A PROMPT HAPPY 40th ANNIVERSARY
Next year on July 1, 1976; the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum turns 40 years old. What an amazing 40 years it's been. The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum has been one of the most visited museums in the World. It is so popular that over eight million people visit it a year. From the time it was born to near it's 40th Birthday, over 311-million people have experienced the museum. For a place that celebrates air and space, it is a shining star. It is the largest of the 19 Smithsonian museums in Washington DC. The museum encompasses 21 exhibition galleries that lead visitors on learning adventures from the history of astronomy, to the development of air travel, to the historic flight of the Wright Brothers.
Inside the National Air and Space Museum, the adventures start at the Boeing Milestones Flight Hall. This is the centerpiece of the two-story museum where exhibit halls encompass two hangar levels. When you leave the National Mall for the Jefferson Avenue entrance, and pass security, you will see airplanes hanging above. From this perspective, you look up at the airplanes, that in museum terminology are artifects. From the upper level perspective, you can look across and slightly up to see the airplanes closer up. This exhibit is to the National Air and Space Museum what Cinderella's Castle is to Walt Disney World. Concurrent to the 40th Anniversary, there is a major refurbishment that will include a Star Trek Enterprise studio model.
Just like Disney World there is so much to see in the 21 exhibits on space and airplane travel. On level one, the exhibits include: Explore the Universe, How Things Fly, America By Air, Flight Simulators, and Jet Aviation. Then on level two, the exhibits include: Apollo to the Moon, Wright Brothers, Exploring the Planets, Barron Hilton Pioneers of Flight, and Great War in the Air. For a charge, you can watch an IMAX movie in the Lockheed Martin Theater or watch a show in the Einstein Planetarium. There is just so much to see and learn about airplanes and space travel. These are first-rate exhibits featuring 60,000 objects from the 1903 Wright Flyer to touchable moon rock. The reality is that you could be here for hours if you read every description coorelating to an object.
Just like Disney World, it could be overwhelming the first time. Unlike Disney World there is intense learning that can leave you gasping for air outside. After exploring the museum, my advice is to start at the Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall and become acquainted with the museum map. From this point, I'd recommend a cursory tour of the two levels, then pick five exhibit halls to slowly tour. On my visited, I mixed airplanes with space travel. If you decide to spend a whole day here, I'd recommend having lunch or a snack. On level one, there is a food court with McDonald's, Donatos, and Boston Market. Outside the museum are food carts and interestingly a McDonald's food truck.
It is not just the learning that can be tiring. The museum is hyper-crowded. At the time of my visit, there were throngs of crowds that included the camps. At times there was no room to take in an object and breath. I'd find myself getting slightly frustrated trying to learn about an object when a crowd of people would interfere with my line of sight and stymie my progression through the exhibit hall. Crowd control is a point of discontent that a few reviews addressed.
The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum is one of the five institutions along the National Mall that I visited. As I report on the places I visited in Washington DC, I will be reviewing them. With that said,
"A prompt Happy 40th Anniversary Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum." read more