What To See At The Smithsonian’s Air And Space Museum Reopening

Powered flight began on Dec. 17, 1903, with the Wright Flyer, a canard biplane with one 12-hp, four-cylinder engine that drove two pusher propellers.

The Spirit of St. Louis still resides in the Air and Space Museum, but the “Thomas W. Haas We All Fly” exhibition also features the Spirit of Columbus, a Cessna 180 in which Jerrie Mock became the first woman to complete a solo flight around the world.

Robert Fulton, Jr.’s, Airphibian is an aircraft with detachable wings, tail and propeller that enabled him to drive it around like a car.

Do not miss the “Destination Moon” gallery, with the Apollo 11 command module. When you turn the corner, do look up to see inside a rocket engine.

Find the location of communication satellites on a giant globe and see the innards of a spacecraft at the “One World Connected” exhibition. The aim is to show how aircraft and spacecraft have connected humanity around the globe.

The “Kenneth C. Griffin Exploring the Planets” gallery draws on research from scientists involved in current planetary missions.

The renovated museum displays the “Marie Curie” rover, a spare from the Sojourner mission, a Mars Exploration Rover testbed and a full-scale model of Curiosity.

The newly renovated museum weaves iconic pop culture touchstones including the Star Wars X-Wing starfighter together with real-world artifacts.