Beyond: Visions of Our Solar System

May 26, 2010 - May 2, 2011
Flight in the Arts, Gallery 211, 2nd Floor, East Wing
Combining art, science, photography, and exploration, this exhibition presents 148 images of the Sun, the planets, and their moons taken over the last 50 years by unmanned robotic space probes. These images give viewers a look at these distant places in great and colorful detail and provide a photographic introduction to these astonishingly diverse landscapes.

Companion book

Moving Beyond Earth

November 19, 2009 - Permanent
Gallery 113, 1st Floor, East Wing
This exhibition explores the achievements and challenges of human spaceflight in the United States during the space shuttle and space station era through artifacts, immersive experiences, and interactive computer stations. Highlights include:

• a 12-foot-tall space-shuttle model and other launch-vehicle models
• astronaut gear, space gloves, and parts of the Hubble Space Telescope, including COSTAR, an instrument designed to correct the Hubble's spherical aberration
• the suit worn by space tourist Dennis Tito and a model of the Ares launch vehicle
• a Presentation Center for live events, broadcasts, and Webcasts

Military Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)

- Indefinitely
1st Floor, West End, suspended above Gallery 104
On view are 6 aircraft -- Military Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) -- that represent a cross-section of modern unmanned flight systems technology. These aircraft are commonly used by all four military services around the globe to perform many types of missions, including reconnaissance, surveillance, target acquisition, bomb damage assessment, and attack. The evolution of unmanned military aircraft began during World War I and continues today.

America by Air

- Permanent
1st Floor, NW Wing, Gallery 102 (previously Air Transportation)
How did the first commercial airline companies get off the ground? How has the experience of air travel changed over the past century? How will the politics of today affect the way we fly tomorrow? These are some of the issues in the development of commercial air transport this new gallery explores, while expanding on the history of air transportation from only a few years after the invention of powered flight to the commercial challenges and technical sophistication of the 21st-century jet age. Featuring seven complete airplanes, engines, and other objects, this exhibition focuses on the following time periods:

• The Early Years, 1914-1927
• Airline Expansion and Innovation, 1927-1941, featuring a Ford Tri-Motor and a Douglas DC-3, the most successful airliner of the 1930s.
• The Heyday of Propeller Airliners, 1941-1958, featuring a Douglas DC-7, the first airliner to provide nonstop coast-to-coast service.
• The Jet Age, 1958-Today, featuring the forward fuselage section of a Boeing 747 jumbo jet. Note: Visitors can enter from the second floor to view the cockpit.

See November 2007 Smithsonian magazine, pp. 40-42

Booklet: $5.95

The Wright Brothers & The Invention of the Aerial Age

- Indefinitely
Gallery 209, 2nd Floor, East Wing
To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers' historic first flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December 17, 1903, this exhibition presents the Wrights' technical achievements and examines the cultural impact of early powered flight. The centerpiece of the gallery is the original Wright brothers' 1903 Flyer, displayed on the ground for the first time since acquired by the Smithsonian in 1948. Also on view are 250 photographs and 150 other artifacts, including the stop watch used to time the first powered flights, a Wright wind tunnel test instrument used in unlocking the secrets of aerodynamics, a reproduction of the Wright Brothers' 1899 experimental kite, and full-size reproductions of their 1900 and 1902 experimental gliders.

Hands-on stations and interactive computer stations: both provide an understanding of flight

Free Family Guide

- See related articles in Smithsonian magazine: April 2003, pp. 50-62; December 2003, p. 46 and pp. 50-57.
- See related March 2003 Air and Space Smithsonian centennial of flight edition.

Companion publication by curators Tom Crouch and Peter Jakab, $35 (cloth)

Explore the Universe

- Permanent
Explore the Universe, Gallery 111, 1st Floor, East Wing
Through objects, interactives, and videos, this exhibition explains what scientists think our universe is like, how the present scientific view of the universe came to be, how it is being shaped today, and what mysteries remain. With the development of each new tool to explore the universe -- telescopes, photography, spectroscopy -- our understanding of the universe changed dramatically. Despite these new advances, many of our questions remain unanswered: What is the universe? How big is it? How old is it? How did it begin? A changing section on what's new in our exploration of the universe will keep the exhibition up to date and attempt to answer these questions.

