Objects Tell Stories

The space shuttle Discovery is the centerpiece of the James S. McDonnell Space Hangar at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA.

A painting on board the U.S.S. Hornet, “There!,” shows the seamen pointing to the sky, seeing the Columbia command module descending on its parachute.

This is a Saturn 1 Block 1 test launch vehicle, examples of which successfully launched during 1961-1963. The Saturn 1 was the basic test vehicle that led to the development of the Saturn V that carried men to the Moon for Project Apollo. The Block 1 second and third stages had dummy stages. The Block 2 differed in having a live upper stage and fins on its first stage.

To save money in its development, the Saturn 1 used existing hardware. The first was assembled from a lengthened Jupiter missile tank in the center with eight lengthened Redstone missile tanks around it. This Saturn 1 was transferred to the Smithsonian from the NAS/Marsahall Space Flight Center in 1980.

This Lunar Extra-Vehicular Visor Assembly (LEVA) was worn by astronaut David Scott, Commander of the Apollo 15 lunar mission to the Hadley Rille in July/August, 1971.

The A7-LB Lunar Extravehicular Visor Assembly consisted of a polycarbonate shell onto which the cover, visors, hinges, eyeshades and latch are attached. It consisted of two visors, one covered with a thermal control coating and the other with a gold optical coating. It had one center and two side sunshields which could be raised and lowered independently of the other two visors. This visor was worn over the pressure helmet and fastened with a latch during EVA periods and provided impact, micrometeoroid, thermal, ultraviolet and infrared light protection.

During the Cold War aerospace and defense electronics firms occasionally attempted to apply their expertise to commercial products. In the early 1970s, General Electric applied its expertise in a special area of electronic miniaturization called "thick film hybrid integrated circuits" (originally developed for use in missiles and satellites) to help improve the first generation of cardiac pacemakers.

This collection of artifacts represents the development and manufacturing process of building a pacemaker. The micro-electronics (thick film hybrid integrated circuits) were placed inside the metal casings, which were then hermetically sealed. These circuits were the key technology of the pacemaker, sensing heart rhythms and sending out signals to stimulate the heart when needed during abnormal activity.

Lockheed Martin donated these artifacts to the Museum in 1998.

Col. Pamela Melroy gave this scrunchie to the Museum after she had used it as a Space Shuttle pilot astronaut on missions to the International Space Station in 2000 and 2002. A scrunchie - like clips, barettes, or rubber bands - keeps hair tidy and under control. According to NASA policy, while they are in space astronauts should confine long hair in a ponytail, braids, or other manner to keep it from floating free and becoming tangled in equipment or posing a nuisance. This guideline has affected only the women astronauts, as no male astronauts have had long hair. The scrunchie is thus an emblem of small but noticeable changes that occurred when women entered the workplace in space.

Pamela Melroy donated this hair accessory to the Museum in 2004.

This Buzz Lightyear toy flew to the International Space Station in 2008 through an educational initiative developed by NASA with Disney•Pixar, as part of NASA's broader "Toys in Space" project. The toy flew aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery twice (up on STS-124 and down on STS-128) and spent 15 months aboard the ISS, where it was featured occasionally on down-linked videos for the project. At the same time, Disney•Pixar gave NASA permission to use the character in on-line educational interactives and hard-copy hand-outs to promote science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) learning.

The actual toy that flew in space came from James Wardle, son of the Disney team member who coordinated the program with NASA. Unable to locate a Buzz Lightyear toy when he needed to ship one to NASA, Duncan Wardle found this one under his son's bed and sent that. The Wardle family donated the space-flown toy to the Museum in 2012.

Charles A. Lindbergh and his wife, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, flew in their Lockheed Sirius aircraft on two significant missions, one in 1931 and the other in 1933. The first flight in 1931 was to the Orient. This flight successfully proved the viability of using the great circle to navigate from the West to the East via the North. In 1933 the Lindberghs again flew the Sirius across the Atlantic, this time on survey flights to gather valuable information for planning commercial air transport routes for the North and South Atlantic.

Upon returning in late 1933, Charles Lindbergh donated the aircraft and the material support items to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City where they were displayed in the Hall of Ocean Life. When the museum deaccessioned the collection it was sent to the United States Air Force Museum. In 1959 it was decided that the aircraft did not represent the Air Force and the collection was then transferred to the Smithsonian Institution's Air Museum. Every possible space of the aircraft was utilized to carry supplies during the flights.

The objects in this collection are representative of these mission support and personal items carried. These objects serve to illustrate the essential equipment that would have been taken on international exploratory flights during the 1920s and 1930s.