National Air and Space Museum
The List: What You Didn't Know About the Smithsonian in the Civil War
By now you know that this year marks the sesquicentennial of the beginning of the Civil War. And you're probably aware of the variety of events, exhibitions and programs taking place across the Smithsonian Institution commemorating that pivotal time in United States history. But what you may not kn...
April 13, 2011 |
By Arcynta Ali Childs
Discovery Space Shuttle Coming to the Smithsonian
The space shuttle that has flown more missions than any other is coming to the Smithsonian.Announced just moments ago, Discovery will be coming to the National Air and Space Museum to be preserved in the collections with the 1903 Wright Flyer, Amelia Earhart's Lockheed 5B Vega and the Spirit of St....
April 12, 2011 |
By Ryan Reed
The Smithsonian Museums and The National Zoo Are Open
All Smithsonian museums and the National Zoo are open.Don't miss out on all the events and happenings, all scheduled as planned. Tarantula feedings at the Natural History Museum. A special tour of the Kinsey Collections at American History. An Earth Day celebration at the American Art Museum.And he...
April 08, 2011 |
By Beth Py-Lieberman
Events: FONZ Photo Club, Mad Science, Mars and More
Monday April 4: FONZ Photo ClubIf you’re a shutterbug with a penchant for snapping shots of critters, come on out to the National Zoo and participate in the Friends Of the National Zoo (FONZ) photo club’s monthly meeting. Share your photos, hear from speakers and learn about new techniques that may...
April 04, 2011 |
By Michelle Strange
Air and Space Museum Lands Alitalia and WWII Italian Air Force Artifacts
The Macchi C.202 Folgore is considered one of the best fighter planes Italy designed during World War II. There are only two remaining in the world—one is in the Italian Air Force Museum, and the other hangs in the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum.The aircraft, called the Macchi 202, is one of se...
March 31, 2011 |
By Arcynta Ali Childs
Events: Lena Horne, Jazz History, Nanotechnology and More
Monday, March 28: March Film Screening: My Name Is KahentiiostaKahentiiosta, a young Kahnawake Mohawk woman, took part in a 78-day armed standoff in 1990 as a part of a land dispute between the Mohawks and the Canadian federal government. Arrested and imprisoned, she was detained longer than her pe...
March 28, 2011 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Events: Stargazing, Live Tarantula Feedings, Test Your Women's History Knowledge and More
Monday, March 21: March Film Screening: My Name Is KahentiiostaKahentiiosta, a young Kahnawake Mohawk woman, took part in a 78-day armed standoff in 1990 as a part of a land dispute between the Mohawks and the Canadian federal government. Arrested and imprisoned, she was detained longer than her pe...
March 21, 2011 |
By Jesse Rhodes
For St. Patrick's Day, 7 Must-See Snakes Around the Smithsonian
Here at the ATM blog, our St. Patrick's Day celebration this year is all about snakes and serpents. For it was these slithery reptiles that St Patrick was supposed to have driven into the sea, banishing all of that nation's snakes from the land. Turns out, though, there are lots of snakes at the Sm...
March 17, 2011 |
By Arcynta Ali Childs
Meet NASA's New Outer Space-Bound Robot at the Air and Space Museum
Science fiction stories are littered with human-like robots that entertain our flights of fancy, such as the friendly, streamlined servant Robbie in Forbidden Planet. And when it comes to the robots that are actually being used in space, they are similarly machines of servitude, enhancing scientist...
March 15, 2011 |
By Jesse Rhodes
The List: 7 Ways to Celebrate Women's History Month
March is Women's History Month, and all around the Smithsonian Institution, the museums are celebrating the achievements, aptitude and sheer awesomeness of women in both the arts and sciences.1. If you don't know your Grace Hartigan from the Harlem Renaissance or Miriam Schapiro from the suffrage m...
March 09, 2011 |
By Arcynta Ali Childs
Weekend Events: Exploring the Crab Nebula and a Celebration of Orchids
Friday, February 25: Bahcall Lecture: Revealing the Crab Nebula with the Hubble, Chandra and Fermi Space TelescopesEver since its discovery in the 18th century, the Crab Nebula has surprised astronomers and taught astrophysicists much of what they have come to take for granted about the universe. T...
February 24, 2011 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Wednesday Roundup- Making you Smarter: Ask an Expert, Mexico via Airmail, Space Math @ NASA, Harlem Renaissance artists
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkOTUnw6jJo&feature=player_embeddedThe More You Know- Anyone who has ever visited the Air and Space Museum, probably leaves with lots of questions; the most popular of which has to be "How did you get an airplane inside the building?" Well, wonder in silence no m...
February 23, 2011 |
By Arcynta Ali Childs
25 Years Later: Remembering the Challenger Tragedy
"The footage," says space history curator Valerie Neal, "has become seared into our memory."Twenty-five years ago today, on January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger launched from Florida's Kennedy Space Center. The mood leading up to the launch was full of promise. NASA was coming off of nine...
January 28, 2011 |
By Megan Gambino
Concorde Begins Service 35 Years Ago Today: Transatlantic in a Jiffy
A supersonic icon made its debut 35 years ago today. On January 21 , 1976, British Airways began a London-Bahrain service for its Concorde, and Air France commenced its Paris-Rio service.Even in today’s world of rakish planform stealth fighters, Concorde still cuts an impressive figure, with its hu...
January 21, 2011 |
By Jeff Campagna
Wednesday Roundup— Goldfish Gulping, Space Travel and Naming Rights
And the Gold Medal Goes To— What's the craziest thing you've ever eaten on a dare? Well, how about 101 goldfish? That's the record for the largest number eaten in a single sitting, set back in April 1939, when goldfish gulping was a competitive collegiate sport. Check out the piscine cuisine over a...
January 19, 2011 |
By Arcynta Ali Childs
Events: Elvis, the Wright Brothers, Foreign Film and More
Tuesday, January 18:The Washington D.C. area experienced a snow and ice event, but all of the Smithsonian museums and the National Zoo are open today. The National Museum of Natural History's Naturalist Center located in Leesburg, Virginia, is closed today. A quilting demonstration at the Nationa...
January 18, 2011 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Eisenhower's Farewell Speech, 50 Years Later
On January 17, 1961, President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivered a farewell address that has since become known for its prescient discussion of the encroaching impact of the "military-industrial complex." Ike was the last commander-in-chief born in the 19th century, but his speech foretold of an era t...
January 14, 2011 |
By Brian Wolly
Events: Gullah Culture, Sci-Fi Film, Gallery Talks and More
Monday, January 10Book Signing: Mike Brown: Astronomer Mike Brown, the man who demoted Pluto from a planet to a dwarf planet, signs copies of his book How I Killed Pluto. Free. Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, 2:00-4:00 PMTuesday, January 11The Sierra Leone—Gullah Link, Part 1: Moderate...
January 10, 2011 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Astronomer Mike Brown Is the Guy Who Killed Pluto
On the California Institute of Technology's Web site, a biography of Mike Brown ever-so-casually states that the planetary astronomy professor "specializes in the discovery and study of bodies at the edge of the solar system," as if he were making sandwiches. But, just think about it, what a job!Si...
January 07, 2011 |
By Megan Gambino
Events: FONZ Photo Club, Music of the Civil Rights Movement, Gallery Talks and More
Monday, January 3: Spark!LabThe Lemelson Center's Spark!Lab offers visitors a number of hands-on experiments that teach about science, the invention process, and the role of technology in American history. Activities are organized around the invention process and will rotate on a regular basis to p...
January 03, 2011 |
By Jesse Rhodes
