National Air and Space Museum [antikvár]

INTRODUCTION In these pages unfolds a visual celebration of mankind's remarkable air and space achievements during the twentieth century. Since its opening on Bicentennial Day in 1976, this awe-inspiring building has become host to nearly ten million visitors annually and is the most heavily attended museum in the world. One reason for this extraordinary popularity is that all of the aircraft and, where possible, all the spacecraft are the real thing—not just models or replicas. Spacecraft that remain on the Moon, in orbit on another planet, or that have been destroyed during reentry are represented by other actual spacecraft that were never launched or by engineering protot^es. Another great attraction for aviation buffs is the Paul e. Garber Facility in nearby Maryland where more than one hundred additional aircraft are exhibited. Housed there are the B-29 Enola Gay and many rare German and Japanese fighters and bombers of World War II. Established by congressional action in 1946 as the National Air Museum, what is now known as The National Air and Space Museum (NASM) occupied temporary and inadequate quarters for more than a quarter century. It is hard to imagine the row of rockets and one long tin shed in what is now the Enid A. Haupt Garden next to the Smithsonian Castle. So the museum itself has progressed, as have the technologies that bring us to the final decade of the century. The nine pictorial sections of this book are arranged by museum gallery or by significant periods of aerospace history: Milestones of Flight Early Flight World War I Golden Age of Flight Air Transport World War II Jet Age Space Age Paul e. Garber Facility We hope that this picture visit will serve as a pleasant reminder of your trip to the National Air and Space Museum—or as an invitation to come and see its riches for yourself. Pliotographs on pages 1-8: Page 1: A reproduction Wright Glider flies over the Kitty Hawk dunes in this scene from the IMAX film On the Wing. Pages 2-3: A fisheye lens view of the Milestones of Flight gallery. Pages 4-5: As a result of the Voyager planetary probe, scientists learned that the rings of the planet Saturn are made up of thousands of small bands. Pages 6-7: Royal Air Force Avro Lancasters are depicted landing at an airfield in England in the painting Last Flight Home by Robert Taylor. Left: Six General Dynamics F-16s of the United States Air Force Thunderbirds fly in formation over Nevada.