• Exploring the Universe with the Naked Eye examines our first, basic understanding of the universe. Featured artifacts include Islamic astrolabes and a replica of the armillary sphere and portable mural quadrant used by Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe.
• Exploring the Universe with the Telescope illustrates how the telescope revolutionized the way we see the universe. Featured artifacts include the telescope tube through which William Herschel discovered thousands of nebulae and star clusters, leading him to postulate that other galaxies exist beyond our Milky Way.
• Exploring the Universe with Photography shows how photographs changed the way astronomers recorded the universe. Featured artifacts include the camera used by Edwin Hubble in discovering other galaxies.
• Exploring the Universe with Spectroscopy demonstrates how the composition of light reveals histories within the universe. Featured artifacts include an early spectrograph from the late 1800s and a 1912 letter from Albert Einstein discussing the warping of space by matter.
• Exploring the Universe in the Digital Age explains how digital detectors and processors have enhanced the power of the earlier tools. Featured artifacts include the "Z machine" that gathered data for the first 3-D map of the universe.

Related book: Beyond the Earth, $40 (cloth)

Space Race

- Permanent
Space Race, Gallery 114, 1st Floor, East Wing
This major exhibition traces the competition in space between the U.S. and the former Soviet Union from its origins in the 1950s to the recent international cooperation. Objects include a Soyuz TM-10 spacecraft, a Kosmos 1443 "Merkur" spacecraft, and a space suit made for the never-accomplished mission to land a Russian on the Moon. The exhibition is divided into the following sections:

• Military Origins of the Space Race examines the rivalry to develop rockets powerful enough to send thermo-nuclear warheads across the globe.
• Secret Eyes in Space reveals long-secret reconnaissance projects and includes the recently declassified "Corona" spy satellite camera.
• Racing to the Moon looks at the public accomplishments of both countries and includes the Soviet "Krechet" lunar space suit and the Apollo space suit.
• Exploring the Moon looks at the equipment developed to transmit pictures of the lunar surface to Earth, to perform chemical analyses of the soil, and to do other scientific experiments and includes an Apollo Lunar Landing Module.
• A Permanent Presence in Space looks at the efforts of both countries to establish permanent space stations for continued scientific discovery and the beginning of an era of cooperation in space.
• Models of the Space Shuttle

See Aug. 1997 Smithsonian magazine, p. 2

How Things Fly

- Permanent
How Things Fly, Gallery 109, 1st Floor, East Wing
This interactive gallery explains the basic principles of air and space flight through hands-on activities. The gallery features a Cessna 150, a section of a Boeing 757 fuselage, a model of the International Space Station, and more than 50 interactives. The exhibition is divided into 7 sections:

• The Basics: Gravity and Air demonstrates the properties of gravity and air with a barometer that slides from floor to ceiling and an 11-foot, radio-controlled blimp overhead.
• Winging It uses a series of wind tunnels to demonstrate the forces of lift that lift an aircraft off the ground. "Explainers" are on hand to perform demonstrations.
• Faster Than Sound: High-Speed Flight demonstrates how aircraft fly faster than the speed of sound through the use of a supersonic wind tunnel.
• Getting Aloft: Thrust explores propellers, jets, and rockets that provide thrust, the forward motion needed to sustain lift and counter drag.
• Gravity and No Air: Flight in Space uses computer interactives and a "gravity well" to demonstrate how a spacecraft in orbit is affected by gravity.
• Staying Aloft: Stability and Control explains "attitude" (orientation) using a rotating platform, a model Cessna 150 in an airstream, and a real Cessna 150 with operable rudder, ailerons, and elevator.
• The Makings of a Flying Machine: Structure and Materials explains how materials and structure shape the way air and space craft look and perform, explores the advantages and disadvantages of different materials used, and includes a cut-away Cessna 150.

An amphitheater-style area features "Explainers" performing demonstrations. "Forces of Flight" demonstrations, paper airplane contests, "Air and Space Touchables" demonstrations, and videos rotate throughout the day.

A Visitor Resource Center is filled with science activities, video programs, interactive computer programs, children's literature, and other reference materials related to flight sciences.

