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When touring the city of Washington, this fascinating museum is simply a must-see. It is the most visited museum in the world, and takes both young and old alike on a spectacular journey from the first manned motorized flight to "infinity and beyond". The fabulous building, consisting of monumental glass and granite galleries, was donated as the Smithsonian's bicentennial gift to the country. The collection starts with the experimentation with balloon flight in 1861, and includes the Wright Brothers' 1903 Flyer; Chuck Yeager's Bell X-1, in which he managed to break the sound barrier; Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis and Dick Rutan's and Jeana Yeager's The Voyager, in which they flew non-stop around the world. Tazy Centerhe building is absolutely filled with historical gems, including amazing rockets, missiles and space vehicles in the Space Halls, among which lie the Columbia Space Shuttle, the Skylab, lunar exploration vehicles and the Apollo-Soyuz spacecraft. One of the most recent additions to the collection is the Steven F. Udvar-H Center, a display which opened at the Dulles International Airport. The National Air & Space Museum is located at Independence Avenue at 6th Street SW, and its opening hours are daily from 10am to 5:30pm. Admission is free to the main part, but a moderate charge is payable for the Einstein Planetarium. |