National Air and Space Museum - Washington Museum

Descriptions from Across the Web

• The Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum (NASM) maintains the largest collection ... more on Museum Stuff
• The most popular of the Smithsonian museums features the Wright Brothers' ... more on tripadvisor.com
• There are dozens of aircraft here, everything from the Wright Brothers' Flyer and Charles Lindbergh's Spirit ... more on Wcities
• For years, the airplanes and spacecraft at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum have captured the imaginations of children (and adults!) of all ages.Hanging from the rafters of the Milestones of Flight entrance gallery are such famous flying machines as the Wright Brothers' Wright 1903 Flyer, Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis, John Glenn's Mercury Friendship 7 spacecraft, the Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia, and the Viking Lander. Also on view is the Breitling Orbiter 3 Gondola, which Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones navigated in 1999 to complete the first ... more on gocitykids.com
• With the opening of the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in December 2003, the National Air and Space Museum now bills itself, "One museum, two locations." It's not realistic, however, to visit both museums in one day: The flagship museum on the National Mall consumes 2 or 3 hours -- longer, if you attend an IMAX film or planetarium show; the round trip to the satellite Udvar-Hazy Center, located on the grounds of Washington-Dulles International Airport, takes about 2 hours (space fans might say 2 weeks); and the touring of that museum another 2 or 3 hours. You could do it, but you'd be frantic. So start with this one, the original, ever-popular Air and Space Museum on the Mall. The museum, which celebrates its 30th anniversary on July 1, 2006 (check the website for a list of celebratory events), chronicles the story of the mastery of flight, from Kitty Hawk to outer space. It holds the largest collection of historic aircraft and spacecraft in the world -- so many, in fact, that the museum is able to display only about 10% of its artifacts at any one time, hence the opening of the Udvar-Hazy Center. During the tourist season and on holidays, arrive before 10am to make a beeline for ... more on frommers.com

Directions

Metro: L'Enfant Plaza (Smithsonian Museums/Maryland Ave. exit) or Smithsonian

On Independence Ave. SW, between 4th and 7th sts., on the south side of the Mall, with entrances on Jefferson Dr. or Independence Ave

Hours

Both locations daily 10am-5:30pm. The mall museum often opens at 9am in summer, but call to confirm. Free 1 1/2-hr. highlight tours daily at 10:30am and 1pm

Miscellaneous

• Admission: Free

Other Web Resources

• Read more about National Air and Space Museum on Yahoo! Travel
• www.nasm.si.edu
• http://www.virginia.org