Germany's aerospace industry has been growing, driven by civil air transport demand. But it is facing difficult changes as its defense-related business contracts.

William G. Purdy cautioned in 1966 that society was on a path where affluence and regulation threatened to choke off interest in “unorthodox inquiries.”

If Neil Armstrong had written his own obituary, he likely would have said he had been a test pilot, an engineer, an educator and one of the 400,000 Americans who helped land the first humans on the Moon. Less important to him was the combination of experience and lucky career choices that placed him as the first person to reach the surface of a body beyond Earth.

Multibillion-dollar prime contractors will not be the source of innovations critical to future aerospace and defense systems.

Founder left university to form company that focuses on cryogenic fluid management.

Huntsville company with radar roots branches into systems integration as it outgrows small business status.

Ascent Solar Technologies' panels can be rolled up and molded like wallpaper.

Huntsville company specializes in high-performance optical systems, including sensors and seekers, that exploit the phenomenon behind three-dimensional movies.