National Air and Space Museum

About this museum

Nearly 47, 000 visitors have rated the National Air and Space Museum on Washington's National Mall - and the 4.6 - star consensus is, if anything, modest. The Air and Space is the most visited museum in the United States and one of the most visited in the world, and for good reason: nowhere else can you stand within arm's reach of the Wright Flyer, the Apollo 11 command module, the Enola Gay, and an actual piece of moon rock, all without spending a dime. The scope of what the museum holds is simply staggering.Organized by theme and era, the galleries trace the full arc of human flight - from the earliest powered aircraft at Kitty Hawk to the Saturn V rockets that carried Americans to the moon, and onward to the space shuttle era and the robotic probes currently exploring the outer solar system. Vehicles are everywhere: suspended from the ceiling, parked on gallery floors, displayed in cases. The effect is immersive in a way that photographs of historic aircraft simply cannot be. Interpretive exhibits handle the history of both aviation and space exploration with genuine depth, addressing the military, political, scientific, and cultural dimensions of how humans conquered the sky and then left the planet.Admission is free - this is a Smithsonian Institution museum, and like all Smithsonian properties on the Mall, it charges nothing to enter. The museum is open daily from 10AM to 5:30PM, seven days a week including Monday. It sits at 655 Jefferson Drive Southwest on the National Mall, steps from the US Capitol and within easy walking distance of other Smithsonian institutions. Lines can form during peak tourist season, so early arrival is advisable. Full exhibit schedules and visitor planning tools are available at airandspace.si.edu. The National Air and Space Museum is, by any reasonable measure, one of the great free cultural experiences in the world.