Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum on the National Mall in Washington, DC, holds the world's largest and most significant collection of aviation and spaceflight artifacts. Admission is free, in keeping with the Smithsonian Institution's founding mission, though a timed entry reservation is required to manage visitor numbers during peak periods. The museum's two main exhibition halls contain aircraft and spacecraft suspended from the ceiling or positioned at ground level throughout dozens of themed galleries. Among the most visited objects: the 1903 Wright Flyer from Kitty Hawk, the first airplane to achieve controlled powered flight; the Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia in which astronauts Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins returned from the Moon in July 1969; and the Spirit of St. Louis, Charles Lindbergh's Ryan monoplane in which he completed the first nonstop solo transatlantic flight in 1927. The Milestones of Flight gallery at the museum's entrance provides an immediate and comprehensive overview of aviation's pivotal achievements. The Albert Einstein Planetarium offers dome-projection programs covering topics from astronomy to space exploration on a paid admission basis. The museum's Boeing Aviation Hangar at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles International Airport is a separate annexe of similar scale, housing the Space Shuttle Discovery, the Concorde, and a Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, among hundreds of additional aircraft and spacecraft. A free tram connects the two locations on selected days. The Mall museum underwent a significant renovation beginning in 2019; galleries are reopening in phases through the mid-2020s, with ongoing construction affecting which areas are accessible.