Press Releases

The National Air and Space Museum will host the “winningest pilot in air racing,” Jon Sharp, and his business partner and wife, Patricia Sharp, at the GE Aviation Lecture April 26.

The British are coming to northern Virginia. The National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center will hold “The Great British Fly-In” in partnership with Great Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF) April 15 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. As part of the 100th anniversary celebration of the RAF, the oldest air force in the world, the event will feature over a dozen former RAF and other military aircraft, flown in for one day only.

This spring, the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum will host a special temporary exhibition of the immersive art installation “The Barmecide Feast,” a fully realized, full-scale reflection of the iconic, neo-classical hotel room from the penultimate scene of Stanley Kubrick’s and Arthur C. Clarke’s landmark film, 2001: A Space Odyssey.

The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum has announced a new program for middle school educators, completely free of charge. The inaugural Teacher Innovator Institute will teach educators how to bring the museum experience into their classrooms by exploring connections between informal STEM education and authentic learning. The two-week immersive program in Washington, D.C. will welcome 30 teachers from across the country in summer 2018. Applications must be submitted by April 1.

Smithsonian scientist Bruce Campbell and the Planetary Science Institute’s Gareth Morgan have developed a new approach that uses different wavelengths of radio waves to better understand layers of ice in polar and non-polar regions of Mars. This new method for measuring ice properties provides a better understanding of the planet’s climate history and more accurately assesses resources for future exploration.

The National Air and Space Museum has announced that nine major commercial airlines contributed gifts totaling $28 million to support the transformation of the flagship building in Washington, D.C. These are among the first major gifts received for the campaign to transform all of the museum’s exhibitions and visitor experience. Construction is scheduled to begin in late summer 2018.

The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum will celebrate Black History Month with activities at both museum locations and online. “African American Pioneers in Aviation and Space” will be the feature event at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center on Feb. 10. Storytimes, hands-on activities and online resources will also be available throughout the month.

The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum announces the 2018 “Exploring Space Lecture” series. This year’s four-part series will focus on the James Webb Space Telescope, in preparation for its 2019 launch. Each of the lectures will take place at 8 p.m. in the museum’s Lockheed Martin IMAX Theater and is free to the public. Lectures will be followed by sky observing in the museum’s Public Observatory, weather permitting.