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Air and Space Museum completes renovation with spaceflight gallery opening
The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum has completed a seven-year, nearly $1 billion renovation, with its final spaceflight gallery opening on 30 October. “At Home in Space” traces how decades of preparation and space shuttle missions enabled people to live in orbit, and how that experience informs plans for future lunar and Mars bases.
The gallery centres on the International Space Station and includes a space shuttle main engine, a Robonaut prototype, and a flown spacesuit designed for reuse aboard the shuttle and ISS. It also displays flight suits worn by Guy Bluford and Sally Ride, alongside recovered debris from the Challenger and Columbia disasters, presented to honour those who died.
In short
- The museum’s seven-year renovation is complete.
- Its final spaceflight gallery focuses on living in orbit.
- Displays include flown equipment and shuttle debris.
Explained simply
The National Air and Space Museum is part of the Smithsonian Institution, a group of museums and research centres in the United States. It tells the story of aviation and space exploration, including the technology, missions and people involved.
The International Space Station is a research laboratory in orbit where astronauts from several countries have lived and worked. NASA’s space shuttle carried people and equipment to the station, helping scientists learn what long stays in space require; that knowledge is relevant to plans for future missions to the Moon and Mars.
Guy Bluford was the first African American to travel into space, and Sally Ride was the first American woman in space. The museum’s displays also include material from the Challenger and Columbia disasters, in which their crews died, placing the risks and human costs of spaceflight alongside its achievements.
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Originally published by Ars Technica as ““At Home in Space” opens, caps Air and Space Museum renovation”.