Note: Magellan T. Bear, a teddy bear featured in an elementary school project designed to stimulate children's interest in geography, science, and exploration, is on view in the gallery indefinitely. He was added May 1, 1998.

See Nov. 1996 Smithsonian magazine, p. 36.

Legend, Memory, and the Great War in the Air (WWI Aviation)

- Permanent
Great War in the Air, Gallery 206, 2nd Floor, West Wing
This gallery features the emergence of air power in World War I. Gear, pontoons, and a streamlined boat hull examine the real nature of WWI aviation, plus the power of legend and public perception in history.

Highlights include:
• Voisin 8: early type of night bomber, 1915
• SPAD XIII: French fighter aircraft also used by Americans
• Fokker D.VII: considered the best German fighter aircraft of WWI
• Albatros D.Va: German fighter aircraft that flew on all fronts during WWI
• Sopwith Snipe: British aircraft considered one of the best all- around single-seat fighters, although it came quite late in the war
• German factory scene: WWI mass-production techniques, with original equipment
• A model of the Spruce Goose and several artifacts related to its construction (outside the gallery)

Small theater with video presentations

Beyond the Limits: Flight Enters the Computer Age

- Permanent
Beyond the Limits, Gallery 213, 2nd Floor, East Wing
The gallery illustrates how the electronic computer has revolutionized aerospace engineering, aviation, and spaceflight. Computers are used to design and build air- and spacecraft, monitor air traffic, navigate and control flights, and train pilots.

The exhibition is divided into 7 areas:
• Design
• Aerodynamics
• Computer-Aided Manufacture
• Flight Testing
• Air Operations
• Flight Simulators
• Space Operators

Highlights include:
• X-29: forward-swept-wing airplane (full-scale model)
• Cray-1 supercomputer: once the world's fastest computer
• Interactive computers: Visitors can test their skills at designing the wing of a jet airplane, guiding a lunar landing safely to the moon's surface, and landing an airplane at a busy airport in New York.
• HiMAT: robot airplane that pioneered the use of fly-by-wire technology, in which a computer -- not the pilot -- controls the aircraft's flaps, rudder, and ailerons
• Minuteman III ICBM Guidance and Control System: the brain of the Minuteman missile, the standard U.S. land-based intercontinental ballistic missile
• Full-size space shuttle cockpit simulator

Voyager: Around the World without a Pit Stop

- Permanent
Independence Ave. Lobby (South Lobby), Gallery 108, 1st Floor
This exhibit features the Voyager, the first aircraft to fly around the world without landing or refueling. The flight was made by pilots Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager Dec. 14-23, 1986.

The Teledyne engine used to propel the aircraft is included, as well as a video showing the building of the plane and its test flights. The plane was designed by Burt Rutan.

The exhibit also presents the history of round-the-world flights and the evolution of aircraft construction techniques, including a sample of the Voyager's composite material.

Looking at Earth

- Permanent
Looking at Earth, Gallery 110, 1st Floor, East Wing
This gallery traces the development of technology for viewing Earth from balloons, aircraft, and spacecraft. The quest for ever-higher, ever-clearer images of the Earth is reflected in photographs and spacecraft images from a few feet to 7.5 million miles away. Some photographs are mural-size.

Highlights include:
• de Havilland DH-4: an American World War I aircraft used extensively for mapping and surveying in the 1920s
• Lockheed U-2C: key U.S. high-altitude reconnaissance jet developed in 1954-55 during the Cold War era, with flight suit and typical camera, dating from the 1950s to the present
• Earth observation satellites: prototypes of TIROS, the world's first weather satellite, built in 1960; ITOS weather satellite (engineering test model), 1970s; GOES geostationary satellite (full-scale model), 1975 to the present; and models of other satellites
• Landsat image of your state: interactive touchscreen display showing orbital views of the 50 states. Visitors to the gallery can also "punch in" an image of their hometown area as seen by a Landsat satellite

Additions include
• Gary Powers Memorabilia:
A case of memorabilia and personal artifacts belonging to WWII American fighter pilot Gary Powers is on view.
• A model of the SR-71 Blackbird is on view

The Golden Age of Flight

- Permanent
Golden Age of Flight, Gallery 105, 1st Floor, West Wing
This gallery covers the years between the World Wars (1919-1939) but focuses on the period shortly after Lindbergh's flight in 1927 through 1939. Described as "golden" because of many advances in aviation technology, record-making flights, and intense interest by the public in aviation events, the era produced many of today's legendary aviation heroes. Aircraft and engines, newsreel coverage of aviation events, photographs, models and reproductions, and newspaper headlines are included. Opening coincided with the 60th anniversary of the takeoff of the Douglas World Cruisers, a major event during the Golden Age.

