NASM Special Smithsonian Institution, Washlng.ton, D.C. July 1976

The National Air and Space Museum, opening July 1, 1976. NASM SET TO LAUNCH JULY 1

By Linda St. Thomas show off its 65 aircraft, wide selection of rockets, missiles and spacecraft with two The opening ceremonies for the new huge murals in the lobby, and a sculpture at National Air and Space Museum July I each entrance. mark the culmination of years of intensive The museum itself has been "in the works" effort toward a goal rarely achieved, comple­ since 1946 when the National Air Museum tion of a multi-million dollar project on time was chartered by Congress. In 1966, the and in budget. legislation was amended to change the name The Smithsonian and the N AS M staff, to the National Air and Space Museum. headed by Director Michael Collins, will Construction of the new building at 6th and have accomplished just that when the doors Independence Avenue began four years ago. of the $40 million structure are opened to the Architect Gyo Obata, of the SI. Louis firm public under the eyes of President Ford and a of Hellmuth Obata & Kassabaum, designed host of high-ranking dignitaries. the building to harmonize with others on the Plans call for the President to be joined on Mall. From the exterior, the bays of the the podium by Vice President Nelson enclosed galleries form four geometric Rockefeller, Chief Justice Warren Burger blocks, faced in Tennessee marble to match and Secretary Ripley and a number of the facade of the National Gallery of Art, regents. Chief Justice Burger is Chancellor of directly across the Mall. These blocks alter­ the Smithsonian, and Vice President nate with three glass-enclosed bays in which Rockefeller is Vice Chancellor. air and spacecraft hang in still-flight from President Ford last visited the Smithso­ exposed steel trusses. nian in October, when he and Mrs. Ford The N AS M collection has come a long were the honored guests of the Emperor and way si nce a group of Chinese kites were given Empress of Japan at a state dinner held in the to the Smithsonian after the 1876 Centennial Commons dining room of the Castle. Exposition in Philadelphia. The collection After the dedication speech by the Presi­ grew along with the technology. of the last dent, the actual ribbon-cutting is to ha ve an century. Samuel Pierpont Langley, third aeronautical touch, with National Secretary of the Smithsonian and an Aeronautics and Space Administration astrophysic ist, founded the Astrophysical arranging for the Viking spacecraflorbiting Observatory. And the Mars to send a signal to the Museum. The Charles D. Walcott, was among those who signal is to activate a mechanism to snip the actively petitioned Congress for the es­ ribbon. tablishment of a center for aeronautical The President is then to take a short tour research. His efforts resulted in the forma­ of the building begining with the Milestones tion, in 1915, of NASA's forerunner, the of Flight Gallery, the centerpiece of the National Advisory Committee for National Air and Space Museum. Aeronautics. Upon stepping into that vast hall, a sharp­ Today, the 23 NASM exhibit galleries eyed visitor notes that every exhibit in it house artifacts represe nting every era of points towards the Wright Brothers' Kitty flight, from balloons to Lindbergh's "Spirit Hawk Flyer. In fact, most of the air and of St. Louis," to a 1973 Skyla b Orbital spacecraft in the main halls are displayed Workshop, which visitors may enter, and a "around" the Flyer in a symbolic gesture that moon rock, which visitors may touch. took two years to design and execute. Mel Zisfein, the Museum's Deputy Direc­ "This project has been a monumental tor, has personally directed the massive effort," said Director Michael Collins. "In­ ex hibits progra m during the past five years. dividual creativity combined with dedicated Says Mr. Zisfein, "We stressed the retention teamwork and plain hard work; that's been of traditional Smithsonian stand a rd s of our method and it has worked well." curatorial accuracy and excellence of design For example, 46 employes of Trans World while adding many original approaches to Airlines worked 3,500 hours to restore one really reach the visitor. plane, the Northrop Alpha, an excellent "Up until about a year ago, our bywords Spanning the history of spaceflight from the first flight to the present day, N ASM's coIIection example of an early high speed single engine were communication and creative design. includes artifacts as diverse as the Wright Brothers' Flyer (above) to the ApoIIo-Soyuz transport. For the past year, our emphasis bas shifted to spacecraft. Installing the DC-3, the heaviest suspend­ determined management; all designs were ed aircraft, in the Air Transportation Hall completed and we focused on production A plane that will be fondly remembered The World War I Aviation Gallery offers required applying feather-light control to control and schedule enforcement." by many visitors, the DC-3 hangs in the next an unusual recreation of an American heavy lifting equipment to raise the eight-ton In the Milestones of Flight Gallery, the