Curators and scientists at the National Air and Space Museum work across three departments: the Aeronautics Department, the Department of Space History, and the Center for Earth and Planetary Studies. These subject matter experts complete work in a variety of areas, including collecting artifacts; working on exhibitions and other artifact display projects; conducting historical and scientific research and writing academic works; and engaging with the public through the press, digital channels, presentations, and more.
Some examples of this work from 2021 can be found below.
Collecting Artifacts: Spock Ears
In 2021, the Museum welcomed into its collection a pair of ear tips created for Leonard Nimoy to portray Mr. Spock in Star Trek: The Original Series, which Nimoy brought home from set in the 1960s. This iconic science fiction prop came to the Museum in a display box hand-built by the actor. The ear tips will be displayed in that box in the upcoming Kenneth C. Griffin Exploring the Planets Gallery. Within that gallery, they serve to illustrate our cultural imagination about possible life on other planets. Learn more about this acquisition.
Watch as curator Margaret Weitekamp unboxes the Spock ear tips and sees them for the first time as an Air and Space artifact.
The ear tips were donated by the actor’s son Adam Nimoy in honor of Beit T’Shuvah and the Leonard Nimoy COPD Research Fund at UCLA.
Creating Exhibitions
With the renovation of the Museum in DC ongoing, curators are hard at work on exhibition teams to select artifacts, write scripts, and lend their expertise to the creation of the Museum’s new exhibitions. One exhibition currently underway, scheduled to open in 2025, is Jay I. Kislak World War II in the Air.
World War II in the Air is a new take on telling the important stories of the role of aviation in World War II. When the Musuem’s original World War II exhibition opened in 1976, most visitors had a personal or close family connection to the World War II era and the artifacts on display served as an immediately evocative tribute to the memory of those who served in the war. With the lived memory of the war now more than 75 years distant, the curators and exhibition teams needed to develop new methods to need new methods to connect visitors – most of whom have no direct memory of the war – with the remarkable stories of the past
While familiar stories of aeronautical heroism, like that of Marine Corps ace and Medal of Honor recipient Joe Foss, will feature prominently, the gallery will also spotlight the experiences of often overlooked individuals, like Anna Yegorova, who flew forty-one ground attack missions in the IL-2 Shturmovik against German troops before being shot down and captured, and Clifford Allen, a smoke jumper with the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion who helped break down racial barriers.
An artist's rendering of Jay I. Kislak World War II in the Air.
Curator Roger Connor wrote an article for Air & Space Quarterly about World War II in the Air. Read now.
Research
Historical: Flying Camelot: The F-15, the F-16, and the Weaponization of Fighter Pilot Nostalgia
In 2021, curator Michael Hankins published the book Flying Camelot: The F-15, the F-16, and the Weaponization of Fighter Pilot Nostalgia. In the book, Hankins digs into the sometimes-fractious history that led to the design of both fighters, and explores the contributions of the so-called Fighter Mafia, an informal group within the Department of Defense that championed technology that was cheap, simple, and efficient. Learn more about the book.
Research
Scientific: Perseverance and Other Mars Research
The scientists in the Museum’s Center for Earth and Planetary Studies (CEPS) are extremely active in planetary research, which often includes participation in NASA or international missions. CEPS postdoctoral fellow Mariah Baker’s research focuses on wind-blown sediment on Mars, and that research has led to her participation on the Perseverance, Curiosity, and InSight missions. As a participating scientist on Perserverance’s Mars 2020 mission, Baker uses images and meteorological data to understand how wind is moving sand and dust across the surface and sometimes onto the spacecraft. Baker regularly contributes to NASA’s Mars 2020 blog. Read one of her recent write-ups about her work.
NASA's Mars Perseverance rover acquired this image using its Right Mastcam-Z camera. Mastcam-Z is a pair of cameras located high on the rover's mast.
Public Engagement
Cathleen Lewis on Spacesuits in Pop Culture
Curators also share their expertise with people across the country and around the world through social media, blog posts, videos, media interviews, and more.
In this video interview with GQ, spacesuit curator Cathleen Lewis shares her expertise with regards to spacesuits in pop culture, reviewing the spacesuits used in movies like Star Trek, Gravity, Alien, Prometheus, The Martian, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and more. Based on the comments, viewers of the video really enjoyed her analysis of what the films got right — and wrong.
Cathy Lewis discusses fictional spacesuits with GQ.
- 1.1.1 Perform original research in history and science to expand our understanding of our planet, our solar system, and the historical development, context, and culture of aviation and space exploration
- 1.1.4 Organize and participate in public symposia and other venues to stimulate public and professional discourse on critical issues and challenging ideas
- 1.2.1 Work collaboratively to present content in a variety of ways and locations to meet visitors’ multiple learning styles
- â—‹1.3.1 Pursue avenues of research to bring greater breadth and depth to interpreting our collections for the public
- 2.2.1 Broaden audience interest and engagement with aerospace topics and history to the widest community possible, especially audiences unfamiliar with these subjects.
