National Air and Space Museum

The museum

The Smithsonian’s flagship National Air and Space Museum interprets the development of flight and space exploration through nationally significant aircraft, spacecraft, engines, instruments, and related artifacts.

The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum on the National Mall tells the history of flight through landmark originals, restored aircraft, replicas and aerospace artifacts. The Washington building is a separate visiting destination from the larger Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia. A visitor looking for a particular aircraft should check which of the two Smithsonian sites actually lists it.

Washington collection highlights include the original 1903 Wright Flyer, the 1909 Wright Military Flyer, Lilienthal’s glider, an early Ford Tri-Motor, a Learjet 23 and a Northrop T-38. Bell’s X-1 and XP-59A, the Boeing 247-D, the Douglas DC-3 and the Blériot XI appear in museum object display listings. Reproductions of Wright gliders are explicitly distinguished from original machines.

The Air Archive links the aircraft types in the named galleries to longer aircraft histories; it does not count space capsules, miniature models, engines or gallery equipment as full aircraft. The museum’s exhibitions change as renovation and gallery programs progress.