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View of the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center tower at sunset

One museum, two locations

Visit us in Washington, DC and Chantilly, VA to explore hundreds of the world’s most significant objects in aviation and space history. Free timed-entry passes are required for the Museum in DC.

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Apollo 11: Buzz Aldrin on the Moon

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space shuttle launch

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Women in Aviation and Space Family Day

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Bob Hoover Gives an Air Show Performance

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This Day in History

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Showing 1 - 10 of 16

<i>Harper's Weekly</i> October 9, 1909

Story

1909: Flight Around the Statue of Liberty

Posted on Sep 28, 2016

Today in 1909, Wilbur Wright flew around the Statue of Liberty as part of the New York Hudson-Fulton Celebration, resulting in this historic Harper’s Weekly cover page. 

Blanche Stuart Scott

Story

First Solo Hop

Posted on Sep 02, 2016

Although her flight is not considered “official,” this day in history we remember Blanche Stuart Scott, the first American woman to take a solo hop into the air.

Guion Bluford, an African-American male astronaut, poses formally in an astronaut suit with his helmet.

Story

1983: First African American in Space

Posted on Aug 30, 2016

Guion Bluford made history on August 30, 1983 when he became the first African American in space, launching into low Earth orbit aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger. He subsequently flew aboard three additional shuttle missions, logging a total of 688 hours in space.

Early Exhibition Flying

Story

1909: The First Major International Flying Meet

Posted on Aug 22, 2016

On this day in 1909, some of the world's leading aviators met at a racetrack in Reims, France, to compete in the first organized international air meet.

Orville Wright

Story

Orville Wright Born Today in 1871

Posted on Aug 19, 2016

Today in 1871, aviator and inventor Orville Wright was born to Milton and Susan Catherine Koerner Wright. Orville was the sixth of seven children born to the Wrights.

Rearview shot of an early airplane with Moisant in cockpit looking over her shoulder and smiling at the camera.

Story

Aug. 13, 1911: Second U.S. Woman to Earn Pilot’s License

Posted on Aug 13, 2016

On August 13, 1911, Matilde Moisant became the second woman in the United States to receive her pilot’s license, just a few weeks after her friend Harriet Quimby.

Double Eagle II Over Farmland during its Transatlantic Flight

Story

August 11, 1978: Crossing the Atlantic in a Balloon

Posted on Aug 11, 2016

On this day in 1978, Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson, and Larry Newman took off from Presque Isle, Maine in the gas balloon Double Eagle II in an attempt to cross the Atlantic. The successful crossing took 137 hours, 6 minutes and covered 5,021 kilometers (3,120 miles) landing in a wheat field near Miserey, France.

1908 Wright Flyer at Le Mans

Story

On This Day: Wilbur Wright Flies in Europe

Posted on Aug 08, 2016

On this day in 1908, Wilbur Wright publicly demonstrated a Wright aircraft for the first time in Europe at the Hunaudières racecourse at Le Mans, southwest of Paris.

Enola Gay Landing at Tinian

Story

On This Day: Enola Gay Drops Atomic Bomb

Posted on Aug 06, 2016

On this day in 1945, during the final stages of World War II, the Boeing B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay dropped the first atomic weapon used in combat on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.

Artist rendering of Juno in space

Story

On This Day: Juno Began Journey to Jupiter

Posted on Aug 05, 2016

On this day in 2011, Juno began its journey to Jupiter. After an almost five-year journey, the spacecraft successfully entered Jupiter’s orbit, and has since been investigating the planet's origins, interior structure, deep atmosphere and magnetosphere.

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National Air and Space Museum

6th St. and Independence Ave SW
Washington, DC 20560

202-633-2214

Open daily
10:00 am - 5:30 pm
Free Timed-Entry Passes
Required

Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

14390 Air and Space Museum Parkway
Chantilly, VA 20151

703-572-4118

Open daily
10:00 am - 5:30 pm
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