The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum will extend its popular S.H.E. Can STEM camps in Arkansas this spring and summer. The camps are designed for students with an interest in aviation and seek to empower young women to succeed in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) disciplines.

The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum has accepted into its collection a set of prosthetic ears worn by Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock in the original Star Trek television series. Donated to the museum by Nimoy’s son Adam Nimoy, the ears will go on display in the new Kenneth C. Griffin Exploring the Planets Gallery opening late next year.

The National Air and Space Museum’s flagship building on the National Mall will temporarily close to the public March 28, 2022, until fall 2022 to complete work on the first new galleries in the west wing of the building. The museum has been undergoing a major renovation since late 2018.

The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum will once again host its annual “Air & Scare” family day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 30, at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. This year’s event will be outdoors and will feature candy stations and spooky activities for all ages. Attendees will be required to reserve free tickets in advance for the event.

Findings from a recently published paper led by Smithsonian senior scientist Thomas R. Watters reveal evidence that flow in the mantle of Mercury may have thickened its crust and formed long clusters of mountainous fault scarps. The paper “Mercury’s Crustal Thickness and Contractional Strain,” published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, presents new models of the thickness of Mercury’s crust. Clusters of fault scarps, some extending over thousands of kilometers, are found in areas of thick crust, suggesting a connection on Mercury between mantle flow and tectonics like that found on Earth.

The National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center will host its annual "Innovations in Flight Family Day and Aviation Display," Saturday, Aug. 21, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event will feature the museum's newest artifact, Air Tractor AT-301/400A "Dusty Crophopper."

The Smithsonian will receive a $200 million donation from Jeff Bezos, founder and executive chair of Amazon, and founder of aerospace and space flight company Blue Origin. The donation is the largest gift to the Smithsonian since the Institution’s founding gift from James Smithson in 1846. A $70 million portion of the donation will support the renovation of the National Air and Space Museum and $130 million will launch a new education center at the museum.  

The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum has raised $165 million of the $250 million campaign goal to reimagine all of its galleries and presentation spaces. The new exhibits are part of the overall seven-year project to completely renovate the museum’s building on the National Mall began in 2018. The project includes replacing its exterior stone, infrastructure and mechanical systems, funded through federal appropriations, and the redesigning of all of its exhibitions, made possible through the museum’s “Ignite Tomorrow” campaign. The first eight new galleries on the west end of the building are scheduled to open late next year.