Press Releases

The National Air and Space Museum marks the 10th anniversary of its “Heritage Family Day” series and announces the 2017 programs. The series celebrates ethnic and cultural diversity, with new offerings and opportunities for families and visitors alike. The family days coincide with national observances, focusing specifically on the contributions that diverse communities have made to aviation and space exploration. These activity-filled days take place at the museum’s National Mall building and its Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va., and begin in February 2017. Support for the “Heritage Family Day” series is provided by Northrop Grumman Corp.

The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum has named Kathy Sullivan as the 2017 Charles A. Lindbergh Chair of Aerospace History. Sullivan has served as Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans & Atmosphere and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association Administrator since March 2014 and has a long career as a distinguished scientist, astronaut and oceanographer. She will begin her fellowship March 1 and will focus her research on the Hubble Space Telescope.

The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum will open the exhibition “Clouds in a Bag: The Evelyn Way Kendall Ballooning and Early Aviation Collection” Jan. 28 at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, in Chantilly, Va. This will be the first time these early aviation artifacts will go on public display since the Smithsonian acquired the collection in 2014.

The suit Alan Eustace wore during his record-breaking freefall jump in Oct. 2014 is now on display at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. Visitors to the museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va. can view the suit and the balloon equipment module in the Boeing Aviation Hangar.

Meredith Wilson’s classic holiday song says, “Mom and Dad can hardly wait for school to start again.” But that does not have to be the case; students and their families can make the most of winter break at the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va.

Visitors to the National Air and Space Museum were treated to a surprise holiday performance by The U.S. Air Force Band yesterday. The seven-minute performance featured an original arrangement of Patapan and Ding Dong Merrily on High led by the Band’s commander Col. Larry H. Lang. Museum visitors watched as a small number of instrumentalists started playing in the Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall and were soon joined by handbell ringers and a choir. The audience looked on in awe as drummers played and vocalists burst into song in front of the Apollo Lunar Module.

A new high-resolution topographic map of part of the southern hemisphere of Mercury has revealed a previously undetected large valley. This “Great Valley” may be the result of buckling of the Mercury’s outer silicate shell, its lithosphere, in response to global contraction. The findings were obtained using stereo images from NASA’s MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft during the orbital phase of its mission and are reported in a paper published in Geophysical Research Letters by lead author senior scientist Thomas R. Watters of the Center for Earth and Planetary Studies at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum.

The National Air and Space Museum will present the fall 2016 lectures in the GE Aviation Series with two accomplished and decorated female pilots. Suzanna Darcy-Hennemann will speak on Sept. 22 about her experiences as Boeing’s first female test pilot. The Oct. 6 lecture will feature Lt. Col. Christine Mau, the first and only female pilot of the F-35.

The 50th anniversary of Star Trek is Sept. 8, and the National Air and Space Museum is inviting fans to celebrate with “Boldly Go 50”—three nights of special programs sponsored by The Roddenberry Foundation. Programs will explore the history of the science-fiction franchise and its role in inspiring generations of real scientists, innovators and explorers.