WHAT: Announcement of Airbus gift for Phase Two of the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

WHEN: Tuesday, Dec. 2; 2 p.m.

WHERE: Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, 14390 Air and Space Museum Parkway, Chantilly, Va.

WHO: John R. Dailey, director, National Air and Space Museum
         Barry Eccleston, president and CEO, Airbus Americas Inc.
         T. Allan McArtor, chairman, Airbus Americas Inc.

The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum will be announcing a major gift from Airbus Americas Inc. for Phase Two of the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. To honor Airbus in recognition of their donation, the Imax Theater at the Center will be renamed.

The new, and final, wing of the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center—Phase Two—will be dedicated to the behind-the-scenes care of the Smithsonian’s extraordinary collection of aircraft, spacecraft, related artifacts and archival materials. This collection is the largest and most significant of its kind, with some 60,000 artifacts, including many of history’s most rare and iconic artifacts of flight. Phase Two’s preservation and conservation facilities will provide a unique opportunity for visitors to have a firsthand look at the process of restoring aircraft and spacecraft.

Interested media must RSVP to larai@si.edu or mullenb@si.edu.