shuttle can withstand reentry temperatures up to 2,300 degrees. Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:22:53 GMT http://www.airspacemag.com/flight-today/Upside-Down.html http://www.airspacemag.com/flight-today/Upside-Down.html The tricks that keep the engine from knowing it’s not right side up. Mon, 17 Mar 2008 04:02:55 GMT http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/meatball.html http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/meatball.html Pilots who make it safely to the deck of an aircraft carrier have seen the light. Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:20:19 GMT http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/deuce.html http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/deuce.html The secret to a spyplane's eternal youth is a new suite of gadgets installed on a classic chassis. Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:19:44 GMT http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/airport.html http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/airport.html A guide to the meaning of the myriad signs, lines, circles, arrows, numbers, letters, and lights on the airport grounds. Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:19:47 GMT http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/kits.html http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/kits.html Engineer to airplane: Stifle Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:20:28 GMT http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/phone.html http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/phone.html For those who've use portable electronic devices aboard airliners: Here's why they're dangerous. Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:19:02 GMT http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/safer.html http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/safer.html Once airliners implement this pending FAA rule, a spark will no longer become a flame. Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:19:06 GMT http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/dancing-in-the-dark.html http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/dancing-in-the-dark.html Night vision goggles can save a pilot's life or, if he hasn't had adequate training, take it. Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:18:55 GMT http://www.airspacemag.com/flight-today/church.html http://www.airspacemag.com/flight-today/church.html Never operate your airplane engine lean of peak exhaust gas temperature. These guys aren't buyin' it. Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:19:09 GMT http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/support.html http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/support.html In which we survey the variety of objects to which a jet engine can be affixed. Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:19:12 GMT http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/deicing.html http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/deicing.html Ice kills. That's why engineers continue to invent new ways to keep it off airplane wings. Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:19:22 GMT http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/cit-benningfield.html http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/cit-benningfield.html Better technology is helping airline pilots keep a safe distance from terrain. Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:18:34 GMT http://www.airspacemag.com/flight-today/sticks.html http://www.airspacemag.com/flight-today/sticks.html "Uh oh. Why is this piston rod left over?" Meet the pilots who are gutsy enough to fly freshly restored airplanes. Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:18:42 GMT http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/infrared.html http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/infrared.html The systems that cool the threat from heat-seeking missiles. Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:18:44 GMT http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/cit-wilkinson-july03.html http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/cit-wilkinson-july03.html That's the sound of the prop-driven XF-84H, and it brought grown men to their knees. It didn't fly all that great either. Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:18:46 GMT http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/good_wood.html http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/good_wood.html Wooden propellers are like Louisville Sluggers: The distance. Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:18:48 GMT http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/sweetman.html http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/sweetman.html In the evolution of the airplane, Darwinian principles have applied unevenly. Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:18:41 GMT http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/cit-bilstein.html http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/cit-bilstein.html The inventions, institutions, gadgets, and lucky breaks that have shaped the story of the airplane. Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:18:27 GMT http://www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/cit-trenner.html http://www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/cit-trenner.html Machines alone could not have pushed the airplane forward. Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:18:28 GMT http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/upside.html http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/upside.html Devices an aerobatic airplane uses to defy gravity--and convention. Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:18:11 GMT http://www.airspacemag.com/flight-today/cit-wilkinson.html http://www.airspacemag.com/flight-today/cit-wilkinson.html They're like highly specialized surgeons: there are few of them and they're in great demand. Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:17:57 GMT http://www.airspacemag.com/flight-today/cit-chandler.html http://www.airspacemag.com/flight-today/cit-chandler.html Birds do it, bees do it. Can two weird aircraft make aviation history doing it? Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:17:53 GMT http://www.airspacemag.com/flight-today/cit-larson.html http://www.airspacemag.com/flight-today/cit-larson.html Why you remain conscious at 30,000 feet. Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:17:54 GMT http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/thrill.html http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/thrill.html A dedicated craftsman explores the invention of the airplane by recreating its predecessors. Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:15:21 GMT