The RTX Living in the Space Age Hall will show visitors why these innovations matter through Space Age objects and the people who build, maintain, and use them. Thank you to RTX for their support of ...

Visit us in Washington, DC and Chantilly, VA to explore hundreds of the world’s most significant objects in aviation and space history. Free timed-entry passes are required for the Museum in DC.

The Space Race grew out of a conflict known as the Cold War. While not a war in the traditional sense, the two countries were in a state of military and political tension that lasted nearly 50 years ...

Alan Shepard became the first American and the second man in space on May 5, 1961, when he piloted the Mercury spacecraft Freedom 7 on a 490-kilometer (300-mile), 15-minute suborbital flight.

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) has captured dramatic landscapes of the Moon since it was first launched in 2009. A New Moon Rises showcased those breathtaking images from Apollo ...

After four days traveling to the Moon, the Lunar Module Eagle, carrying Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the Moon.. Neil Armstrong exited the spacecraft and became the first human to walk on ...

Visit us in Washington, DC and Chantilly, VA to explore hundreds of the world’s most significant objects in aviation and space history. Free timed-entry passes are required for the Museum in DC.

Learn about the different aspects of general aviation. The Origins of General Aviation. In the 1900s, any civilian powered flight was "general" aviation and commercial airlines didn't exist yet; ...

In 1941, a new air base at Tuskegee, Alabama, became the center for the training program of Black air personnel. First with the 99th Fighter Squadron and later with the 332nd Fighter Group, African ...

Discover our exhibitions and participate in programs both in person or virtually. In the 21st century, it is commonplace to travel by plane—and many Americans are familiar with the flying ...

The launch of Sputnik, the first satellite in space, aboard an R-7 rocket. (Smithsonian Institution) The Space Race became a symbol of the broad ideological and political contest between two rival ...

Forty-two helium-filled weather balloons lifted Larry Walters in this aluminum lawn chair from San Pedro, California, on July 2, 1982. Walters reached 16,000 feet (4,880 meters), drifting into the ...