Tour Highlight

Introduction

(In front of docent desk, welcome, factoids, and tour outline)

Milestones of Flight

(Move away from docent desk and start with the Spirit of St. Louis at Gallery 100, along with the Bell X-1, XP-59P, and X-15; continue with Mercury Friendship 7 then turning the group to Gemini IV, next move to position in front of the Apollo 11 CM)

Space Race

(Move to Gallery 114 to see V-1 in flight and V-2 in launch position; and then turn around to find a Skylab; and continue to cover the Apollo-Soyuz Rendezvous, Hubble Space Telescope, and Space Shuttle)

Lunar Exploration Vehicles

(Move over to Gallery 112 to cover the Lunar Module and other spacecraft)

Moving Beyond Earth

(Continue the tour by visit an immersive exhibition that places visitors “in orbit” to explore recent human spaceflight at Gallery 113)

Wright Flyer

(Next continue to second floor by move up to Gallery 209 for a closer look at the Wright's Flyer)

Pioneer of Flight

(Continue the tour by underneath Fokker T-2 with Chicago and Lockheed Vega visible at Gallery 208)

Commercial Air Transportation

(Move up to balcony next to Gallery 206, first stop by Ford Tri-Motor and next swing around to the left and look at the Mailwing, Alpha, and Boeing 247; and alongside that is the famous DC-3)

World War II Aviation

(Then visit the Gallery 205 by first stop between Bf-109 and Macchi; and then move to Zero; and continue for a closer look at the Spitfire and P-51)

Wrap-up

(Thanks/ IMAX /Food/Gift shop)

Introduction

Good morning, welcome to the National Air and Space Museum. My name is Kent Wang. I am a weekend volunteer docent and I will provide a highlight tour this morning. 

Milestones of Flight (Gallery 100 Milestones of Flight)

The Museum's grand entry hall, Milestones of Flight showcases a truly awesome collection of historic aircraft and spacecraft that represent epic achievements in aviation and space flight. In this gallery, I will navigate visitors through the evolution of aviation by examining the aircraft in the Museum's world-class collection. See how far the human race has come in the span of a single lifetime.

U. S. Space Program (Gallery 100 Milestones of Flight)

 The United States human space flight effort has progressed through a series of programs of ever increasing scope and complexity. The first Mercury launch required only a few hundred people. The launch of Apollo 11 for man's first lunar landing engaged thousands. The complex and sophisticated Space Shuttle of today began with this tiny Mercury capsule in 1961.

Rocket and Hubble Space Telescope (Gallery 114 Space Race)

This gallery presents many achievements related to a human presence in space, some of the highlights include a German V-1 "buzz bomb" and V 2 missile, Soviet and U.S. spacecraft and space suits, a Skylab Orbital Workshop, and a full-size test version of the Hubble Space Telescope.

Moving Beyond Earth (Gallery 113)

This gallery is an immersive exhibition that places visitors “in orbit” in the shuttle and space-station era to explore recent human spaceflight and future possibilities. An expansive view of the Earth as viewed from the space station drifts over one gallery wall, while a fly-around tour of the International Space Station fills another wall.

Looking at Earth and U-2 Gallery (Gallery 110)

Looking at Earth explores the technology of aerial and space observation and its many uses. The gallery displays aircraft and spacecraft and examples of the photographic and imaging devices used on them. Highlights include a Lockheed U-2.

Lunar Exploration Vehicles (Gallery 112)

This gallery displays a constellation of vehicles used for lunar exploration.  In 1961, President Kennedy committed the United States to "the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth." As a result, NASA developed a variety of lunar exploration spacecraft to take photographs of and map the Moon's surface in an effort to find a suitable landing site for future manned missions. These unmanned lunar probes and the Lunar Module are exhibited in this gallery.

The Wright Brothers Gallery (Gallery 209)

The Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum celebrates 100 years of powered flight with the creation of “The Wright Brothers & The Invention of the Aerial Age” in October 2003. This gallery provides an engrossing look at the lives of Wilbur and Orville Wright, their technical achievements and the cultural impact of their breakthrough in the decade that followed. The centerpiece of the gallery is the original 1903 Wright Flyer, displayed at eye level for the first time since it was acquired by the Smithsonian in 1948.

Pioneers of Flight Gallery (Gallery 208)

Since the Wright brothers flew at Kitty Hawk in 1903, aviation pioneers have had to break both physical and psychological barriers to flight. In this historic aircraft gallery, individuals tried their best to claim their place in aviation history.

Commercial Air Transportation Gallery (Gallery 206)

This gallery contains airplanes from the formative years of air transportation in the United States. After 1926, the airlines were created to carry first the air mail and later passengers in regular service. With direct government support, together with a technological revolution that produced modern all-metal airplane by the early 1930s, air travel made tremendous progress in speed, safety, and reliability. By World War II, the United States had a well-developed modern network of air routes and airlines linking every state and reaching across the oceans. 

World War II Gallery (Gallery 205)

Welcome on the gallery devoted to WW II AVIATION and specially dedicated to all PILOTS of that period. The story of World War II is too big for a single gallery, so this one focuses on land-based fighter aviation. The fighter planes on display are a British Supermarine Spitfire, German Messerschmitt Bf 109, Italian Macchi C.202 Folgore, U.S. North American P-51 Mustang, and Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero.

General Atomics MQ-1 Predator

In November 2002, a vehicle traveling in Yemen and believed to be carrying terrorists was destroyed by a Hellfire missile. What makes the kill historic is that it was executed by a flying robot. The first unmanned aerial vehicle to kill human beings, the MQ-1 Predator has changed the rules of warfare.

A Trip to NASM

We look up in the sky as a plane slices through the clouds. Most of the time, we don't think twice about it. But sometimes we're struck with wonder: How did we learn to fly with the birds? Although we often think of the Wright brothers' famous "first flight" in 1903 as the beginning of aviation history, man's attempt to soar through the sky goes back as far as the 15th century. Leonardo da Vinci made the first real studies of flight in the 1480's, Samuel Langley built a model plane in 1891, and Otto Lilienthal built his gliders in 1894.