AT THE SMITHSONIAN

Robot Cars and R2D2s: Snapshots from Behind-the-Scenes of new “Time and Navigation” exhibit

From sea to space and back again, the new Air and Space exhibit shows you how we get where we’re going

Leah Binkovitz

The sextant, invented in the 18th century by British mathematical instrument makers, became the most essential instrument for celestial navigation. Jesse Ramsden, who made this sextant, also devised a machine to divide the scale on the sextant very precisely. Courtesy of the Air and Space Museum

In honor of its exhibit opening April 12, the Air and Space museum hosted journalists and social media friends for a behind-the-scenes tour of the exhibit. From early navigation at sea and skies and to outer-space and back again, the exhibit spans hundreds of years of technological change.

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Leah Binkovitz

Leah Binkovitz is a Stone & Holt Weeks Fellow at Washington Post and NPR. Previously, she was a contributing writer and editorial intern for the At the Smithsonian section of Smithsonian magazine.