Beyond The Limits

This exhibition is now closed.

Beyond the Limits examined how computers have transformed flight in all its aspects. Small objects on display ranged from analog calculating devices that preceded computers to instruments and imagery that showed where digital technology was headed. Large objects included two experimental aircraft—the HiMAT and Grumman X-29—and an Iridium communications satellite, each an important aerospace application of computer technology.

Interactive computers throughout the gallery invited you to design an airplane, try out a flight simulation program, or manipulate shapes through computer modeling techniques used by aircraft designers. The gallery also had exhibits on the Global Positioning System (GPS) and the "black boxes" used to determine the causes of aircraft accidents.