large gallery. Shiny and new-looking with its military airfield near Verdun where a Ger­ craft and attach it to steel beams in the collection of "firsts" includes the Kitty Hawk red-and-white Eastern Airlines logo, this man fighter pilot mistakenly landed his ceiling. Flyer, Robert H. Goddard's rockets, Sput­ plane had clocked more flight hours (56,782) Fokker D-VII two days before the war But, when the last label was screened and nik, John Glenn's Mercury spacecraft and than a ny other DC-3 in Eastern's fleet, when ended. A taped reconstruction of the pilots' the last plane polished, NASM was ready to the Apollo II Command Module. the plane was retired in 1952 after 15 years. conversations plays continuously while silhouettes of the Americans and the German pilot move on the ready room wall. In a nearby hangar tent, three mechanics A Museum For Everybody • • • have a never-ending "bull session." Old­ timers at the Smithsonian might remember By Susan Bliss "We've done this in a variety of ways," he open IS 111 the Space Hall, which includes this gallery's preview in the Arts and In­ said. "Our exhibits and the dive rsity of our hardware from the last Skylab mission and dustries Building. The new National Air and Space Museum subject matter should certainly appeal to the Apollo-Soyuz spacecraft." The Exhibition Flight Gallery recalls the is for everybody - the visitor whose only everybody. And for the experts, the 'buffs' As new as these artifacts are, Collins barnstorming era of the 1920s when pilots contact with flight has been to wave goodbye who've built elaborate hobbies or lifetime emphasized that they cannot be considered would sweep down in their tiny planes to to relatives at the airport, as well as the careers in aero- or astronautics, there are permanent as long as we continue to develop fields throughout the countryside and offer afficianado with a lifelong interest in the technical resources and more detailed ex­ knowledge and programs in space explora­ 5-dollar rides to whomever happened to be field. hibits. 'Life in the Universe' is one gallery tion. there. The collecton of small colorful planes "We planned this museum to appeal to the where detailed information will interest the Collins is pleased with the balance dis­ includes Steve Wittmann's "Buster" and general public, not just to aviation and space experts. played between aviation and spaceflight as others used in aerobatics and air-racing. buffs," said Michael Collins, director of the "The explosion of knowledge in aerospace NASM. "There's room for expansion in both The Satellites Gallery includes early National Air and Space Museum. "Realizing technology and space exploration presents a areas, and neither overshadows the other. In "sounding" rockets and the scientific, that most of our visitors will be coming long special problem for a museum such as aviation, I hope we'll eventually be able to weather, and communications satellites that distances to see many parts of Washington NASM," Collins said, adding that it is the include an exhibit on early jet travel. Ad­ followed . we at NASM have the job of interesting only one in the world that offers information ditional exhibits on astronautics will reflect · Focusing back on earth, the Benefits from them in a perhaps unfamiliar field." on both aviation and spaceflight. "We have whatever directions our country takes in Flight Gallery describes the many changes, Working closely with curatorial staff, the obligation to keep our exhibits up-to­ future space exploration." from medical benefits to the influence on administrators, designers, and planners, date with rapidly changing data. Through a cooperative arrangement with rock music, that are attributable to aviation Collins is confident the museum will succeed "Only the Wright Brothers Flyer is here the National Aeronautics and Space Ad­ and space exploration. The exhibition even in its difficult job of interpreting the con­ for all times," he said. "Other exhibits will ministration (N ASA), the museum is assured has a juke box with selections of "flight­ tinually changing field of air and space to the change to keep up with the volumes of new a continuing supply of artifacts. ' Instituted related" music, such as the "Lindy Hop." general public. knowledge. Our most current exhibit as we (See 'Collins' inside) (See 'Launch' back page)

