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Among the eight exhibitions opening October 14, 2022, is "The Wright Brothers & The Invention of the Aerial Age," featuring the museum's iconic 1903 Wright Flyer. Jim Preston, National Air and Space Museum
Special Report

A New Look for the National Air and Space Museum

Follow the July reopening of one of America’s most-visited museums with exclusive coverage from Smithsonian magazine  

The entrance to the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

At the Smithsonian

See Electric Aircraft, Rockets and Everyone’s Favorite ‘Star Wars’ Droid at the National Air and Space Museum’s Newly Reopened Galleries

Across five exhibition halls, the museum showcases the past, present and future of aviation and space travel

Amelia Earhart stands in front of her Lockheed Vega flanked by two men in 1932

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Amelia Earhart Made History in a Plane She Called Her ‘Little Red Bus.’ Here’s How It Became a Revered Museum Artifact and Hallowed Symbol

As the Smithsonian presents the aviator’s restored Vega in Washington, a special replica of the aircraft quietly re-emerges after decades in obscurity

A Sopwith Camel, World War I fighter, seen outside a hangar

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This World War I Plane Has Two Claims to Fame: It Was One of the Deadliest Fighter Aircraft of Its Time, and It Was Flown by Snoopy

The Sopwith Camel was challenging to fly but also successful in downing enemy planes, and it went on to gain pop-culture fame thanks to the beloved “Peanuts” beagle

A parachute belonging to Broadwick is on display in the Early Flight gallery at the Smithsonian’s newly updated National Air and Space Museum. 

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Pioneering Teenage Parachuter Georgia ‘Tiny’ Broadwick Showed That Courage Isn’t Counted in Pounds

The first woman to parachute from an airplane, she will be recognized in an exhibit when part of the newly renovated National Air and Space Museum reopens this year

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History

Amaze Yourself With the Unbelievable Story of Bessie Coleman, the Black Aviator Who Wowed the Nation With Her High-Flying Achievements

Long before the Tuskegee Airmen, Coleman inspired a generation of pilots to take to the skies

The “Kenneth C. Griffin Exploring the Planets Gallery” is now open to visitors at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

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The Jury-Rigged Experiment that Led to the Discovery of Unknown Worlds

See the Kepler technology demonstrator at the National Air and Space Museum, along with a host of technologies that brought success to space exploration

The Wright Flyer is among the iconic artifacts held at the Smithsonian. When visitors come to see it, they tend to fall silent, says curator Peter Jakab. “People often recognize that they’re standing in front of something special.”

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How the Wright Brothers Took Flight

The remarkable story of how the duo grew to become world-changing inventors and international celebrities

The Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia, the only part of the spacecraft from the first moon-landing expedition to return to Earth, is on view with the space suit that Neil Armstrong wore when he walked on the moon in July 1969.

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The Incredible Technology That Made Humanity’s Moon Dreams a Reality

A new, completely reimagined exhibition goes beyond the Cold War narrative to explore the full story of lunar landings

The museum's doors reopen Friday, October 14 (above: an early morning view from the exterior of the "America by Air" exhibition) following a seven-month closure due to massive renovations.

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Buckle Up for the Reopening of One of America’s Most Popular Museums

An HVAC overhaul led to a total building replacement. Today’s must-see National Air and Space Museum adds new stories and new artifacts

Six years after Wilbur and Orville Wright invented the first airplane in 1903, the Army purchased the Wright Military Flyer for $30,000.

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After the Wright Brothers Took Flight, They Built the World’s First Military Airplane

The 1909 Military Flyer is the centerpiece of the “Early Flight” exhibition at the National Air and Space Museum

Neal V. Loving’s WR-3, shown at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia, will move to the redesigned galleries on the National Mall.

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The West Wing of the National Air and Space Museum Prepares to Take Flight

The Smithsonian museum reopens to the public, transforming the way we tell the story of aviation

Between March 19 and April 17, 1964, Geraldine "Jerrie" Mock (above: at the start of her journey at Ohio's Port Columbus Airport) flew her single-engine Cessna 180, dubbed "Charlie," solo around the globe setting a world record.

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Who Was the First Woman to Fly Solo Around the World?

When the National Air and Space Museum reopens October 14, Geraldine Mock’s Cessna 180 soars in the new exhibition, “We All Fly”

In the upcoming exhibition, "Nation of Speed," the Sharp DR 90 Nemesis (above: museum workers install the aircraft in the new gallery) will go on view when the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum reopens this fall. 

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How the Nemesis Air Racers Redefined Speed

For Jon and Patricia Sharp, crafting and flying the sleek airplanes was as much about sport as it was about ingenuity

The single-engine, single-seat Turner RT-14 Meteor is the "epitome of what a 1930s air racer in the United States would be: big engine, big propeller, small profile,” says the museum's Jeremy Kinney.

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The Record-Shattering Airplane Behind a Dashing Pilot’s Meteoric Rise to Fame

Roscoe Turner’s air racer takes center stage this fall when newly renovated galleries open at the National Air and Space Museum

Materials and manufacturing details of the specially made suit of America's first space traveler were extensively analyzed before being prepared for display on a customized mannequin.

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The Second Man in Space Had a Wee Wish—That He’d Used the Bathroom Before Blasting Off

Alan B. Shepard’s historic Mercury spacesuit undergoes hours of conservation work for its debut when the National Air and Space Museum opens this fall

This fall, visitors to the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., can see the glider and other treasures, when the “Early Flight” exhibition opens in the museum's newly transformed west wing.

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This Quirky Contraption Lifted 19th-Century Pilots Into the Air for a Short, Exhilarating Glide

The rare Lilienthal glider, one of only a few originals known to exist, is newly conserved and ready for its public debut

"As soon as this idea of aerial application for farming began to take shape, nearly everyone agreed this was the way to go,” says Dorothy Cochrane, curator at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, where one of only two known to exist, is on view.

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The Little ‘Puffer’ That Could, and Did, Change an Industry

The Huff-Daland Duster ushered in the era of agriculture aviation

The T-38 Talon that Jacqueline Cochran flew, pictured before its recent restoration.

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When Jackie Cochran Flew This Jet, She Broke All Kind of Barriers

The spirited aviator came out of poverty to soar to great heights

“Despite taking place a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, Star Wars introduced generations of fans here on Earth to outer space as a setting for adventure and exploration,” says the museum's Margaret Weitekamp.

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Star Wars X-Wing Starfighter Lands at the National Air and Space Museum

Udvar-Hazy visitors can watch conservators give the film prop a careful exam before it goes on view in 2022

In 1891, Samuel P. Langley began experiments with large, tandem-winged models powered by small steam and gasoline engines that he called aerodromes. After several failures with designs that were too fragile and under-powered to sustain themselves, Langley had his first genuine success on May 6, 1896.

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This Odd Early Flying Machine Made History but Didn’t Have the Right Stuff

Aerodrome No. 5 had to be launched by catapult on the Potomac River on May 6, 1896, but it flew unpiloted 3,300 feet

Once Pathfinder bounced to a stop, the cushioned covering deflated and Sojourner rolled out to explore the other-worldly surface like no mission before it.

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Recalling the Thrill of Pathfinder’s Mission to Mars

Almost three decades ago, Americans were awed by the pitch-perfect airbag-assisted landing and the deploying of the rover Sojourner

Alan Shepard, who was both an astronaut and a golf lover, said he got the idea while training for his Apollo 14 mission. “I thought: What a neat place to whack a golf ball.”

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When Astronaut Alan Shepard Hit the Golf Shot Heard ‘Round the World

“The Moon is one big sand trap,” the astronaut said after he brought the game to a new frontier