A Blue Angel Makes Its Final Flight Into The National Collection

On November 18, 2020, Cmdr. Frank “Walleye” Weisser, USN, a member of the Navy’s Blue Angels flight demonstration team, flew into Dulles International Airport to deliver a McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C Hornet to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.

Herbert Desind: A Passion for Spaceflight

The Archives of the National Air and Space Museum holds three million images in various photographic formats, covering the breadth and depth of the history of aviation and space flight. One such collection is the Herbert Stephen Desind Collection, which covers the history of space flight and exploration.

Famous Correspondents of Arthur C. Clarke

Throughout his long life, famed science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke corresponded with numerous people. This blog examine the correspondents that Clarke had with Stanley Kubrick, rocket scientist and pioneer Wernher von Braun, and Irish fantasy author Edward Plunkett, who published under the name Lord Dunsany.

Air Transport Command and the Airlines During World War II

During World War II, airlines worked closely with the military to further the war effort by transporting people and materiel. Bob van der Linden, curator of air transportation, discusses Air Transport Command.

The Myth of the German “Wonder Weapons”

National Air and Space aeronautics curator Michael Neufeld examines the myth of the Nazi wonder weapons and the oft-repeated statement that if Germany had had the V-2 and other "wonder weapons" sooner, they may have won the war.

Transforming the Barron Hilton Pioneers of Flight Gallery

Pioneers of Flight was one of many galleries that showcased aviation pioneers, but it focused on its own specific time frame. Museum curators initially conceived Pioneers of Flight as a second-tier Milestones of Flight), the gallery that presented the most iconic and historic aerospace artifacts of the Smithsonian’s collections, like the 1903 Wright Flyer, the Ryan NYP Spirit of St. Louis, and Mercury Friendship 7 and Apollo 11 command module Columbia. Pioneers’ location in Gallery 208 was offset on the second floor with its mezzanine overlooking Milestones, thus offering a natural affinity and progression between the two galleries. Don Lopez, assistant director for aeronautics, selected the aircraft for the gallery, in consultation with Aeronautics Department curators, choosing specific ones that flew in the 1920s and 1930s. For him and his contemporaries, this was the time that aviation came of age after the initial years of experimentation in aviation. In the exciting 1920s and difficult but breathtaking 1930s, aviation proved itself useful, and became integral to society and a leader in technology and design. Lopez’s Pioneers of Flight gallery reflected many of his 1920s childhood memories and his delight in following aviators into the air (Lopez became an U.S. Air Force ace in World War II).

The Many Lives of Buster the Air Racer

Since the earliest days of flight, air racing has been an exciting motorsports activity. The National Air and Space Museum has in our collection many of the aircraft that made history by winning races and setting records. Jimmy Doolittle’s R3C-2, Roscoe Turner’s Meteor, Darryl Greenamyer’s Conquest I, the Mahoney family and Don Peck’s Sorceress, and Jon and Patricia Sharp’s Nemesis siblings, the DR 90 and NXT, stand out as achievements of design, skill, ingenuity, and speed. Another clear winner is Steve Wittman’s Special 20 Buster that was on display at the Museum on the National Mall for decades until the Golden Age of Flight exhibition recently closed as part of our multi-year renovation. Buster lived two lives in air racing and proved to be an inspiration for an entire class of air racers.

Farewell to the Zeiss Planetarium Projector

Since its opening, and until recent years, our Zeiss Model VIa optical planetarium projector has brought the wonder of the night sky to countless visitors. The Zeiss Company no longer services the over 40 year-old model, and though its stars are as sharp as ever, and its skies deep in their dramatic blackness, its celestial motors have become weary, so it has been retired in favor of an ever-improving digital projection system that offers many advantages to meet modern programming needs. The Albert Einstein Planetarium theater itself is also closing as our multi-year renovation progresses through the Museum, but it will eventually reopen as a fully digital experience. Now that we have said goodbye to its original projector, the Zeiss Model VIa, the question is, of course, how did it get here?

Record-Breaking Rocket Sled Created Modern Safety Standards