The Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum today (March 17) rolled the first artifact into the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, its new companion facility at Washington Dulles International Airport in Northern Virginia. The center opens to the public Dec. 15.

The diminutive Piper J-3 Cub leads the way for the move of some 200 aircraft ultimately destined for the center's aviation hangar, which is 10-stories high and the length of three football fields--enough space to hold the museum's flagship building on the National Mall inside with room to spare.

The Cub was trucked from the museum's storage facility in Suitland, Md., where it was housed after years of display on the Mall. An icon of general aviation and sport flying, the Cub is best known for its use in training countless new pilots, particularly Americans who flew in World War II.

The Udvar-Hazy (pronounced OOD-var HAH-zee) Center will eventually display the 80 percent of the national air and space collection not currently housed at the building on the Mall or on loan to other museums and institutions.

"For months we've watched the Udvar-Hazy Center take shape as an architectural marvel," museum director Gen. J.R. "Jack" Dailey said. "But now with artifacts moving in, we can really see how this facility is a state-of-the-art environment for exhibiting and preserving the bulk of our collection, much of which has been hidden away for decades."

Construction of the 293,707-square-foot Udvar-Hazy Center aviation hangar was substantially completed this month; work began in June 2001. With the museum taking occupancy of the structure from contractor Hensel Phelps Construction Co, artifact and exhibit-related deliveries will now continue on an almost daily basis leading up to the opening when some 70 aircraft will be in place--more than are currently displayed at the Mall building. Many have been dismantled because of their size and will travel in pieces. Aircraft will be reassembled in the hangar and moved into their display locations either on the floor or hanging at one of two levels from the hangar's arched trusses. Deliveries will resume early next year at a slower pace and continue until the facility is full.

The first construction phase of the center also includes the James S. McDonnell Space Hangar, named for the aerospace pioneer; the 164-foot-tall Donald D. Engen Observation Tower, named for the museum's late director; the Claude Moore Education Center, named for the Virginia philanthropist; an IMAX theater; and a food court.

Construction work continues on the McDonnell Space Hangar, which will house America's first space shuttle, Enterprise. The space hangar will be completed by opening day with the Enterprise installed and visible, however the structure will not be accessible to the public until 2004 as Enterprise undergoes refurbishment. During the interim, some 50 large space artifacts will be previewed in the aviation hangar. The space hangar will ultimately house some 135 large space artifacts.

Thousands of smaller objects from the museum's collection will also be displayed throughout the Udvar-Hazy Center in dozens of customized cases, many adjacent to exhibit stations that will provide historical context through graphics and text. Some of the display cases will be more than 20 feet long.

A second phase of construction for the Udvar-Hazy Center--including a restoration hangar, archives, conservation lab, collections processing facility and a study collections storage unit--is planned, with the start date for construction dependent on fund-raising. The entire facility will beapproximately 760,000 square feet. No federal funds are being used to build the Udvar-Hazy Center.

The December 2003 opening of the Udvar-Hazy Center will mark the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers' first powered flight. Also to mark the centennial of flight, the museum's building on the Mall will feature a special exhibition opening in October 2003 titled "The Wright Brothers & The Invention of the Aerial Age." For the gallery, the original 1903 Wright Flyer will be displayed at eye level for the first time since it was acquired by the Smithsonian in 1948.

The National Air and Space Museum, comprised of the Udvar-Hazy Center and the museum's building on the National Mall, will be the largest air and space museum complex in the world. The flagship building is the most popular museum in the world, attracting more than 9 million visitors each year. Attendance at the Udvar-Hazy Center is projected at 3 million people a year.

Note to Editors: On Tuesday, March 25, the museum is scheduled to move its World War II-era P-40 Warhawk airplane from its Suitland, Md., storage facility to the Udvar-Hazy Center. Members of the news media are invited to cover this event. In addition, the museum's deputy director, Donald S. Lopez, will be available at the Udvar-Hazy Center that day for interviews. Lopez was an ace pilot with the 23rd Fighter Group of the 14th Air Force, which flew over China during the war, succeeding the legendary Flying Tigers. The museum's shark-mouthed P-40 carries the paint scheme of an airplane Lopez flew in one of the war's most remarkable air campaigns. Lopez was instrumental in creating the National Air and Space Museum in the 1970s. Please call the museum's Office of Public Affairs, (202) 633-2374, if your organization is interested in covering this event. Space is limited.