Highlights include:
• Wittman Buster: 1947 air racer that won the most races in aviation history
• Beechcraft Staggerwing: popular general aviation aircraft of the 1930s
• Northrop Gamma Polar Star: first transantarctic flight, 1935
• Curtiss Robin Ole Miss: set endurance record of 27 days over Meridian, Mississippi, in 1935
• a reproduction of the Gee Bee Z
• the Golden Age Theater, featuring film footage of famed pilot Jimmy Doolitle

Black Wings: The American Black in Aviation

- Permanent
Pioneers of Flight, Gallery 208, 2nd Floor, Center
Note: This exhibition is part of Pioneers of Flight, which is closed for renovation and is anticipated to reopen fall 2010. For details, see Pioneers of Flight.

An adaptation of this exhibition will travel under the auspices of SITES. For venues, call SITES at 633-3168 or visit www.sites.si.edu.

Jet Aviation

- Permanent
Jet Aviation, Gallery 106, 1st Floor, West Wing
This gallery illustrates the first 40 years of jet aviation (1939-1979), including the evolution of commercial and military jet aircraft.

Aircraft on display include:
• Messerschmitt Me 262: world's 1st operational jet fighter
• Bede-5
• McDonnell Lockheed XP-80 Shooting Star Lulu Belle: world's 1st operational carrier jet fighter
• the FH-1 Phantom

Also on view is a 25' by 70' mural of 27 jet aircraft by Keith Ferris.

Early Flight, The Samuel P. Langley Gallery of

- Permanent
Early Flight, Gallery 107, 1st Floor, West Wing
This re-created indoor aeronautical exhibition (circa 1913) highlights the early history of the airplane from antiquity through the first decade of powered flight. Period furnishings, talking mannequins, and ragtime music combine to bring back the special ambience of the time.

Highlights include:
• Wright 1909 Military Flyer: the world's 1st military airplane
• 1908 Rinek Voisin
• Lilienthal glider: glider that inspired Wilbur and Orville Wright, 1894
• 1912 Curtiss Pusher
• 1914 Bleriot monoplane

Theater with video presentation

Pioneers of Flight, Barron Hilton

- Permanent
Pioneers of Flight, Gallery 208, 2nd Floor, Center
Note: This gallery closed for renovation February 1, 2009, and is anticipated to reopen November 19, 2010 (new reopening date).

Sea-Air Operations

- Permanent
Sea-Air Operations, Gallery 203, 2nd Floor, West Wing
This gallery explores overwater flight, focusing on carrier operations from 1911 to the present.

Highlights include:
• Carrier Hangar Deck for All Times: displays major aircraft from different periods in the history of sea-air
• Boeing F4B-4 biplane: a shipboard fighter used from 1932 to 1937
• Douglas SBD Dauntless: the principle carrier-based bomber used throughout most of WWII
• Grumman FM-1 Wildcat: the first-line Navy fighter and the start of WWII
• Douglas A-4 Skyhawk: the first-line naval attack aircraft of the 1950s and 1960s
• Re-creation of the bridge of an aircraft carrier where visitors can step aboard the USS Smithsonian to watch simulated aircraft take off and land
• Ship's Museum presents the history of flight over water

Outdoor Sculptures

- Permanent
Outdoors
Near Jefferson Drive entrance:

• Ad Astra sculpture by Richard Lippold

Near Independence Avenue entrance:

• Continuum -- cast bronze sculpture (1976) by Charles O. Perry

Apollo to the Moon

- Permanent
Apollo to the Moon, Gallery 210, 2nd Floor, East Wing
This gallery traces NASA's manned space program beginning with Project Mercury's Freedom 7 (5/5/61); then the Gemini Project (1965-66); followed by the Apollo Program (1967-1972), with Apollo 17 as the last manned exploration of the moon.

