Smithsonian Institution
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National Air and Space Museum. The National Air and Space Museum maintains the world’s largest collection of historic aircraft and spacecraft. It is also a vital center for historical research on aviation and spaceflight and related science and technology, and home to the Center for Earth and Planetary Studies, which performs original ...
The National Air and Space Museum brings the world of air and space to you through objects, stories, and research. Dive in and explore!
The National Air and Space Museum (NASM) of the Smithsonian Institution, is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States dedicated to human flight and space exploration. Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, its main building opened on the National Mall near L'Enfant Plaza in 1976.
The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum is one of the world’s most popular museums with more than 1.5 million visitors in 2022. Its mission is to commemorate, educate and inspire visitors by preserving and displaying aeronautical and spaceflight artifacts.
Notable museum collections include the 1903 Wright Flyer, the Spirit of St. Louis, the Winnie Mae, Apollo 11 command module Columbia, and a lunar rock. During the 1980s, the museum began to focus more directly on its research component.
The Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum maintains the world's largest and most significant collection of aviation and space artifacts, encompassing all aspects of human flight, as well as related works of art and archival materials. It operates two landmark facilities.
Many of the most noteworthy names in aviation and space history have lectured at the Museum, from astronaut Neil Armstrong to aviation pioneer Chuck Yeager, and the Museum continues to host prominent scientists, engineers, leaders in aviation and space exploration year after year.
