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Found 178 Stories
X-ray image of contents of a briefcase
Blog

The Two Inventors Who Made Airline Travel Safer

In 1970, two engineers invented the first low-dose X-ray scanner for airline passenger security screening.

Detail of Handprints on Hubble book cover, showing astronaut Kathy Sullivan looking out the window of the space shuttle.
Lemelson Center Books

Handprints on Hubble: An Astronaut's Story of Invention

The first American woman to walk in space recounts her experiences as part of the team that launched, rescued, repaired, and maintained the Hubble Space Telescope. Published in the Lemelson Center Studies in Invention and Innovation book series with MIT Press.

William J. Hammer seated among his large collection of scientific and experimental apparatus
Blog

In Uncle Sam’s Service: WWI Inventor William J. Hammer

Inventor William J. Hammer was one of thousands of patriotic inventors who mobilized for World War I.

Lonnie Johnson with Super Soaker and Nerf toys
Blog

Meet Lonnie Johnson, the Man Behind the Super Soaker

Get to know engineer Lonnie Johnson, founder and president of Johnson Research and Development Co., who invented the wildly-popular Super Soaker water gun, worked on high-performance Nerf dart guns, and focuses today on inventions related to clean energy.

Razor and shaving cream carried aboard the Apollo 11 mission by astronaut Michael Collins.
Invention Stories

Get that clean, baby-faced look: Razors at the Smithsonian

Whether participating in Movember or No Shave November or just being lazy with the razor, November is all about facial hair. Perhaps coincidentally, November hosts some razor-specific invention anniversaries.

Yvonne Brill
Invention Stories

Rocket Scientist and Inventor Yvonne Brill

I venture to guess that when most people hear “rocket scientist” either they envision a man wearing a lab coat. Meet rocket scientist and inventor Yvonne Brill.

National Air and Space Museum curator Tom Crouch
Beyond Words

Podcast: Civil War Communications Technologies, Part 2 (of 2)

Jesse Heitz, King's College, London, describes the Confederacy’s use of ironclad ship technology and National Air and Space Museum curator Tom Crouch talks about prototypes for flying machines during the Civil War.

Howard McCurdy speaks at the 2011 symposium, Moving Beyond Earth
Beyond Words

Podcast: Howard McCurdy Examines Government Influence on Space Innovation

Has the government’s role in the space program influenced innovation?

Pressure suit worn by Neil Armstrong on Apollo 11
Beyond Words

Podcast: Matthew Hersch and the History of the Space Suit

Historian Matthew Hersch explores the underpinnings of the space suit's development.

NASA Food Scientist Vickie Kloeris
Beyond Words

Podcast: Vickie Kloeris Creates Meals for Outer Space

NASA food scientist Vickie Kloeris develops healthy, tasty meals for astronauts.

"Blue Marble" photograph of Earth from Space
Invention Stories

"The Blue Marble"

The famous photograph of the whole Earth, taken in 1972 by the crew of the final Apollo mission and dubbed "The Blue Marble," is one of the most iconic images of our time.

Hang glider invented by Paul MacCready
Beyond Words

Podcast: Paul MacCready's Inventions Do More with Less

Paul MacCready, a pioneer in human and solar powered transportation, talks about inventive creativity and foresees the importance of socially responsible inventing. MacCready passed away on 28 August 2007.

David Gittens in his Ikenga gyroplane
Invention Stories

Innovative Lives: Ikenga—The Revolutionary Gyroplane

Industrial designer David Gittens turned his dreams into reality by designing an improved gyroplane, an aircraft with a rotor powered by wind. The Gyro 2000 Ikenga 530Z is now part of the National Air and Space Museum's collections.

Inventor Akhil Madhani
Invention Stories

Innovative Lives: The Heart of the Falcon: Akhil Madhani

MIT graduate Akhil Madhani developed the Silver Falcon, a robotic arm for doing heart surgery.

Inventor George Carruthers in a clean room with others in lab gear
Invention Stories

Innovative Lives: George Carruthers, Lunar Learning

Astrophysicist George Carruthers got his start building a telescope when he was ten years old. Eventually, astronauts used his invention to take ultraviolet pictures of Earth from space for the first time.

Inventor Hal Walker
Invention Stories

Innovative Lives: Hal Walker, The Coherent Light of Persistence

Hal Walker's life is a lesson in hard work and conviction. "In my experience," he asserts, "an awareness of how things work helps an individual to master events around him."

Logo for the Modern Inventors Documentation database, showing a stylized head with words like creativity and innovation written on different parts of the brain
Archives

Manufacturers Aircraft Association Records, 1843-1979

Inventor Name Unknown

MIND database logo for non-Smithsonian archival materials
Archives

Inventory of the C. L. Sainsbury papers, 1948-1993

Inventor Name Sainsbury, C. L. (Cleo Ladell)

Logo for the Modern Inventors Documentation database, showing a stylized head with words like creativity and innovation written on different parts of the brain
Archives

Allen Pierce Carter Papers, 1926-2006

Inventor Name Carter, Allen Pierce

Logo for the Modern Inventors Documentation database, showing a stylized head with words like creativity and innovation written on different parts of the brain
Archives

Sperry Corporation Aerospace Division Records, 1948-1975

Inventor Name Unknown

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