- 2.4.1 Leverage the Museum’s research and collections as the foundational elements in accessible, engaging and inspiring onsite and digital experiences
- 4.2: Use best practices to expand and make widely accessible the Museum’s world-class collection
Curators and scientists at the National Air and Space Museum work across three departments: the Aeronautics Department, the Department of Space History, and the Center for Earth and Planetary Studies. These subject matter experts complete work in a variety of areas, including collecting artifacts; working on exhibitions and other artifact display projects; conducting historical and scientific research and writing academic works; and engaging with the public through the press, digital channels, presentations, and more.
Some examples of this work from 2021 can be found below.
Collecting Artifacts: Spock Ears
In 2021, the Museum welcomed into its collection a pair of ear tips created for Leonard Nimoy to portray Mr. Spock in Star Trek: The Original Series, which Nimoy brought home from set in the 1960s. This iconic science fiction prop came to the Museum in a display box hand-built by the actor. The ear tips will be displayed in that box in the upcoming Kenneth C. Griffin Exploring the Planets Gallery. Within that gallery, they serve to illustrate our cultural imagination about possible life on other planets. Learn more about this acquisition.
Watch as curator Margaret Weitekamp unboxes the Spock ear tips and sees them for the first time as an Air and Space artifact.
The ear tips were donated by the actor’s son Adam Nimoy in honor of Beit T’Shuvah and the Leonard Nimoy COPD Research Fund at UCLA.
Creating Exhibitions
With the renovation of the Museum in DC ongoing, curators are hard at work on exhibition teams to select artifacts, write scripts, and lend their expertise to the creation of the Museum’s new exhibitions. One exhibition currently underway, scheduled to open in 2025, is Jay I. Kislak World War II in the Air.
World War II in the Air is a new take on telling the important stories of the role of aviation in World War II. When the Musuem’s original World War II exhibition opened in 1976, most visitors had a personal or close family connection to the World War II era and the artifacts on display served as an immediately evocative tribute to the memory of those who served in the war. With the lived memory of the war now more than 75 years distant, the curators and exhibition teams needed to develop new methods to need new methods to connect visitors – most of whom have no direct memory of the war – with the remarkable stories of the past
While familiar stories of aeronautical heroism, like that of Marine Corps ace and Medal of Honor recipient Joe Foss, will feature prominently, the gallery will also spotlight the experiences of often overlooked individuals, like Anna Yegorova, who flew forty-one ground attack missions in the IL-2 Shturmovik against German troops before being shot down and captured, and Clifford Allen, a smoke jumper with the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion who helped break down racial barriers.
An artist's rendering of Jay I. Kislak World War II in the Air.
Curator Roger Connor wrote an article for Air & Space Quarterly about World War II in the Air. Read now.
Research
Historical: Flying Camelot: The F-15, the F-16, and the Weaponization of Fighter Pilot Nostalgia
In 2021, curator Michael Hankins published the book Flying Camelot: The F-15, the F-16, and the Weaponization of Fighter Pilot Nostalgia. In the book, Hankins digs into the sometimes-fractious history that led to the design of both fighters, and explores the contributions of the so-called Fighter Mafia, an informal group within the Department of Defense that championed technology that was cheap, simple, and efficient. Learn more about the book.
Research
Scientific: Perseverance and Other Mars Research
The scientists in the Museum’s Center for Earth and Planetary Studies (CEPS) are extremely active in planetary research, which often includes participation in NASA or international missions. CEPS postdoctoral fellow Mariah Baker’s research focuses on wind-blown sediment on Mars, and that research has led to her participation on the Perseverance, Curiosity, and InSight missions. As a participating scientist on Perserverance’s Mars 2020 mission, Baker uses images and meteorological data to understand how wind is moving sand and dust across the surface and sometimes onto the spacecraft. Baker regularly contributes to NASA’s Mars 2020 blog. Read one of her recent write-ups about her work.
NASA's Mars Perseverance rover acquired this image using its Right Mastcam-Z camera. Mastcam-Z is a pair of cameras located high on the rover's mast.
Public Engagement
Cathleen Lewis on Spacesuits in Pop Culture
Curators also share their expertise with people across the country and around the world through social media, blog posts, videos, media interviews, and more.
In this video interview with GQ, spacesuit curator Cathleen Lewis shares her expertise with regards to spacesuits in pop culture, reviewing the spacesuits used in movies like Star Trek, Gravity, Alien, Prometheus, The Martian, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and more. Based on the comments, viewers of the video really enjoyed her analysis of what the films got right — and wrong.
Cathy Lewis discusses fictional spacesuits with GQ.
- 1.1.1 Perform original research in history and science to expand our understanding of our planet, our solar system, and the historical development, context, and culture of aviation and space exploration
- 1.1.4 Organize and participate in public symposia and other venues to stimulate public and professional discourse on critical issues and challenging ideas
- 1.2.1 Work collaboratively to present content in a variety of ways and locations to meet visitors’ multiple learning styles
- â—‹1.3.1 Pursue avenues of research to bring greater breadth and depth to interpreting our collections for the public
- 2.2.1 Broaden audience interest and engagement with aerospace topics and history to the widest community possible, especially audiences unfamiliar with these subjects.
- 2.4.1 Leverage the Museum’s research and collections as the foundational elements in accessible, engaging and inspiring onsite and digital experiences
- 4.2: Use best practices to expand and make widely accessible the Museum’s world-class collection