.-..-... .----- NASM Special THE SMITHSONIAN TORCH July 1976 Concept Links Accuracy, Style By Melvin B. Zisfein • Milestones of Flight - because it is our Operations gallery we embark on an ocean NASM Deputy Director central and most important gallery, a collec­ voyage on the "aircraft carrier" USS tion of some of the most significa nt Smithsonian-CVM-76, an aircraft carrier for Our goal has been to present the story of specimens in the history and technology of all times. flight in all its dimensions, and in a manner flight; The design and development of the 23 understandable and enjoyable to our • The Hall of Air Transportation - exhibit galleries has been a taxing and time visitors. We have taken this mission seriously because it contains the biggest real airliners consuming task, but a labor of love for all of and during the past five years our exhibits we can accommodate, plus a theater for us. We have used special effects copiously program has been the subject of intensive showing the story of air transportation, its where we felt that they would improve development. giant new planes, and its impact on society; communication and enhance the visitor's Fundamentally this museum, like others, and experience in our museum. uses words, images, and physical objects to • Space Hall - because it houses huge The possibilities for combining education communicate with the visitor. We employ a boosters and spacecraft like the Skylab and fun have been limitless. Consider the range of exhibit approaches from simply Orbital Workshop, and the linked Apollo­ Technology Transfer Machine in the labeled objects to the most sophisticated Soyuz spacecraft combination. Benefits from Flight Gallery. It is difficult to kinds of presentation techniques; the selec­ The 12 windowless galleries were assigned keep a straight face while watching the tion of each being a function of the informa­ subjects that would benefit from total light conflict of helpful and hindering figures in tion and feelings that are to be com­ and access control. In these spaces we find this machine, yet the visitor can learn much municated. the simulated forward airfield of the World about the pros and cons of the process The basic organization of the galleries is War I Aviation gallery, in which the visitor is wherein flight technology is adapted to uncomplicated. Each is dedicated to a "transported" to a day at the front; and the improve life on earth. separate subject or theme so that when taken hangar deck of the Sea-Air Operations Or, turning to the automated dioramas in in totality they cover the entire subject of gallery, in which the visitor can sample some the Exhibition Flight Gallery, it is enter­ flight. of the sensations of flight at sea. taining to watch the early air meets and the We developed a gallery theme list as one of At an early date we resolved that the basic airplane vs. automobile race, however, the our first activities. Then, working closely exhibit concepts of .the 12 windowless units also provide much information on with the architects, as the building design galleries could be as different as the subjects early aviation. (SI Ph o lU by Dick Farrar) progressed, we refined the gallery subject list of these galleries are from each other. Sophistica ted exhibit techniques Two workers prepare The America, first to equal the number of galleries we could For example, we are guided through the notwithstanding, the basic fare of a museum balloon to fly over the Rockies, for display in afford, with each gallery assigned to suitable years in the Flight Technology gallery by is its labeled artifacts. Here we are most the Balloon Gallery. physical space. drawings and animated puppets of fi ve fortunate. The three giant glass-roofed galleries were typical technologists who are the products of All of the airplanes on exhi bit are genuine. reserved for: our imaginations; whereas in our Sea-Air The spacecraft are the real flown craft if these could be returned from space. If return was not possible, with rare exception we exhibit Spacearium the real backup vehicles or replica vehicles Three Glass'-Walled Galleries made from actual flight hardware. The fact that our vi sitor can see the real Offers Unique Wright Flyer, the first successful airplane in Display Major Artifacts the world, ma kes the visual experience View Of Skies significantly different from observing a By Lynne Murphy rugged, dependable aircraft of the 1920s and model or a reproduction. Similarly, seeing 1930s. the real Apollo II Command Module, the By William Eilers Window peekers on the Mall side of the Behind and a little below is the Eastern Air "Columbia" of mankind's first voyage to the new National Air and Space Museum could Lines Douglas DC-3 which at the time of its Moon, is a unique visual experience, as is The Albert Einstein Spacearium with its have described the main glass-enclosed retirement in 1952 had logged more hours walking through the Skylab Orbital 70-foot dome is the only fully automated galleries and their contents any time during than any other DC-3 in Eastern's service. Workshop, or beside the real Spirit of St. planetarium of its type in the world, accor- the past year. The DC-3 is followed by the Boeing 2470 Louis. ding to Planetarium Officer Jerry Barbely. But, with the museum open, they may be flown by Roscoe Turner to third place in the In keeping with our mandate of authen­ A Gyrosystems computer controls the surprised to find that artifacts have been 1934 MacRobertson London-to-Melbourne ticity, the information in our exhibit gallery Carl Zeiss p anetarium mstrument w IC can- ---'':];· moved around. Now that the complete Race. This 2470 also saw service with la bels went through three internal content accurately project some 9,000 stars, the inaugural collection is installed, here is a United Air Lines. reviews. va rious editorial and