National Air and Space Museum

The National Air and Space Museum has the world's largest collection of aviation and space artifacts. The Smithsonian began collecting artifacts long before they had a dedicated building in which to display them. Some artifacts were displayed in other Smithsonian facilities, while a large number were simply kept in storage.

The National Air and Space Museum in downtown Washington DC opened to the public in July, 1976, during the nation's Bicentennial year. Apollo 11 astronaut Mike Collins served as the museum's first director.

At its opening, the downtown museum displayed many significant aerospace artifacts, from a Wright Flyer (the first powered flight) to the Spirit of St. Louis (the first solo, non-stop flight across the Atlantic) to Friendship 7 (the first American spacecraft to orbit the earth) to Apollo 11 (the first manned landing on the moon). It continues to add new artifacts, including the Rutan Voyager (the first powered aircraft to complete a non-stop, non-refueled flight around the world) and SpaceShipOne (the first private reusable craft to go to space twice in a two-week period), as well as representatives of other important aerospace milestones.

The museum expanded, opening the Udvar-Hazy Center in December 2003 to display additional (and frequently oversized) artifacts, including a Shuttle Orbiter, SR-71 Blackbird, and Concorde.

I visited the museum twice, once in 2007 and once in 2011. The museum began a multi-year renovation project in 2018, updating most or all of the galleries in which I photographed artifacts. Thus, the museum today may differ significantly from when I last visited.

As of now, I have not yet sorted through all of my pictures from the National Air and Space Museum, but some other page references this location. Thus, this is a "place holder" version right now, with only the pictures actually referenced. Come back some time later to see if I've finished up, or drop me an email to request me to prioritize the rest of these pictures.