Author Description

This fully illustrated guide to the world's most-visited aviation and space museum is both a companion for visitors and a detailed history in itself of humanity's quest for flight. The National Air and Space Museum (NASM) houses the world's greatest collection of historic aircraft and spacecraft plus an amazing assortment of other historic objects. Many fascinating items from the 23 galleries and two off-site facilities are presented here in 197 colour photographs, and are accompanied by their equally intriguing stories. This gallery-by-gallery tour presents many milestones of aviation and spaceflight, such as the Wright Flyer, Chuck Yeager's Bell X-1, and the spacesuits worn by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. Some of the lesser-known treasures illustrated here include soda cans specially engineered for space use, Otto Lilienthal's 1894 glider (which inspired the Wright brothers), and a sobering American flag recovered from the wreckage of the Challenger. Each gallery section concludes helpfully with notes about smaller objects and displays that are not to be missed.