A Boyhood Dream Fulfilled: Space-Geek Tour of the USA

[Human]

After the tour, the first room I went to was the “Exploring the Planets” exhibition. Of all the exhibitions in the museum, this was the one I spent the most time in. Read the very first post in this trip report: planetary exploration was one of the huge things that made me a space geek in the first place, and even though I’d had an indescribably great time at Johnson and Kennedy, those places were more geared towards crewed spaceflight and the moon. So I was totally in my element in the “Exploring the Planets” room – in fact it once again brought back my boyhood excitement about planetary exploration.









I was pleased to see that in at least some of the exhibits, Pluto was given its rightful place!


I really can’t get enough of this stuff.





I spent many minutes at this interactive touchscreen monitor outlining the history of human exploration of the Solar System. It brought back a lot of happy childhood (and adult) memories, as well as teaching me some things I didn’t know!







My time ended in a large room with a 360 degree full-size display about travelling to, and landing on, various planets and moons.


I was in space-geek paradise! But there was a lot more to come.

 

[Human]

Across from the Planets exhibition was the “Nation of Speed” room. It’s focussed on humanity’s quest for speed on land, water and in the air. I must admit that I don’t exactly consider myself a “rev-head”, but it was still interesting and fascinating in parts, even though I didn’t quite study the exhibits in the same detail as I had in the previous room… Everything you see in these photos is authentic. In other words, for example, that really is Evel Knievel's motorbike and Mario Andretti's car.








After I left this room I had a quick detour, as one does, to touch some meteorites.

 

[Human]

The next stop was the “Destination Moon” room. Was I all mooned out as a result of my time at Johnson and Kennedy Space Centers? Are you kidding?


One of the first things you see after you walk in is Alan Shepard’s Freedom 7 Mercury capsule and spacesuit – Shepard was the first American in space in 1961. Not for the first time, I marvelled at how tiny it was. The longest Mercury mission went for over 34 hours – it would have been like being stuck in a small box.



After that came another Gemini capsule: this is Gemini VII, whose astronauts were cooped up in there for 14 days -- which frankly boggles the mind. The display explained that the mission “was primarily medical. They endured experiments regarding food, waste, and sleep”. I assume that’s the sanitised version of what went on up there… I remember Jim Lovell interviewed about this mission and I do recall him saying that after 2 weeks in space the smell inside the Gemini capsule was almost unbearable!


[By the way, the NASA “Gemini” programme is correctly pronounced “Geminee”, not “Gemineye”. If you hear the astronauts and other NASA staff who were involved in the programme interviewed about it, they always pronounce it “Geminee”.]

The final part of the exhibition is the Apollo 11 section. There are three amazing artefacts on display: the Apollo 11 Command Module, Neil Armstrong’s space suit, and actual recovered pieces of the Saturn rocket that fell to earth after the stage separation (thanks to Jeff Bezos who paid for the recovery from deep in the ocean). I can’t believe that this is my third genuine Command Module in a week! (Apollo 14 was in Houston and Apollo 17 was in Florida … or is it the other way around?). Maybe I was possibly a little less awed, a little less emotional than I would have been if I hadn’t been to the other two Space Centers? But still … This is the APOLLO 11 COMMAND MODULE! And NEIL ARMSTRONG’S ACTUAL SPACESUIT WHICH HE WORE ON THE MOON! If I’m not dumbstruck, and emotional, at those things, then I need to hand back my Space Geek passport!










Also on display were a Lunar Module and Gene Cernan’s actual space boots – the last boots to touch the moon, in 1972.



It was good to see that there was substantial space given to the Russian space programme too. This is not something that the NASA Space Centers had done (nor was it part of their brief so this isn’t a criticism).

 

[Human]

The next room I visited was the "One World Connected" room (and no, it was not about the airline alliance!). The theme of the exhibition was communications technology, and how space travel and satellite technology has revolutionised communcation, especially communication between different nations and different parts of the world.





I didn’t spend a huge amount of time in this room, although the display on shortwave radio reminded me of many geeky early mornings I’d spent as a teenager playing with a shortwave radio that I’d saved up for and bought. It was such a thrill hearing radio broadcasts from the other side of the world. Technology has moved on quite a bit since then!



I was also really interested in the small “Earthrise” display. “Earthrise” is the famous and moving photo that astronaut Bill Anders took from the Moon in 1968, and it was a thrill to see the actual camera with which he took the photo.





The exhibition also had a large display on communications satellites, how they have revolutionised the world, and the technology behind them.




