Cathy Lewis

Curator, National Air and Space Museum

Cathy Lewis

What I work on at the Smithsonian.

I am the curator of International Space Programs and Spacesuits at the National Air and Space Museum. That means that I collect and research objects that relate to the history of non-U.S. activities in space and I am responsible for the museum’s collection of spacesuits. Objects in my collection include an engineering model of a Soviet spacecraft that flew to the planet Venus and Comet Halley and all twelve spacesuits that walked on the surface of the Moon.

Best moment at the Smithsonian.

That’s is hard to pick. There are so many. The best part of my job is the wide range of people with whom I get to work. They include scientists, engineers and curators around the world, who explain what they do to me and my colleagues at the Air and Space museum who are all experts in their fields. As a result, rarely a day passes that I haven’t learned something new and exciting. The best moments are those when I learn something new that I had never considered.

Advice for Girl Scouts interested in a career like mine?

Be open for adventures and learning opportunities. I started towards this job when I decided to learn Russian in high school because it was different from what most other people were doing. I also studied science through college as well as history. Sometimes it was a lot of hard work, but it has opened a whole world for me.

Ask me about my work at the Smithsonian!