National Air and Space Museum

The National Air and Space Museum has two locations: its flagship museum on the National Mall and a second facility, the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, located on the grounds of Washington-Dulles International Airport.

Let's start with the original, ever-popular Air and Space Museum on the Mall. The museum, now in its 36th year, chronicles the story of the mastery of flight, from Kitty Hawk to outer space. It holds the largest collection of historic aircraft and spacecraft in the world, about 50,000 -- so many, in fact, that the museum is able to display only about 10% of its artifacts at any one time, hence the opening of the Udvar-Hazy Center in 2003.

During the tourist season and on holidays, arrive before 10am to make a beeline for the film ticket line when the doors open. The not-to-be-missed IMAX films shown here are immensely popular, and tickets to most shows sell out quickly. You can purchase same-day tickets by phone or in person at the Lockheed Martin IMAX Theater box office on the first floor, or in advance online up to 24 hours before showtime. Surcharges apply to phone and online orders. Two or more films play each day, most with aeronautical or space-exploration themes; To Fly! and Legends of Flight 3D are two that were running in 2011. Ticket prices range, based on the film and the age of the audience member, from $7.50 for youth (ages 2-12) for admission to a 60-minute or less presentation, to $15 for an adult (ages 13-59) for admission to a feature presentation (defined as "longer than 60 minutes"), such as commercial blockbusters, like Toy Story 3 and Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. Admission is free for children 1 and under. IMAX films play throughout the day and also most evenings after the museum's closing; call for details (tel. 866/868-7774).

You'll also need tickets to attend a show at the Albert Einstein Planetarium, which creates "an astronomical adventure." Projectors display space imagery upon a 70-foot-diameter dome, making you feel as if you're traveling in 3-D through the cosmos. In 2011, the planetarium's features included Journey to the Stars and Black Holes: The Other Side of Infinity, each about 25 minutes long. Ticket prices correspond to those for the IMAX films, so see information above, but the planetarium also offers a couple of free presentations.

Among the more than 22 exhibitions on display throughout the museum is one that children especially love: "How Things Fly," which includes wind and smoke tunnels, a boardable Cessna 150 airplane, and dozens of interactive exhibits that demonstrate principles of flight, aerodynamics, and propulsion. All the aircraft are originals. Kids also flock to the walk-through Skylab orbital workshop, part of the Space Race exhibition on the first floor. Both children and adults stand in line to take their turn on the museum's Flight Simulators. (The Udvar-Hazy Center has several, too.) You'll have a choice of experiencing a simulated ride or interactive simulated piloting. For the interactive simulation, you are strapped in and given a joystick, and for about 5 minutes you'll truly feel as if you are in the cockpit and airborne, maneuvering your craft up, down, and upside-down on a wild adventure, thanks to virtual-reality images and high-tech sounds. The ride simulator costs $7; the interactive simulator costs $8. To board the ride simulators, children must measure 42 inches unless accompanied by an adult, and must measure 48 inches to go it alone on the interactive simulators.

Other galleries highlight the solar system, U.S. manned spaceflights, sea-air operations, and aviation during both world wars. "Explore the Universe" presents the major discoveries that have shaped the current scientific view of the universe; it illustrates how the universe is taking shape, and probes the mysteries that remain. Hundreds of space and aircraft artifacts dangle before your eyes everywhere you look, but don't miss the 1903 Flyer, hanging in the exhibit called "The Wright Brothers and the Invention of the Aerial Age." "Moving Beyond Earth" immerses visitors in the space flight experience through interactive kiosks, displays of space shuttle artifacts, and views of Earth from the International Space Station. One of the museum's newest exhibits is an updated version of the longtime and popular "Pioneers of Flight," which highlights air and space developments during the first half of the 20th century.

The museum's cafeteria, the Wright Place, offers food from three popular American chains: McDonald's, Boston Market, and Donatos Pizzeria. Its three-level, 12,000-square-foot shop is the largest Smithsonian store.

At the Udvar-Hazy Center you'll find two hangars -- one for aviation artifacts, the other for space artifacts -- and a 164-foot-tall observation tower for watching planes leave and arrive at Dulles Airport. The center's James S. McDonnell Space Hangar stretches the length of three football fields and stands 10 stories high, the better to house the enormous Enterprise, NASA's first space shuttle; the tiny "Anita," a spider carried on Skylab inside a bottle for web formation experiments; the manned maneuvering unit used for the first untethered spacewalk; a full-scale prototype of the Mars Pathfinder Lander; and Pegasus, the first aircraft-launched rocket booster to carry satellites into space. Currently, the gallery displays 163 aircraft and 154 spacecraft. This location also shows IMAX films. Note: The National Air and Space Museum used to run a shuttle between its 2 locations, but no longer. To reach the Udvar-Hazy Center, located 26 miles away from the Mall (a few miles south of Dulles Airport) in Chantilly, VA, you'll have to drive.

Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.

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