proof-reading Milky Way, nebulae, star clusters, certain quick look at what is displayed in those The TWA Northrop Alpha, to the left a nd reviews. a nd fi ve or more additional reviews distant galaxies and the fi ve planets in our showcase bays. below the DC-3, was designed in 1930 as a by outsid e ex perts. solar system visible to the naked eye. The Milestones of Flight Gallery sum­ high-performa nce aircraft that could carry While not a n a bsolute gua rantee of error­ It also progra ms some 200 projectors marizes major developments in aviation and mail and passengers from small fi eld s. free labels, the process should inspire a high sy nchronized with the Zeiss instrument, spaceflight, beginning with the original The Fairchild FC-2, high in the left corner, level of confidence in the facts that finall y making possible simulated eclipses ofthe sun Wright brothers' Kitty Hawk Flyer that flew made the first international airmail and a ppea r on the walls. and moon, Donati's Comet, an artificial passenger flight, from Lima, Peru, to Guya­ in 1903. satellite and a glimpse of the earth as seen Though the Wrights only flew 100 feet (the quil, Ecuador, in 1928. Completing the * * * from a nearby orbit. gallery is 115 feet wide), they did get us group of aircraft is the Pitcairn Mailwing, Melvin B. Zi sfein , deputy director of the Helping Ba rbely assemble and trouble­ which helped establish major air mail routes moving through the air on our way to space National Air and Space Museum, joined the shoot the enormously complex installation from 1927 to 1934, the pioneer days of air exploration. Smithso nian In stitution in March 1971 com­ were Aloys ui s J . Eftink and Forrest Wilson. The Apollo II Command Module, transportation. ing from the Fra nklin Institute Research Eftink installed the 2,040-watt sound system Space Hall, the astronautics counterpa rt "Columbia," rests on the floor nearby. Laboratories in Philadelphia. which has 36 speakers hidden behind the of the Hall of Air Tra nsportation, displays Piloted by NASM Director Michael Collins; Born in Philadelphia, Mr. Zisfein pursued dome. With Wilson's help he also directed Germa n rockets and missiles (a ncestors of "Columbia" carried men to the first lunar a n honors program at Massachusetts In­ the production of special effects, building landing, 66 years after that historic day at our Saturn V), including a V-I and a V-2. stitute of Technology which culminated in ma ny himse lf. . Kitty Hawk. In the "missile pit" area are three satellite the simultaneous awa rd of bachelor of Described by Barbely as the Spacearium's Also in this gallery are the "Spirit of St. launch vehicles and two ballistic mi ssiles. science and master of science degrees in electronic whiz is Greg Miller, who installed, Louis," in which Charles Lindbergh flew his Not to be missed in this Ha ll is the Skylab aeronautical engineering in 1948. among other devices, a computer-triggered historic solo transtlantic flight in 1927; the Orbital Workshop - a huge golden cylin­ Followinggraduation, Mr. Zisfein worked circuit which counts off for the audience Bell X-I , first supersonic aircraft; the North drical spacecraft near the balcony. Skyla b in various companies as an aerodynamicist. billions and trillions of years for different American X-15, half aircraft, half spacecraft; hosted three crews of astronauts in 1973-74. He joined Bell Aerospace Company, then types of stars in much the same way that one "Friendship 7" in which John Glenn became Visitors can walk through Skylab a nd see Bell Aircraft Corp. in 1953, and remained handles numbers on a pocket calculator. the first American to orbit Earth; Gemini 4, the ward room, sleeping quarters, and exer­ with Bell as chief of the Dynamics Depart­ One exacting task assigned to Ron Miller from which the first American spacewalk cise areas of the astronauts' home away from ment, until 1960. was the preparation of absolutely accurate was taken; and the first touchable moon home. He beca me general manager of the illustrations of the earth, moon and Mars as rock. Next to the window are the Apollo a nd Astromechanics Research Division of Gian­ seen from space. To do this he consulted with From the floor in the Hall of Air Soyuz spacecraft in a docked position as they nini Controls Corporation in 1960 remaining Director Farouk EI-Baz, Geologist DeHa. Transportation, a fleet of five aircraft, were in space a yea r ago. A team of Soviet there until he became associate director of Mitchell and the staff of the Center for Earth significant to the history of air transport, specialists assembled the Soyuz and Apollo Franklin Institute Resea rch Laboratories in and Planetary Studies, NASM's principal soars overhead. High in the lead is an was mated to it - an operation that took a 1966. research arm. American Airlines Ford Trimotor, that week. Miller drew the visuals for most of the 200 projectors, which include zoom projector, a binary star projector and constellation out­ Theater Features Novel Film line projector. One task called for painting 12 panels to produce a 360-degree panorama N AS M Chief