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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. It operates two landmark facilities that, together, welcome more than eight million visitors a year.
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.
Free timed-entry passes do not limit the amount of time you can spend in the Museum, but once you exit, you cannot re-enter later the same day without securing a separate timed-entry pass. Eight new galleries are now open, inviting visitors to explore air and space in new ways.
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.
Launch into the history of flight by surrounding yourself with icons of air and space travel. The flagship building on the National Mall in Washington, D.C, exhibits aircraft, spacecraft, missiles, rockets, and other flight-related artifacts.
The flagship building on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., houses many of the icons of flight, including the original 1903 Wright Flyer, Charles Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis, Chuck Yeager’s Bell X-1, John Glenn’s Friendship 7 spacecraft, and a lunar rock sample that visitors can touch.
The Air and Space Museum collection dates back to the closing of the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, when the Smithsonian received a group of kites from the Chinese Imperial Commission. In 1889, the Stringfellow engine became the first object accessioned into the collection.
