Press Releases

The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum will present this year’s “Mars Day!” program virtually. This annual tribute to the Red Planet will take place online Thursday, July 16 through Saturday, July 18.

The National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, began construction to repair and resurface the exterior roof of its Boeing Aviation Hangar in April. This two-year project will be completed in sections and requires areas of the museum to be closed and some artifacts to be covered for their protection.

The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum will present a virtual concert, “Space Songs: Through the Distance” April 30 at 8 pm EDT. Featuring performances from musical guests filmed in their own homes, it will spotlight the creativity and community that can be found in distance and isolation, in both music and spaceflight.

Honoring Astronaut Michael Collins’ legacy in aviation and space, the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum is renaming its trophy for the Apollo 11 command module pilot. The recognition is awarded annually for Lifetime and Current Achievements. The 2020 recipients are Charles Elachi for Lifetime Achievement and the Hubble Space Telescope Team for Current Achievement. The recipients will receive their awards March 26 at a ceremony at the museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia.

The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum announces the 2020 “Exploring Space Lecture Series.” This year’s four-part series will look at the universe through a variety of lenses. Each of the lectures will take place at 8 p.m. in the museum’s Lockheed Martin IMAX Theater and all are free to the public. Lectures will be followed by night sky observing in the museum’s Phoebe Waterman Haas Public Observatory, weather permitting.

The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum will expand its popular “S.H.E. Can” STEM summer camp to Bentonville, Arkansas, beginning in July 2020. Building on the success of the camp over the past two summers at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, the museum will pilot the two-week summer camp in northwest Arkansas over the next three years.

The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum will host its annual “Air & Scare” family day from noon to 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. Visitors will enjoy safe, indoor trick-or-treating and spooky activities for all ages at this free event.