A Visit to the National Air and Space Museum

Thursday I spent a couple of hours at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the National Air and Space Museum near Dullas International Airport. It was my first visit.

I suspect we don't think enough about the wonder of the advance in aerospace technology in the last century, but the museum virtually forces one to do so. It has on display one of the very early, unsuccessful aircraft, a contender with that of the Wright brothers for the honors of the first manned flight. The saga continues with the display of fighter airplanes from World War I and II, the Enola Gay (the first plane used to drop an atomic bomb), and the Concord, to rockets and space capsules, to a prototype of the space shuttle. The show was topped off by a great IMAX presentation on the mars rovers. Sitting in a theater, looking at full scale photos of mars is an experience everyone should share!

Of course, this is a U.S. federal government facility. It has had unique access to the artifacts produced with government funding, and may be biased by this access. But it is striking how much the United States has done to advance aerospace technology, and how much more effort (and money) it has put into the effort than other countries and other continents. Tax dollars well spent, in my opinion.