of Presentations and Ed uca­ for an exclusive one-year premiere at the degree incline on 14 steeply rising tiers close for use in the sophisticated 12-bank projec­ tion Von Del Chamberlain believes the N AS M theater. to the screen," said Ronald Wagaman, tor system. The concept of a "spacearium" for NASM Museum theater's new IMAX system will Museum Deputy Director Melvin B. Zis­ theater manager. was first advanced by Secretary Ripley in his offer "the finest motion picture experience in fein described the motion picture as a Sound for the IMAX system is produced column, "View from the Castle." in the the world." "Bicentennial view of the United States from an independent 35-mm six-track tape. Designed specifically for this theater, the March 1972 Smithsonian, saying "A "In seeing the IMAX image, people will through flight-oriented eyes; an odyssey sound system powers more than 30 mul­ Spacearium ... will give people the illusion sense and experience the phenomenon of beginning with a balloon ascension in the tihorn speakers mounted throughout the of journeying into space .. . . And they will flight," Chamberlain said, "and then will see early 1800s, and concludil1g with a spec­ auditorium. begin to comprehend the significance of our exhibits in a quite different way as a tacular perspective of the Earth seen from a The theater will screen the premiere film what they see - andjudge for themselves the result. You have to see it to believe it." spacecraft. " on a continuous basis except for occasional relationship of Man to his universe." The N AS M theater is one of only six in the Sequences include barnstorming with the lectures and films on air and space subjects, The Spacearium seats 256 in an world to adopt the system, which projects a "Blue Angels," a ride with a hang glider pilot Wagaman said. It is also equipped for 35- "epiconcentric" pattern. By having the con­ 70-mm film horizontally onto a screen five over Hawaiian cliffs, a view of the country mm motion picture film and slides. centric rows of seats offset from the center of stories high and 75 feet wide. The image is from a 747, and closeups of a booster Admission is $1 for persons 16 and over the room by several feet, almost everyone in remarkably clear and well defined, com­ breakaway as a rocket launches into space. and 50 cents for children, students (including the audience faces 50 percent or more of the pared to 35-mm film, since nine times the "The viewer has the feeling of being university), and senior citizens. A staff of dome. amount of material is ~ontained on each completely enveloped in the picutre because eight theater aides and three cashiers will Headphones and small transistorized frame. of the concentdc screen, the extreme assist Wagaman, who was formerly manager receivers permit visitors to tune in one A 28-minute film, "To Fly," funded by sharpness of the image, and most of all and projectionist for the McLean Theater in synchronized narration in French, German, Continental Oil, was produced specifically because the 485 seats are installed in a 24- Virginia. Spanish and Japanese. July 1976 THE SMITHSONIAN TORCH NASM Special Smithsonian Pioneers In Air-Space Effort By Kathryn Lindeman Secretary of the Smithsonian with his idea. resulted in his premise that mechanical flight In 1898, when the Spanish American War Henry took Lowe to visit President Lin­ was possible with already existing engines. broke out, the War Department asked The Smithsonian's interest in air and space coln and from the resulting experiments and Langley, through trial and error, tried to Secretary Langley to develop an air machine dates back to before the Civil War, when it trial flights with observation balloons, the construct small fl ying machines or capable of carrying a man. began monitoring storms and tracking Union Aeronautics Corps, the first "aerodromes" without success for five years Langley experimented another five years weather changes. America n military air arm, was developed until, on May 6, 1896, he successfully launch­ before his first trial run, but failed in two Thaddeus S. C. Lowe proved, in. a flight and used successfully for two years at the ed Aerodrome Five from a houseboat on the attempts at night. Nine days after Langley's from Ohio to South Carolina on April 20, front. Potomac. The aircraft, nearly 14 feet in span second try, the Wright Brothers successfully 1861 , that balloons could be used for long­ Samuel Pierpont Langley, the with a one-horsepower steam engine, flew launched their manned flying machine, at distance travel. The Civil War was just Smithsonian's third Secreta ry, took up the for more tha n half a mile. Kitty Hawk. beginning, and he offered to build a balloon study of heavier-than-air flight in 1887, in In November 1896, Aerodrome Six, an The Wright Brothers' flyer would not corps for the Union Army. addition to his other studies in astrophysics. improved model, made an even better flight come to the Smithsonian for display for 45 Turned down by General Winfield Scott, His early experiments in measuring the "lift" and Langley felt he had accomplished what