New: Case: Japanese American Pioneers of the Jet Age
	May 2007 - May 2008 (TBA)
	In 1955, Pan American World Airways -- in an effort to become the pre-eminent carrier for routes over the Pacific -- recruited Japanese American stewardesses as ambassadors to the growing tide of world travelers and established an Asian language base in Honolulu. Photographs and such memorabilia as uniforms, flight bags, and scrapbooks provide a peak at the role of these Japanese America stewardesses.

Grand Opening: Took Place December 15, 2003
	December 15, 2003 - Permanent
	On December 15, to mark the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers' first flight at Kitty Hawk, the National Air and Space Museum opened its new major companion facility, designed to display and preserve its collection of historic aviation and space artifacts. This facility has allowed the museum to take out of storage and ultimately display nearly all of its collection of aircraft and spacecraft. For general information on the kinds of aircraft on view, see the Boeing Aviation Hangar entry and for general information on spacecraft on view, see the James S. McDonnell Space Hangar entry.

Balloonamania (2 large cases)
	December 15, 2003 - Permanent
			The commotion created when the Montgolfier brothers sent the first successful unmanned balloon aloft in 1783 in France was as great as that created by the Wright Brothers' first flight a century later. Because communication worked differently in the 18th century, historic events were recorded visually on a variety of objects from clocks to teacups. Some 400 objects from the museum's collection of ballooning memorabilia illustrate the impact of ballooning upon the public's imagination of the day both in Europe and America. Included in the 2 exhibition cases are such items as ceramic saucers; ashtrays; pocket watches; paperweights; boxes of tortoiseshell, ivory, and amber; and 18th-century walnut chairs -- all beautifully decorated with ballooning scenes. Also on view is the barometer carried by American physician John Jeffries on the first balloon crossing of the English Channel in January 1785.

Boeing Aviation Hangar
	December 15, 2003 - Permanent
	Approximately 120 aircraft are currently on view to illustrate the scope of aviation history, including military, commercial, business, sports, and pre-1920 aviation and vertical flight (helicopters).

James S. McDonnell Space Hangar
	November 1, 2004 - Permanent
			Some 140 large and 500 smaller space history artifacts are on view to illustrate the scope of space exploration history as organized around the following 4 main themes: rocketry and missiles, human spaceflight, application satellites, and space science.

Last update: May 7, 2008, 10:58