The Air & Space Museum Museum in Washington, D.C.

The Smithsonian's National 
Air & Space Museum
is very popular.







The history of flight is on display here from the first powered flight of Orville Wright to space exploration.

Flight was made possible

by accurately measuring

time & developing the

tools of navigation.

The Octant & Sextant helped

sailors navigate the seas.

Navigational tools were adapted for use in aircraft.

Tools the navigator used

aboard the Beechcraft

 AT-7 Navigator.

Computers performed the 

complex navigational

computations the USS

Alabama submarine.

Orville & Wilbur Wright

proved that powered

flight was possible on

 December 17, 1903.

Orville and Wilbur Wright spent years experimenting with gliders to master the principles of aerodynamics.  They then worked to solve problems of powered flight, including building their own engine for the 1903 Wright Flier.

This is the original 1903
Wright Flier that flew four 
times on December 17, 1903.







And the rest, as they say, is history...

The Spirit of St. Louis

without its famous

cowling.

Aviation pioneer, Charles A. Lindbergh, took off from Roosevelt Field on Long Island, New York at 7:52 am on May 20, 1927.  He flew this Ryan  NYP single-engine plane, solo, across the Atlantic Ocean, landing at Le Bourget Field in Paris, France after 10:22 pm, Paris time, on May 21, 1927.  He collected the Orteig Prize of $25,000.00 for the first nonstop aircraft flight from New York to Paris.

Lincoln Ellsworth flew this

Northrop Gamma "Polar Star"

across Antarctica in 1935.

Airplanes have been used in war....

The Mustang P-51D was

used by the Army in

World War II.

The Japanese used, "Zeros,"

Mitsubishi A6M5 Reisen 

dive bombers against

American war ships in the

Pacific during World

War II.

Advancements in aviation include unmanned aircraft.

This unmanned AAI Corporation

 R2-7A Shadow 200 is used for

reconnaissance, surveillance

& targeting.

This Gemini 6 Capsule
was launched on
June 3, 1965.







NASA learned a lot about space flight during the Gemini Program.  NASA included advancements in the Apollo Program as it prepared for moon landings from July 20, 1969 through December 14, 1972.

The Apollo Lunar Module

was used for testing before

the first moon landing

on July 20, 1969.