years, until 1948. Lowe. approached Joseph Henry, first of inclined surfaces moving through air he set out to prove. The fourth Secretary, Charles D. Walcott, and Smithsonian Regents Alexander Graham Bell and Ernest W. Roberts were among those who, realizing the need to place American aviation on a firm scientific NASM Makes Space For Art footing, began in 1912 to actively petition Congress for an aeronautical research and By Susan Bliss the machinery as depicted by these artists In 1963, National Aeronautics and Space policy center. should appeal to NASM visitors." Administration Director James E. Webb In 1915 their efforts resulted in the crea­ In a museum where everybody comes to The gallery on World War II Aviation initiated a program to record U. S. tion of NASA's forerunner, the National look at airplanes and spacecraft, how do you features a mural of the B-17 "Thunder Bird" spaceflight history as it happened. Advisory Committee for Aeronautics interest the public in art? Jim Dean, curator by aviation artist Keith Ferris. Painted in an American artists with established (NACA). of NASM's art collection, started to plan his alarmingly realistic style, the plane seems to reputations were invited to Cape Canaveral Charles Greeley Abbot, fifth Secretary of strategy in the museum's six-story In­ fly at the viewer, and its overwhelming to observe the space mission activity. They the Smithsonian, continued his research of dependence Avenue lobby. presence is a good example of how art can were paid an honorarium, given artistic the sun as a key to understanding the "There's no doubt about where you are," demand attention. license, and asked to donate to NASA weather. A letter from Robert H. Goddard said Dean, standing among the rubble of The dramatically-lit entrance to the near­ whatever art came from their experience. concerning his efforts to build a rocket that preparations for the opening of "Flight and by "Flight and the Arts" Gallery should be an The last Mercury flight was the beginning could reach into outer space suggested great the Arts," the gallery housing NASM's attractive lure for the crowds who will come for NASA's art program, for which Dean possibilities to Abbot for his own studies and collection. mainly to inspect NASM's technological was coordinator until he joined the NASM sparked a Smithsonian grant for Goddard's He alluded to the lobby's two colossal artifacts. staff a year-and-a-half ago. With the opening continued rocket research. murals, "The Space Environment - A Inside, Richard Lippold's "Variation on a of the Air and Space Museum, NASA, which The Smithsonian supported Goddard's Cosmic View," by Robert McCall, and Eric Sphere," an eyecatching sculpture of gold­ continues to administer the art program, has research through years of discouragement Sloan's "Earth Flight Environment," which filled wire, is suspended over a special transferred most of the resultant artwork to and a certain amount of adverse pUblicity. face each other on the lobby's opposing platform near the entrance. Installation of the Smithsonian. He finally made history on March 16, 1926, walls. the sculpture, on loan from New York's Norman Rockwell, one of NASA's par­ when he launched a 10-foot rocket to 40 feet, The space painting, with its gargantuan Metropolitan Museum, took three days and ticipating artists during the Gemini phase of marking the first flight of a liquid fueled superreal astronaut, has already become a was personally supervised by the artist. the U. S. Space Program, visited Cape rocket. photo backdrop "second in popularity only Another work by Lippold is one of the Canaveral and returned to his studio com­ The Institution's aeronautical collection to the Washington Monument," Dean museum's monumental sculptures which plete with a spacesuit, to insure accuracy in began after the 1876 Philadelphia Exhibition smiles. "This thrills the artists as well as complement NASM's main public en­ hi s painting of Gus Grissom and John when a group of kites was acquired from the museum staff," he continued, "since it means trances. Facing the Mall, hi s guilded sphere Young. The finished painting hangs in Chinese Imperial Commission. the murals are setting a tone for the ex­ rises slightly above the museum roof. On the NASM's gallery. In 1920, a World War I quonset hut was perience the visitors are about to have." build ing's south side stands a 16-foot globe J amie Wyeth, only 17 at the time, made opened to exhibit the collections related to Superrealism seems particularly we ll of cast bronze by Cha rles Perry. two tri ps to the Cape. Near the entrance, a flight. Some items from the collections were suited to the depiction of flight," reflected "Throughout history, we find that some of striking Robert Ra uschenberg silkscreen also displayed in the Arts and Industries Dean, pointing to the sharp-focus images or our most effective art has een that WhlC shows a roc et lItO f, an a watercolor 6Y Building-next-ci two paintings by Ted Wilbur. "The elegance records significant events," Dean said. "The William Crutchfield interprets the count­ The National Air