Smithsonian: National Air & Space Museum

This weekend we channeled Laurie's inner airline geek for our visit to the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum at the National Mall. There are 18 Smithsonian museums in DC and we are planning to visit all of them! Well, at least Laurie will anyway. Good thing they are free and open pretty much every day of the year. 

Like other museums we've seen so far, there are way too many things to look at and you feel quite exhausted after the first few hours. The museum is divided into exhibits ranging from the Wright Brothers first flight in 1903 to the important role of aviation in World War I and II, commercial aviation, & space exploration.

The museum is home to many actual, non replica pieces of history. First is the original Spirit of St. Louis aircraft, which Charles Lindbergh flew the first nonstop flight from New York to Paris in 1927.

Next is an interesting piece from the space exploration exhibit. Good thing we found this, because I've always wondered.  The machine on the left is for women and the machine on the right is for men. Enjoy.

Not all of the airplanes and spacecraft can be displayed here, the space on the mall is just too small. When my parents visit in the next few months, we'll be heading out to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington Dulles Airport to see the second half of the museum.

One of the main attractions for me was to see the Northwest Airlines 747 nose, a new feature of the museum since 2007 when NW donated the retired aircraft to the Smithsonian.

I'm so sad that the history of Northwest is being added to the airline graveyard when later this month, the Delta and Northwest operating certificates are combined into one, Delta. It is some consolation that the legacy of Northwest will be preserved here. Even after just four years of working at Northwest, I will always feel a sense of pride about the company, even with its labor issues, bankruptcy, mergers and acquisitions over the years. There is just something about seeing the ever present red-tails flying over the skies of Minneapolis-Saint Paul and feeling, "I'm a part of that." Every person on the airplane is going somewhere, whether to an important business meeting, a trip to visit friends, a sick relative, a long deserved vacation, or even a trip overseas to adopt a child. Everyone has a story, and NWA is helping them get there. I just think that's cool. Or dorky. Whatever. Any-waay....

Of course what museum visit is complete without a stop at the gift shop. We bought some Astronaut Ice Cream. I remember eating this as a kid, although I remember it being more delicious back then.

Stepping back & looking at the big picture, it is utterly amazing how far we have come since 1903. In this timeframe we have gone from first flight to exploring the moon, mars & beyond. I wonder what else will be accomplished in our lifetimes. I'm going to venture a few guesses (1) recreational space travel will be available, (2) people will inhabit the moon and other planets as our civilization branches out to other planets (3) new planets with life forms similar to Earth will be discovered (4) Other crazy things my mind can't even fathom at the moment!

1 Smithsonian down, 17 to go!

-Laurie