Highlights include:
• Space flight time line, with photos of participating astronauts
• Items and equipment used by astronauts during the Apollo Project
• Information about the moon and selected lunar scenes showing Lunar Rover and astronauts at work
• Saturn Booster -- S-1C rocket propulsion system
• Lunar Samples: 4 types of lunar soils and rocks
• Apollo 16 telescope backup; the original, designed by George Carruthers, is on the moon

Milestones of Flight

- Permanent
Milestones of Flight, Gallery 100, 1st Floor, Center
This gallery features famous airplanes and spacecraft that exemplify the major achievements in the history of flight.

Highlights include:
• Mercury Friendship 7: the first manned orbiting flight, carrying John Glenn, Feb. 20, 1962
• Gemini IV: the first U.S. space walk by Edward H. White II, June 3-7, 1965
• Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia: 1st manned lunar landing, 1969, carrying Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, and Michael Collins
• Touchable Moon Rock: a "gem" from the lunar surface, collected by Apollo astronauts
• Goddard Rockets: a full-scale model of the world's 1st liquid propellant rocket, flown on March 16, 1926, and a large rocket constructed in 1941 by Robert Goddard, father of American rocketry
• Bell XS-1 (X-1) Glamorous Glennis: 1st manned flight faster than the speed of sound, flown by Chuck Yeager, Oct. 14, 1947
• Ryan NYP Spirit of St. Louis: Lindbergh's plane for 1st solo trans-atlantic non-stop flight 1927
• Explorer I: back-up model of 1st U.S. satellite to orbit the earth, 1958
• Sputnik I: Russian replica of 1st artificial satellite to orbit the Earth, 1957
• North American X-15: 1st winged, manned aircraft to exceed 6 times the speed of sound and the 1st airplane to explore the fringes of space, 1967
• Langley Aerodrome No. 5: unmanned, research aircraft model, flew successfully, 1896
• Mariner 2: model of 1st spacecraft to study another planet when it flew by Venus, launched Dec. 14, 1962
• Pioneer 10 (prototype): 1st spacecraft to fly by Jupiter and 1st aircraft to venture beyond the planets, launched March 3, 1972

Note: The 1903 Wright Flyer is now on view in The Wright Brothers and The Invention of the Aerial Age. The aircraft, flown by the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on Dec. 17, 1903, was the 1st heavier-than-air, powered aircraft to make a sustained, controlled flight with a pilot aboard.

Additions include:
October 5, 2005:
• SpaceShipOne, the first privately built and operated vehicle to reach space. The ship was designed by Burt Rutan and financed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. On Oct. 4, 2004, pilot Brian Binnie took SpaceShipOne 70 miles (112 km) above the Earth. On Sept. 29, pilot Mike Melvill flew the vehicle 64 miles (102 km) above the Earth. SpaceShipOne flew previously on June 21, 2004, with Melvill piloting and exceeding an altitude of 62 miles. (See article in May 2005 Smithsonian magazine, p. 42.)

September 23, 1999:
• Breitling Orbiter 3 Balloon Gondola: The gondola from the Breitling Orbiter 3, the first balloon to fly around the world nonstop, is on view. After 19 days, 21 hours, and 47 minutes in the air, the Breitling Orbiter 3 and crew -- Switzerland's Bertrand Piccard and Britain's Brian Jones -- landed on March 21, 1999, marking the first successful nonstop circumnavigation of the globe in a balloon. The gondola is 20 feet long and 8 feet high, while the balloon itself is the same height as the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

July 18, 1996:
• Bell XP-59A Airacomet (#1 of 3): 1st American turbojet aircraft, direct ancestor to all American jet aircraft, flown by Robert M. Stanley, Oct. 1, 1942

June 20, 1990:
• INF (Intermediate Nuclear Forces) Treaty Compliance: On view are a U.S. Pershing II missile and a Soviet SS-20 missile, examples of the weapons banned by the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. The Objects were part of Trust But Verify/Do Veri, No Pro Veri exhibition in Space Hall (closed 5/15/97).