Museum was established of shiny surfaces and the intricate detail of hi story of flight is no exception." down it self. Lowell Nesbitt recorded the officially by Congress in 1946 as a Smithso­ intricate steel structure of a rocket service nian bureau, and in 1958 the present site for gantry. the new Museum was specified. Not all the museum's collection is from Twenty years later, Congress changed the ICo//ins' This, Collins said, will be done by several NASA. Some works have been loaned by name to the National Air and Space under Smithsonian regent and former testing methods to determine which exhibits museums, galleries, private collections, and Museum and authorized preparation of NASA administrator James Webb, the people like best, visit most often, and learn the artists themselves. Two Washington . plans and construction of the new building. program provides for all obsolete NASA the most from. artists, Alma Thomas and Gay Gladding hardware to be first offered to the Smithso­ "Our second mission will be to begin never went to Cape Canaveral, but their nian for use by the National Air and Space functioning as a mature museum. Because work is included here. Their paintings, both Museum. our emphasis for the past several years has done in brilliant colors, are expressions of With projected attendance figures of 7 been on filling the new museum, we have had their own involvement with the concept of million visitors each year, the Nationai Air to deal primarily with exhibit development. extraterrestrial space. Gladding's painting, and Space Museum could become the As a mature museum, we must continue to "Second Shield of Venus," emerged after Smithsonian's largest-drawing entity, and refine exhibits, but now we can also divert several sessions spent studying the planet Director Collins said N AS M will be an program energy to research and education," through a telescope. important part of the Instituton's mandate he said. A beautiful painting called "Blue A" by for the "increase and diffusion" of "Curatorial staff has been waiting a long Georgia O'Keefe was similarly produced knowledge. time to begin work on certain research beca use of the artist's own interest. Along Architecturally as well as philosophically, projects, an important function in a mature with works by Alexander Calder, Lowell Collins believes that N ASM fits well into the museum. And lacking a museum to use as a Nesbitt, and Nancy Graves, it will be Smithsonian's function. "Our floor area has laboratory, we have been limited in our reproduced as a poster to be sold by the quintupled since the days when we occupied ability to educate. I am looking forward to Smithsonian Associates in commemoration the Arts and Industries Building and the working with an education staff to develop of NASM's opening. quonset hut. Still, I think this building interpretive programs for our visitors, and to One section of the gallery which should complements, rather than overwhelms the create ways of reaching our beyond our walls appeal to space flight enthusiasts is the Mall, with its wonderful variety of architec­ into the Washington community, and even­ science fiction corner. A remarkable pain­ tural styles." tually beyond." ting of a planet with an eye sets an eerie tone Reflecting on the many stages of the Collins wouldn't say which of NASM's for this black-walled corner. Dean said he museum's evolution, Collins, who has been exhibits is his favorite. "I like them all," he hoped to have an all science fiction show director since 1971 , said "It's hard to say at said with a smile. sometime. what point the work on a building really * * * Dean, an artist himself, has exhibited begins. Every stage, from approval of funds, Director of the National Air and Space locally at Franz Bader and the Corcoran to choosing a design, to turning over the first Museum since 1971, Collins joined the Air Gallery. His years with NASA, and his shovel of dirt, takes work and an enormous Force after graduation from West Point, was future with N AS M indicate his longstanding amount of coordination. selected for astronaut training in 1963, and interest in aerospace. "Then comes the tasks of planning the was a member of the team for the historic Bringing together these two fields in his collection, choosing the staff, and creating a 1969 Apollo 11 mission which placed the first own life was the basis for this gallery's program. man on the moon. He left the space program design, which aims to make the same connec­ "For N AS M's future, I see two main goals: in 1970 to accept an appointment as Assis­ tion for thousands of N AS M visitors in the First, to make sure the museum works." tant Secretary of State for Public Affairs. years to come.

Frank Murray and Phil Kelly, both of United Rigging, supervise installation of the V2 rocket in NASM's Space Hall. NASM Special THE SMITHSONIAN TORCH July 1976

Clockwise from upper left: Pitts Special; World War II Gallery; Wicker gondola; Thunder Bird mural; Russian specialists assemble. .Soviet docking system to the Apollo docking module; Hindenburg cabin and scale models; Spirit of St. Louis.