I left the room and went to the “Planetarium”, which is actually a large domed cinema. Inside I watched a 25-minute movie on the Solar System; the movie screened up above us, onto the domed ceiling. It was really well done but photography was not permitted during the movie itself.




After the movie it was lunchtime. Given that this whole trip is, in so many ways, an homage to my teenage-boy geekiness, I thought it not inappropriate to yield to my teenage boy appetite, and so I had a pepperoni pizza. The coffee was characteristically disappointing.

 

[Human]

After lunch was all about aviation. First stop was the Wright Brothers display. Pride of place, obviously, was the actual, original 1903 Wright Flyer – the first aeroplane in the world to fly! There was a major display of all things Wright Brothers, including detailed biographical information about their lives.












I did spend quite a bit of time at the Wright Flyer – I was in the presence of yet another amazing piece of history, something that I learned about in school. There it was, in front of me. It was amazing, incredible, fascinating … yet I didn’t feel emotionally moved, like I had with the space stuff. Maybe because this is something that didn’t take place during my lifetime? Maybe because I’m more of a space geek than an aviation geek (though I do consider myself an aviation geek)? Or maybe now was not the time to worry about that, and I should just enjoy the display in my own way without feeling guilty about enjoying it the “right” way and/or psychoanalysing myself? Happily, I chose the latter.

I moved on to another room which was all about early flight (pre- and post- Wright brothers). It contained various early gliders and flying machines which had enjoyed, or not enjoyed, success. Also there were biographies of various people who had played a significant role in early aviation.






Pride of place was the 1909 plane which the Wright Brothers had constructed for, and sold to, the US Military – the first ever aeroplane for military use. Even the fabric was authentic and original.

 

[Human]

The penultimate exhibition was “We All Fly”, which is devoted to civilian and non-commercial aviation in all its forms. This famous ultralight saved an endangered species of geese by teaching them were to fly for their migration!



A couple of other planes in the display:

 

[Human]

Probably the highlight of the afternoon, though, was the “America by Air” exhibition. It was a history of commercial aviation in the USA, and was truly fascinating.



Pride of place was given to the many iconic, history-making aircraft which were hanging or parked: a Boeing 247 from 1933 (generally considered to be the world’s first “modern” airliner), the Douglas DC-3 which was manufactured in a desperate bid to compete with the B247 (they wildly succeeded), a Douglas DC-7 (which I was able to enter) and the nose of a 747-151, which entered service in 1970 and was the first 747 to fly a regular service across the Pacific Ocean. Let’s hope I get this right (and I, too, am annoyed with myself for not taking better photos; I think I was getting tired...):

This is the Boeing 247:


At the top is the DC-3 (and underneath and behind it is a good picture of the B247). It’s on my bucket list to fly in one of these; I think there’s still one in service around Melbourne which flies joy-flights?



The DC-7.





I’m pretty sure that this is the 747.

 

[Human]

I can feel myself running out of puff as I write this, but the other aspect of the “America by Air” exhibition that I really enjoyed were the displays about all aspects of commercial aviation in America, from the early days when commercial aviation was saved by the government decision to deliver mail by air, to the modern days of deregulation and “glass coughpits”.

 

[Human]

Thus endeth my time at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum! I’d basically seen all the displays that were on offer, and after spending too much time and money in the souvenir shop (in my defence, a lot of what I bought were gifts…) I headed out. Despite being fully aware that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing that doesn’t work again and again, I nevertheless decided to catch the bus. As I was waiting at the bus stop I turned and saw this…


And I turned back and saw this…


The bus came and, joy of joys, it was the P6 bus. I boarded and was safely returned to my hotel.


For much of the bus trip I was the only non-African American on board. What struck me was the basic courtesy and humanity that the passengers shared with each other. Many of them greeted each other (including me), and there was always someone on board willing and ready to help other passengers in need (an old lady with a walker, a young lady with a stroller, a man in a wheelchair). It’s not something I see as much on public transport in Australia.

So… the decision is made for me. I will not return to the Air and Space Museum, and I will use my extra day to go to Udvar-Hazy at Dulles. I think that will be tomorrow, but I’ll look at the weather forecast and decide based on what’s the best and worst day to be outdoors.

What was my experience of the museum? Amazing! It might not have quite attained the heights of the Space Centers, but I’m not sure that anything ever will. I had a wonderful, fascinating, interesting, captivating and at times, yes, emotional time at Air & Space. This holiday is not so much the gift that keeps on giving, as the delight that keeps on flowing.