The National Air and Space Museum is one of the most-visited museums in the world. It is home to hundreds of artifacts, including the first Wright brothers airplane, the Spirit of St. Louis, the Apollo 11 command module and the space suits worn by the first humans on the moon. Be sure to visit the museum’s other location, the expansive Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, near Washington Dulles International Airport in Northern Virginia, which showcases the space shuttle Enterprise and the Boeing B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay.

New Exhibitions

“Beyond: Visions of Our Solar System” (211): If only it were possible to tour the solar system in an interplanetary spacecraft. In this new exhibition, see artist Michael Benson’s masterfully restored and reprocessed images of the sun, planets and their moons taken over the past 50 years by unmanned robotic space probes.

“Barron Hilton Pioneers of Flight” (208): (opens Aug. 30). This newly revised exhibition includes artifacts such as Anne Lindbergh’s telegraph key and Jimmy Doolittle’s “blind flight” instruments, and covers the growth of aviation and rocketry during the 1920s and 1930s.

First Floor

“Milestones of Flight” (100): Many of the most famous air and space vehicles in history are found just steps inside the doors of the museum. Look up to see Charles Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis, which he piloted for the first solo nonstop transatlantic flight; the Bell X-1 Glamorous Glennis, the first aircraft to exceed the speed of sound; the North American X-15, the fastest rocket-powered aircraft ever flown and SpaceShipOne, the first privately developed piloted vehicle to reach space. At floor level, touch a real moon rock and check out the space capsules Friendship 7, Gemini IV and Apollo 11.

“America by Air” (102): Packed with historic airplanes, including a Douglas DC-3, a Ford Tri-Motor, a Pitcairn PA-5 Mailwing and the nose of a 747, this gallery explores the history of passenger air travel in the United States. Step inside a Boeing 747 and a Douglas DC-7 and experience an A320 cockpit simulation of a takeoff and landing at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

Interactive flight and ride simulators (103): Control the action. Climb aboard a simulator and try your hand at aerial combat. Seating for two, $8 per person. Or choose an adventure aboard a ride simulator and experience aviation ride films such as “Space Walk,” “Cosmic Coaster,” “F-18 Experience” or “Wings.” Seating for eight, $7 per person.

Museum Store (101): Find books for all ages, science kits, toys, clothing, collectibles—exclusive items that can’t be purchased elsewhere.

“Golden Age of Flight” (105): Learn the stories of record-breaking aviators like Roscoe Turner, Amelia Earhart and Jimmy Doolittle, who thrilled aviation fans with their derring-do in the period between the two world wars. The centerpiece is the Hughes H-1 racer, in which Howard Hughes attained world speed records in 1935 and 1937.

 

“Jet Aviation” (106): In 1939, a pioneering type of aircraft engine developed by a German engineer ushered in a new age in aviation. Don’t miss two jet-age milestones, the German Messerschmitt Me 262 and the Lockheed XP-80 Lulu-Belle.

“Early Flight” (107): See the world’s first military airplane, the 1909 Wright Military Flyer.

“How Things Fly” (109): Dozens of kid-friendly gadgets and games teach the four principles of flight—weight, lift, thrust and drag. Activities abound: find out your weight on the moon, hop into the cockpit of a Cessna or learn to make an award-winning paper airplane.

“Looking at Earth” (110): Study the ingenious ways humans have struggled to better view the planet. See a tiny 1903 camera that could be strapped to a pigeon, as well as the Cold War era’s U-2 spy plane.

“Explore the Universe” (111): Examine technology used to peer farther and farther into the cosmos, from antique astrolabes to today’s telescopes.

“Lunar Exploration Vehicles” (112): This gallery displays a constellation of vehicles used for lunar exploration. Dominating the space is an authentic lunar module, the second one built for the Apollo program. Six more like it landed astronauts on the moon.

“Moving Beyond Earth” (113): Explore the opportunities and challenges of human space flight on the shuttle, space station and beyond. In this new immersion experience, visitors can “orbit” in the shuttle for a flight around the International Space Station. At computer kiosks, learn what it is like to be mission control’s flight director keeping a shuttle mission on track. Historic artifacts include astronaut gear, space suit gloves, the suit worn by space tourist Dennis Tito and parts of the Hubble Space Telescope.

“Space Race” (114): A giant black-and-white V-2 rocket marks the entrance to the gallery, home to a spectacular collection of rare items from the earliest days of human space exploration, including Yuri Gagarin’s and John Glenn’s space suits.

Second Floor

“Sea-Air Operations” (203): Come aboard the quarterdeck of the fictitious USS Smithsonian. As a member of the crew, watch aircraft take off and land from the deck, and learn the history of ship-based flight.

“Military Unmanned Aerial Vehicles” (204): This gallery showcases six aircraft representing the beauty, speed and capability of modern unmanned flight systems technology.

“World War II Aviation” (205): Explore the history of land-based fighter aviation among five major combatants—Germany, Japan, Britain, Italy and the United States.

“Legend, Memory and the Great War in the Air” (206): See rare airplanes, including the German Pfalz D.XII, Albatros D. Va and Fokker D. VII fighters; a British Sopwith 7F.1 Snipe fighter; and a French SPAD XIII fighter and Voisin VIII bomber.

“Exploring the Planets” (207): Learn more about the Mars Exploration Rovers and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Mars Express and other recent spacecraft that have revolutionized scientific understanding of the surface, atmosphere, ice deposits and ancient water on the Red Planet.

“The Wright Brothers & The Invention of the Aerial Age” (209): Learn the story of how Wilbur and Orville Wright solved the problems of powered flight and changed the world.

“Apollo to the Moon” (210): Astronaut Neil Armstrong, after descending the ladder of lunar module Eagle, took the first steps on the moon on July 20, 1969. The artifacts here tell the story of the United States’ quest to place humans on the moon.

“Beyond the Limits” (213): See a full-size space shuttle cockpit simulator and learn how computers are used to train pilots and astronauts.

Find It:

• Wright Flyer Second floor, Gallery 209, top of escalator

• Spirit of St. Louis—"Milestones of Flight," Gallery 100; best view is from the second floor

• Apollo 11 command module On the first floor, "Milestones of Flight," Gallery 100

• DC-7 Climb aboard—"America by Air" Gallery 102

• "How Things Fly" Gallery 109, next to the welcome center

• Enola Gay On view at the Udvar-Hazy Center

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