National Air and Space Museum
Smithsonian Events Week of June 8-12: Night at the Museum, Godzilla and Cantemir
Monday, June 8: So, June isn't busting out all over as far as special events go, sad to say. But there are still lots of regularly-scheduled daily events happening around the mall to enrich your museum-going experience. You can see a complete listing of tours, animal feedings and educational movie ...
June 08, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
A Piece of Coney Island Comes to the Smithsonian
One of the two 8-foot-high spinning stars that once graced the entrance of the now-closed Astroland amusement park at Coney Island is now residing at its new home, the National Air and Space Museum, but it won't be on view for another two years. I spoke with Margaret Weitekamp, curator in the museu...
June 05, 2009 |
By Megan Gambino
Weekend Events: Amelia Earhart, Addison Scurlock and George Washington
Friday, May 29: You Can't Do That Amelia!: Flights of Fancy—Stories for ChildrenBring the little ones in your family out for story time at the National Air and Space Museum. This week, come hear about Amelia Earhart's escapades as a little girl with a reading of Kimberly Wagner Killer's You Can't D...
May 29, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Space Monkey Able Celebrates Flight's 50th Anniversary
On May 28, 1959, a rhesus monkey named Able, plucked from a zoo in Independence, Kansas, and a squirrel monkey named Baker, made history as the first mammals to survive space flight.Strapped into specially-designed couches inside a Jupiter missile nose cone, Able and Baker flew 300 miles above the...
May 29, 2009 |
By Joseph Caputo
"The Camera that Saved Hubble" Coming to the Smithsonian
By the summer of 1990, NASA's "Hubble troubles" had Maryland Sen. Barbara Mikulski outraged. "They have had 10 years to put this together and spent $2.8 billion to be able to get this right," she told an Associated Press reporter. "Now we find that the Hubble telescope has a cataract."The surgery ...
May 27, 2009 |
By Joseph Caputo
Smithsonian Events Week of 5/26-29: Dirt, Sweaters, Fine China and Amelia Earhart
Tuesday, May 26: Dig It! ActivitiesExperience the Natural History Museum's Dig It! exhibition a la carte! As you tour the show, keep an eye out for volunteers who will be stationed by interactive carts. They will be available to answer your questions as well as engage you in special, educational ac...
May 26, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Weekend Events: Forensics, Muppets and Seamen
Saturday, May 23: One World, One Sky: Big Bird's Adventure: Planetarium ShowThis story time and planetarium show double-header is epecially geared to the Smithsonian's youngest visitors. In "One World, One Sky", Big Bird and Elmo and Hu Hu Zhu (a character from the short-lived Chinese incarnation o...
May 22, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
How Big is the Starship Enterprise?
The first Starship Enterprise hangs in the National Air and Space Museum's gift shop. It is 11-feet long."But is it 134-inches long or 135-inches long?" Star Trek fans would ask space history curator Margaret Weitekamp. For years, the precise measurement was a raging debate on Trekkie Web forums. T...
May 19, 2009 |
By Joseph Caputo
Night at the Museum Premieres and ATM is on the Red Carpet!
Thursday night marked the North American premiere of Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian and all the stars were out at the Air and Space Museum to celebrate the event. Naturally, several intrepid Around the Mall bloggers were there as well to cover this rare red carpet gala. (Never mind ...
May 18, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Smithsonian Events Week of 5/11-15: Portraits, Presents, Star Trek and Sailing
Monday, May 11: Gallery Talk: June Wayne's Self PortraitIn tonight's gallery talk, National Gallery paper conservator Rosemary Fallon and Smithsonian American Art Museum curatorial associate Ann Prentice Wagner discuss June Wayne's technique in this self-portrait. While in the museum, be sure to ch...
May 11, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Behind the Scenes with American History's Entertainment Curator
You've seen the movie, now see the memorabilia. As the National Museum of American History's entertainment curator, Dwight Blocker Bowers is responsible for preserving the museum's most eclectic collection. From Dorothy's ruby slippers to Oscar the Grouch, Bowers takes great care to collect objects...
May 06, 2009 |
By Joseph Caputo
Curating Pandemic at the American History Museum
Every illness has a unique narrative. From polio and tuberculosis to SARS and now swine flu, the Smithsonian collects artifacts and pieces of history from past epidemics to show future generations the impact of specific illnesses and how they shaped medicine and American life."We look for things f...
May 04, 2009 |
By Joseph Caputo
Smithsonian Events Week of 4/27-5/1/09: Vietnam, Jazz, Cabaret and Eudora Welty
Monday, April 27: Operation Babylift: Saving Children from the Vietnam WarIn April 1975 American humanitarian workers in South Vietnam worked to evacuate orphaned children to North America, Europe and Australia just as North Vietnamese were sweeping through the region. Operation Babylift transferre...
April 27, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Weekend Events: Bones, Stars and Crafts
Friday, April 24: Forensic FridayJoin Smithsonian forensic anthropologists as they study new cases from America’s historic past. Take advantage of this opportunity to ask the forensic anthropologists questions and observe first-hand the basic methods used for documenting human remains recovered fro...
April 24, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Science Education Grant Brings Sesame Street Planetarium Show
Living in Washington D.C. doesn't give me many opportunities to see the stars. But at 10:00 a.m. this morning, I joined Big Bird and Elmo for a bit of stargazing at the National Air and Space Museum's premier of Sesame Street's "One World, One Sky" planetarium show.I asked Elmo, who came to the pre...
April 22, 2009 |
By Joseph Caputo
Earth Day at the Smithsonian
Earth Day is an annual invitation to heighten your awareness and appreciation of the environment. Since nature is not equipped for verbal communication (with the rare exception of some species of household plants), it's our job to take care of the earth as best we can. Throughout the rest of the we...
April 21, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
The Space Art of Wang Ming
"I have never limited myself to eastern or western standards of beauty. My standard of beauty comes from the beauty of the cosmic world in the infinity." Wang MingAn 86-year-old man's dream came true this week.Artist Wang Ming's journey began in the 1940s. As he worked as an air traffic controller ...
April 15, 2009 |
By Joseph Caputo
Smithsonian Museums: Extended Hours!
Are you stuck in the office, ticking away the moments that make up a dull day? Do you fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way? Well, fortunately for you several Smithsonian museums are offering extended hours throughout the spring and summer, allowing you to spend your evenings to explore the...
April 07, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Smithsonian Events Week of 4/6-10: Samuel Morse, Satellites and Bunnies
Monday, April 6: Book SigningCorkey Hay DeSimone will be available to sign copies of her children's book Cherry Blossom Friends, a book written especially for this year's Cherry Blossom Festival. Free. National Air and Space Museum, 12:00-3:00 PM Tuesday, April 7: Quilting DemonstrationVolunteers f...
April 06, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Smithsonian Events Week of 3/30-4/03: Spartacus, Walt Disney and Duke Ellington
Monday, March 30: 2009 National Sciences Bowl CompetitionCome see high school students show off their oceanographic know how in this Jeopardy-style trivia challenge. Free. National Museum of Natural History, 10:45 AMTuesday, March 31: Spartacus: The True StoryYeah, we all know of Spartacus. At some...
March 30, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
