Press Releases

The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum will serve as a major source of information, educational activities and experiences in the Washington, D.C., area on and around the total solar eclipse Aug. 21, an event that has not occurred in the U.S., coast-to-coast in nearly 100 years. “Your Eclipse” family days will be held at the museum on the National Mall July 8 and at the museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va., July 15. On the day of the eclipse, programming will be held at both buildings and online. There will be excellent viewing opportunities at the Phoebe Waterman Haas Public Observatory just outside the entrance to the museum in Washington. The museum’s popular 30-minute live webcast, “STEM in 30,” will broadcast from Liberty, Mo., which is in the “path of totality,” the narrow path across the country where the moon’s shadow will completely eclipse the sun.

The National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va., will host family-friendly activities throughout the summer to meet every staycationer’s needs. The popular “Innovations in Flight Family Day and Aviation Display” will return June 17. Visitors will learn about science behind the total solar eclipse that will cross the United States later this summer at Your Eclipse family day July 15. Movies, story times and Smithsonian TechQuest round out the summer activities and ensure there is something for every age group.

This year’s Charles A. Lindbergh Memorial Lecture at the National Air and Space Museum features Reeve Lindbergh, daughter of Charles Lindbergh, May 18 at 8 p.m. May marks the 90th anniversary of Charles Lindbergh’s historic solo flight from New York to Paris in the “Spirit of St. Louis.” Lindbergh will honor her parents in her remarks, both of whom had a lasting impact on the world of aviation.

This year’s Space Day at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum will take place Saturday, May 13, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sixty years after the launch of Sputnik, visitors of all ages are invited to celebrate the space age and learn how space activities affect their lives today. This family day at the museum in Washington, D.C., will include talks by experts, demonstrations and hands-on activities for all ages.

The National Air and Space Museum will present the next lecture in the GE Aviation Series May 3 with Jon and Patricia Sharp, a married couple who design, build, test and race their own planes. In “Chasing the Dream, Not the Competition,” the Sharps will talk about their original aircraft, Nemesis, the most successful aircraft in air-racing history, and the records they have set and races they’ve won. The lectures is free to the public, but tickets are required. It will begin at 8 p.m. at the museum in Washington, D.C., and will be webcast.

“Artist Soldiers: Artistic Expression in the First World War” will open at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., April 6. Through the perspectives of professional artists who were recruited by the U.S. Army and of soldiers who created artwork, “Artist Soldiers” examines the emergence in WWI of war art that captured the moment realistically by firsthand participants. The opening of this collaborative exhibition with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History marks the 100th anniversary of the United States’ entry into war April 6, 1917.

The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum 2017 Trophy will be awarded to Peter Theisinger for Lifetime Achievement. In the category of Current Achievement, the Trophy will be awarded to the South Pole Rescue Team from Kenn Borek Air, Ltd. The recipients will receive their awards March 29 at a black-tie dinner in Washington, D.C.

The Apollo 11 command module Columbia—the only portion of the historic spacecraft to complete the first mission to land a man on the moon and safely return him to Earth—will leave the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum for the first time in 46 years for the traveling exhibition “Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission.”

The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum will observe the 100th anniversary of the United States’ entry into World War I with artistic, interactive and educational offerings. “Artist Soldiers: Artistic Expression in the First World War,” a collaborative exhibition with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, will open April 6. A free WWI film series begins Feb. 17 at both of the museum’s buildings, and online presentations and interactive activities will be available to enthusiasts near and far through the museum website and GO FLIGHT app.