National Air and Space Museum.

National Air and Space Museum. National Air and Space Museum, museum of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., that explores the history of aviation and spaceflight. The National Air and Space Museum is the Smithsonian's most-visited museum with 10.8 million visitors in 2003. Its vast collection of aircraft, spacecraft, and artifacts is the largest and most diverse of its kind in the world. The museum's main building is located on the National Mall and houses many of its most famous exhibits. A new companion facility, the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, located at Dulles International Airport, opened in 2003 and will eventually exhibit about 90 percent of the museum's collection. The museum had its origins in the National Aeronautical Collection, which began with a gift of kites from the Chinese Imperial Commission after the Centennial Exposition held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1876. The collection grew over the years and in 1946 it become the National Air Museum. In 1966 the museum added the words "and Space" to its name. On July 1, 1976, during the nation's bicentennial, the museum's massive new building opened on the Mall. Some of the most important aircraft and spacecraft in history are on view in the museum. Among the notable "firsts" are the Wright brothers' 1903 Flyer (see Orville Wright, Wilbur Wright), the first powered aircraft; the Spirit of St. Louis airplane, flown by Charles Lindbergh in the first trans-Atlantic flight; the Bell X-1 Glamorous Glennis, the first supersonic aircraft; the Friendship 7, in which astronaut John Glenn performed the first manned orbit of Earth; and the Apollo 11 command module from the first lunar landing mission (see Apollo Program). Engines, instruments, prototype vehicles, balloons, gliders, scale models, and a wide range of other artifacts are also in the collection, along with uniforms, flight suits, posters, and various memorabilia. The museum's scientific and archival collections include a collection of more than 1 million photographs and digital images of the planets and their satellites. Researchers can also view extensive photographs and technical drawings of aircraft and spacecraft. Two dozen galleries trace themes and events in aviation and space history. For example, the exhibition How Things Fly introduces the science and technology of flight with interactive exhibits for visitors to experience. "Space Race" relates the history of the competition--and eventually the cooperation--between the United States and the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Spectacular large-format IMAX films about flight and space exploration are shown on a giant five-story screen in the Samuel P. Langley Theater. In addition, the Albert Einstein Planetarium presents programs on astronomy and space. At its opening in December 2003, the new Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, named for its principal donor, drew both rave reviews and controversy. The facility opened with about 80 aircraft and 60 large space artifacts but is eventually expected to house more than 200 aircraft and 150 space artifacts. The hangar-shaped building is ten stories high and the length of three football fields. Among the large aircraft housed there are an Air France Concorde; the space shuttle Enterprise, a prototype shuttle used in test flights; the Blackbird SR-71 reconnaissance jet; and the Enola Gay, the World War II (1939-1945) aircraft that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. The display of the Enola Gay prompted controversy when a group of historians and survivors of the bombing objected to the exhibit's failure to note the number of deaths caused by the Hiroshima bomb, the first atomic bomb used in combat. About 200,000 Japanese, nearly all civilians, died either in the explosion or due to radiation illness. The museum also operates the Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration, and Storage Facility in Suitland, Maryland, where collections are preserved and restored. It is named for Paul Garber, who joined the Smithsonian in 1920 and, as the first curator of the National Air Museum, was the driving force behind the acquisition of the national aeronautical collection. The facility was closed to the public in March 2003 as its collections began to be moved to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.