The National Air and Space Museum’s Impressive Makeover

The ongoing transformation of the National Air and Space Museum is preserving the distinctive building and reimagined galleries for decades to come. 

Since 2018, parts of the National Air and Space Museum’s flagship building on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., have been closed for an extensive renovation and modernization of our galleries and exhibit spaces. In October 2022, eight transformed galleries in the Museum’s west end opened to visitors. I’m pleased to report that on July 28, our Lockheed Martin IMAX Theater and five more galleries will be open for business. They include Futures in Space; Barron Hilton Pioneers of Flight; World War I: The Birth of Military Aviation; the Allan and Shelley Holt Innovations Gallery; and the Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall.

That last gallery is the first thing visitors will see and experience as they enter the Museum through the grand, new portico entry on the building’s north side (adjacent to the Mall). The Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall lies at the heart of the Museum, and the artifacts displayed there—such as the Bell X-1 and the Mercury Friendship 7 space capsule—are members of a rarefied group, one that profoundly advanced our nation’s progress in aeronautics and space exploration. And because aerospace technology is always unfolding, the contents of the Milestones gallery are not fixed. Space permitting, we’ll always try to accommodate additional milestone-setting artifacts. One of the gallery’s newer residents, for example, is SpaceShipOne, which became part of the Museum’s collection in 2005. Emily Margolis, a curator in the department of space history, has written a story that describes the stunning achievement of this artifact, the first privately built, piloted vehicle to reach space.

A milestone of another sort took place last September, when the U.S. Air Force retired its fleet of McDonnell Douglas KC-10 Extenders. Aerial refueling is something the U.S. military does very well, and the tri-jet, Mach .89 KC-10, which entered service in 1981, leaves behind an impressive legacy. Flown by a four-person crew, the KC-10 has been replaced by the more-automated, three-crew Boeing KC-46 Pegasus, but the thousands of people who flew the KC-10 will always feel affection for the tanker that made their military careers.

As a former U.S. Navy radar intercept officer (RIO) in the Grumman F-14 Tomcat, I remember the constant concern about running low on fuel once the F-14 left the security of the aircraft carrier. The Tomcat had an internal fuel capacity of 16,200 pounds, and once airborne, we were typically refueled by another carrier-based airplane: the Grumman KA-6D Intruder. Approaching a KA-6, we’d say: “What’s your give?” The crew aboard the tanker might offer 4,000 pounds. I would respond: “Fine, we’ll take all of it.”

In 1983, I had the opportunity to tank off a KC-10 while participating in Exercise Bright Star, a joint military exercise led by the United States and Egypt. “What’s your give?” I inquired of the KC-10 crew. I was surprised—and elated—by the response: “100,000 pounds.” That kind of bounty was enough for multiple missions, which enabled us to engage in the training exercise with less interruptions. For once, I wasn’t worried about running out of fuel.

Will a decommissioned KC-10 ever be part of our collection? That might be a question for a future director to answer, but I think any aviation museum would jump at the opportunity to acquire an aircraft that was a virtual gas station in the sky.

Christopher U. Browne is the John and Adrienne Mars Director of the National Air and Space Museum.

This article, originally titled "Ready for the Future," is from the Summer 2025 issue of Air & Space Quarterly, the National Air and Space Museum's signature magazine that explores topics in aviation and space, from the earliest moments of flight to today. Explore the full issue.

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