(S I PhulU.\· by Dick Farrar)

ILa unch' named for Charles Lindbergh. and "Jet Flight and the Arts, NASM's art gallery, Another way of conveying the idea of Museum and Sculpture Garden. Open to Plane," by Peter, Paul and Mary; electronic has successfully merged art and science in its. flight to the visi tor is the film "To Fly." staff members and the public by appoint­ music; a miniature solar-cell powered train, collection of paintings, drawings and prints. Viewers in the 485-seat auditorium are sur­ ment, the library contains some 20,000 and airline travel posters. Art work, however, is not confined to this rounded by more than 30 speakers while bound volumes, extensive picture archives, This gallery uses cartoon figures behind gallery, but is an important part of the watching the 25-minute film on a five-story a nd a rare bo'ok collection. doors to describe the federal agencies that colorful wall graphics and displays screen. The film takes them down Niagara Public and staff dining rooms and ad­ participate in air and space programs, and a throughout the building. Falls in the basket of a balloon, over ministrative offices are also located on the Technology Transfer Game explains the third floor. While standing in line in the food NASM exhibits cover all important Manhattan in a plane, through the St. Louis factors involved in bringing air and space Gateway Arch, over Hawaii on a glider, and carrousel area, diners may gaze out over the aspects of aeronautics and space flight, but innovations into our daily lives. Capitol and its grounds. The cafeteria will be even three city blocks are not enough space in a spacecraft among the planes. Ping pong balls, representing ideas, run open for lunch and dinner during the to exhibit everything. The fuselage of a "To Fly" was produced by Francis down tracks and encounter little figures summer months. Boeing 747 is longer than the building is Thompson, Inc., of New York City and representing the bad luck of "bureaucratic The Museum Shop on the first floor will wide, and the Saturn V, which boosted men funded by the Continental Oil Company as a bungling:' and "limited usage," or the good Bicentennial public service. se ll models, books and slides. "Cavalcade of luck of "money available," "Congressional to the moon, is four times taller than the Flight," an exhibit of models, will be dis­ Museum. In the absence of these artifacts, Under a giant dome nearby is the Albert interest," and "broad applications." Einstein Spacearium where visitors may stop played in the shop. sophi sticated exhibit techniques are used to One of NASM's most interesting features, In the rear center of Space Hall, the for a 45-minute refresher course on just Apollo-Soyuz spacecraft have been installed tell their story. located in the basement and hidden from about everything man has learned of the by American and Soviet technicians in the public view, is the automatic central control " It's important that we convey to the universe over the past 200 years. docked position. The Gallery also has mann­ visitors the story of flight, that is, the people, system. ed spacecraft, ballistic mi ssiles a nd satellite events, machines and feelings," says Mr. Given to the Smithsonian by the Federal Monitoring more than 80 audiovisual launch vehicles. Zisfein. "To do this within the limitations of Republic of Germany, the planetarium pro­ units and the security, fire, and environmen­ Not far from the Apollo-Soyuz sits a a museum, we had to develop many novel jects some 9,000 stars, the Milky Way, tal control systems, it is the only one of its wingless craft that resembles a silver exhibit approaches." distant galaxies, a nd the five planets in the kind in the world . The system, coordinated bathtub. Television fans will recognize it solar system that are visible to the naked eye. by Hernan Otano, NASM's audiovisual right away as the aircraft that crashes in the One approach uses a technique that's no So much for finding our way around the chief, was manufactured by Hughes Aircraft secret to anyone who has ever been to a opening scenes of "Six Million Dollar Man." universe; how do we find our way around the Company. carnival - mirrors. To make a single Saturn That craft and others like it were later used in Museum? But no matter how many galleries visitors V engine appear as five engines, mirrors were many successful re-entry tests. Illustrated directories and signboards are wa lk through, they will probably want to strategically placed around it giving the In the Balloons and Airships Gallery, located throughout the building. Visitors return to the Kitty Hawk Flyer for one last illusion of the rocket cluster which actually exhibits tell the history of lighter-than-air from abroad also should have no trouble look. It is that small wooden, propeller­ powered the .Saturn V to the moon. flight. Universal Studios Qonated a full-scale because most signs and directories are driven plane, hung in the center of this reproduction of the Hindenburg dirigible's Another engine in the Flight Technology written in French, German, Spanish, and museum, that brings together the old control gondola which was used in the Gallery splits open to reveal its internal parts Japanese, as well as English. balloons and new rockets, the earliest ideas recently-made movie, "Hindenburg." China in motion. This Gallery also uses working A library for hi storical research on of flight and the latest solar system theories, tableware actually used on the GrafZeppelin wind tunnels and puppet shows to explain aeronautics and space flight is located on the as well as the distinct worlds of aviation is also included in the exhibit. basic aerodynamic concepts. third floor, overlooking the Hirshhorn and space exploration.