National Air and Space Museum Shares Expertise, Hands-On Air and Space Items at AirVenture 2025

The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum is bringing its expertise on aviation history, iconic aircraft and how to care for them to the 2025 EAA AirVenture. Visitors to the museum’s tent can take home guidance on how to care for their personal family history, learn how the museum preserves and shares the incredible history of aviation and spaceflight, and pick up fun giveaways.

The museum, with locations in Washington, D.C., and near Dulles Airport in Chantilly, VA, houses the national air and space collection, including one-of-a-kind and history-making planes and spacecraft, such as the original Wright Flyer that made the first controlled airplane flight; the Bell X-1 that broke the sound barrier; and the Space Shuttle Discovery. 

At the show, museum curators and experts who preserve, restore and conserve these national treasures will be on hand to talk about their work. They will also be available to talk about how visitors can make sure parts of their family’s heritage, from photos to military medals to important papers, can be kept safe to be enjoyed by generations to come.

Each day at 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. the experts will give a 30-minute talk on topics ranging from preserving the historic B-26B Flak Bait (which survived 200 missions in WWII), to how the museum moves large airplanes and rockets, to repairs of the fabric that made up the skin of early airplanes. Guests will have a chance to ask the experts questions at the talks and throughout the day in the tent.

The museum is also bringing along amazing real-life air and space artifacts that visitors can hold and interact with, including:

• space-shuttle spacesuit gloves and space-shuttle tiles
• a U-2 pilot’s pressure suit
• U.S. Air Force flight helmets
• samples of complex parts built and used to restore historic aircraft
• and examples of how the museum fixes the fabric on early airplanes.

“AirVenture is unique in its scope and scale among fly-in air shows and a great way for us to share our expertise with people who share the museum’s passion for all things that fly,” says Chris Browne, John and Adrienne Mars director of the National Air and Space Museum. “We love to be able to tell the stories of aviation that are behind so much of what is on display at Oshkosh and help people keep their personal history safe for years to come.”

The museum’s AirVenture display (Booth #328) comes just days before it reopens the next phase of its complete renovation of the building in Washington, D.C. Thousands of artifacts will go back on display in the reopened galleries. Favorites such as the Spirit of St. Louis, the North American X-15, John Glenn’s Mercury Friendship 7 capsule, Apollo Lunar Module 2, and the touchable moon rock will be back on view. Several artifacts new to the building in Washington will include the Sopwith F.1 Camel, Virgin Galactic’s RocketMotorTwo, a Blue Origin New Shepard crew capsule mockup, and a Goddard 1935 A series rocket.

Free timed-entry passes are required to visit the museum. Passes for the July 28 opening and beyond are available on the museum’s website. The final phase of reopening will occur on July 1, 2026, for the 50th anniversary of the museum in Washington and in time for the United States’ 250th anniversary.

The museum’s multi-year renovation includes redesigning all 20 galleries, complete refacing of the exterior cladding, replacement of outdated mechanical systems, and other repairs and improvements, including the addition of a new entry vestibule. The first phase opened in October 2022 with eight new exhibitions, the planetarium, the museum store and the Mars Café. Since then, nearly 5 million people have visited the museum.

More information about how the museum is transforming all of its exhibitions and revitalizing the building is available at https://airandspace.si.edu.

The National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., is located at Jefferson Drive between Fourth and Seventh streets S.W. and is open every day except Dec. 25 from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Admission is free, but timed-entry passes are required to visit. The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center is located in Chantilly, VA, near Washington Dulles International Airport and is open every day except Dec. 25 from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Admission is free, timed-entry passes are not required, and parking is $15.