February 6, 1980:
• Viking Lander: The Viking Lander is an unmanned proof test capsule used in ground tests before and during the Viking flights to Mars in 1976 (Two Viking spacecraft have softlanded on Mars.). The Viking Landers were the first unmanned American spacecraft to provide a close-up, in-depth look at the surface of another planet. The 2 remotely controlled spacecraft sent back photographs of Mars as well as data on its meteorology and geology. (Note: See Smithsonian magazine "Highlights," Jan. 1980.) In January 1982, the Viking Landing was installed on a simulated surface of Mars.

Welcome Center with Murals by Robert T. McCall and Eric Sloane

- Permanent
Independence Ave. Lobby (South Lobby), Gallery 108, 1st Floor
The South Lobby/Welcome Center features the information desk and the following:

• Robert T. McCall Mural: The Space Mural -- A Cosmic View by Robert T. McCall portrays the past, present, and future of the universe with a depiction of the Big Bang, an Apollo astronaut on the Moon, and a lunar rover and second astronaut.

• Eric Sloane Mural: Earth Flight Environment by Eric Sloane illustrates different weather phenomena in our atmosphere -- lightening, rain, a rainbow -- and a variety of cloud forms as a single airplane streaks across the sky.

• Trophy Case
The following objects are on view:
- The Aero Club Trophy for Aviation Excellence, along with a list of winners.
- The NASM Trophy for extraordinary achievements in aerospace.
- A model of Ascent by John Safer, a 65-foot sculpture installed at the Udvar-Hazy Center.

• Voyager: Around the World Without a Pit Stop
For details see separate entry under Permanent/Indefinite.

Lunar Exploration Vehicles

- Permanent
Lunar Exploration Vehicles, Gallery 112, 1st Floor, East Wing
This gallery highlights NASA lunar surface exploration.

Highlights include:
• Apollo Lunar Module: a duplicate of the spacecraft that carried astronauts to the surface of the moon in the Apollo Program, late 1960s and early 1970s
• Surveyor Spacecraft: soft-landed on the moon to study lunar soil composition and physical properties of the lunar surface, 1966-68
• Lunar Orbital Spacecraft: circled the moon to perform mapping of the entire lunar surface, 1966-67
• Ranger: provided the first closeup photographs of the lunar surface, 1962-65
• Clementine: designed for a two-month mapping mission in orbit around the moon in 1994. Clementine provided answers to many of the questions about the moon that remained from the Apollo era.

World War II Aviation

- Permanent
World War II Aviation, Gallery 205, 2nd Floor, West Wing
This gallery highlights land-based aviation during World War II and features fighter aircraft from each of 5 countries.

Highlights include:
• North American P-51D Mustang: an outstanding fighter plane used in every theater of war
• Mitsubishi A6M5 Zero: maneuverability and range were excellent; the Japanese navy used it in almost every action throughout the war
• Martin B-26 Flak Bait (nose only): flew the most missions of any American bomber in Europe
• Supermarine Spitfire Mark VII: the legendary British fighter used to defeat the Germans in the Battle of Britain, along with the Hurricane
• Messerschmitt Bf 109G: the principle Luftwaffe fighter; major opponent of the Spitfires and American bombers
• Macchi C.202 Folgore: the most successful Italian fighter to see extensive service; used in the African campaign and in Italy and Russia
• USS Enterprise aircraft carrier model: represents the 1st nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, launched 9/24/1960 (located between WWII Aviation and Sea-Air Operations)

Flight and the Arts

- Temporarily off view
Gallery 211, 2nd Floor, East Wing
Note: This hall features changing exhibitions, generally art exhibitions related to flight. See "New" section (keyword: Flight and the Arts) for the current exhibition.

Exploring the Planets

- Permanent
Exploring the Planets, Gallery 207, 2nd Floor, West Wing
This gallery highlights the history and achievements of planetary exploration, both Earth-based and by spacecraft.

Highlights include:
• Voyager: full-scale replica of the spacecraft that explored Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune in the 1970s and 1980s
• A Piece of Mars? A meteorite fragment discovered in Antarctica in 1979 and thought to be from Mars (placed on view 6/16/1990)
• Surveyor 3 television camera: retrieved from the surface of the Moon by the Apollo 12 astronauts