{"id":3325774,"date":"2026-07-01T15:20:46","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T13:20:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/the-air-and-space-museum-turns-50-and-opens-five-new-galleries-today\/"},"modified":"2026-07-02T14:10:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T12:10:07","slug":"the-air-and-space-museum-turns-50-and-opens-five-new-galleries-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/de\/the-air-and-space-museum-turns-50-and-opens-five-new-galleries-today\/","title":{"rendered":"The Air and Space Museum Turns 50 \u2014 and Opens Five New Galleries Today"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fifty years ago today \u2014 on 1 July 1976 \u2014 the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum<\/strong> opened its doors on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. It was a bicentennial gift to a nation that had just landed men on the Moon, won a Space Race, and built an aviation industry that dominated the world. Within weeks, it became the most visited museum on Earth, a record it has held for much of the half-century since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, on its 50th birthday \u2014 and in time for the United States' own 250th anniversary \u2014 the museum opens five new galleries that complete a multi-year, top-to-bottom renovation. Every one of the museum's 20 exhibition spaces has been redesigned. The exterior cladding has been replaced. The mechanical systems have been overhauled. What reopens on the National Mall is, in effect, a new museum \u2014 built around the same irreplaceable collection of flying machines that has drawn more than 300 million visitors<\/strong> since 1976.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Inside
The Spirit of St. Louis inside the National Air and Space Museum \u2014 one of the most visited museums in the world. The multi-year renovation has redesigned all 20 exhibition spaces. (Wikimedia Commons)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Five New Galleries<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The five galleries opening today represent the final phase of a renovation that began in 2018. They are the Jay I. Kislak World War II in the Air<\/strong> gallery, which has been completely redesigned with new artifacts, interactive elements, statues of Tuskegee Airmen, original uniforms, and actual aircraft and equipment used in the war; Textron How Things Fly<\/strong>, an interactive science gallery explaining the physics of flight; Flight and the Arts Center<\/strong>, exploring the intersection of aviation, space, and artistic expression; U.S. National Science Foundation Discovering Our Universe<\/strong>, tracing humanity's effort to understand the cosmos; and RTX Living in the Space Age<\/strong>, which examines how space technology has transformed daily life on Earth, featuring a full-scale mockup of the Hubble Space Telescope used by NASA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two final galleries \u2014 Modern Military Aviation<\/strong> and At Home in Space<\/strong> \u2014 will open in the autumn, completing the transformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n