Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

After our little tour of the Capitol and a pretty lengthy walk down the National Mall, our next stop on our tour of Washington, D.C. was a must see for any families with young boys.  What boys don't love a cool plane or space shuttle?  Evan was definitely excited to see the Air and Space Museum.  Brody, however, was pretty exhausted after a very long day.  He and Daddy actually fell asleep during the planetarium show.  While the Smithsonian museums are free to the public, the planetarium show did require a paid ticket so Daddy and Brody had to pay for that little nap.  Ha!  After the show, I gladly held Brody while he finished his nap so that Daddy and Evan could enjoy the rest of the museum.  Daddy really enjoyed seeing all the old World War I and II aircraft.

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Three Intercontinental ballistic missiles from the US and Russia.  Also, above them is a V-2 rocket.


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This is a copy of the International Space Station.


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The actual size of the Hubble Space Telescope.  Pretty big telescope, huh? 


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Where the astronauts shower in the space station. 

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And where they eat those yummy MRE's. 

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The real Wright Brothers airplane.  We've seen the replicas at Kitty Hawk where the first flight took place.  One of the brothers donated the real plane to the museum.   

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Evan enjoyed learning about the mysteries of flight. 

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Early passenger plane.  I am not sure if I would feel comfortable riding in this.

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British Spitfire from World War II.

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Only one of the greatest fighter planes ever made.  The P-51 Mustang





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Our future pilot or astronaut. 

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This is an experimental aircraft that set the air speed record.


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Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis that made the first transatlantic flight. 

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5 comments:

  1. How awesome is it that ya'll got to see the Wright Bros plane! Amazing! There is an air and space museum in Tulsa that I think we are going to have to check out now. I think the kids will enjoy it.

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    1. This museum was great for kids and especially boys with interest in flight and space although it isn't really my favorite. I enjoyed holding Brody while he napped and resting while Eddie and Evan toured most of the museum. However, I did really enjoy the planetarium show. It was just so relaxing to sit and watch the heavenly show in the cool dark theater. Of course, Eddie enjoyed it a little too much since he fell asleep. Haha! I would highly recommend a planetarium show if you have one, but I know the kids would enjoy an air and space museum too. :-)

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  2. Fascinating. I am actually really bothered sometimes by all the things I know that I will never be able to do in my life. One of them is going to outer space. I know that I will never do that and it bugs me.

    Although, honestly, I do enjoy a good shower and the space showers do not look fun. Ha!

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    1. Haha! We are too much alike sometimes. Yep, I too really hate that I will never be able to go into outer space. I mean, I am likely too chicken to do it anyway because being strapped in a rocket with thousands of gallons of highly flammable jet fuel after watching several shuttles explode is probably a little too adventurous for me, but I still want the option. I totally hate that I have something on my bucket list that is very unlikely to occur. Of course, I am probably unlikely to achieve many things on my bucket list. Sigh. My real bucket list item though was just to get to see a space shuttle launch, and that really disappoints me now that NASA is not launching anymore. It's like the age of space travel ended. I guess we just need lots of money so we can pay some Russians to take us up with them. Haha!

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  3. I never thought about how astronauts shower until I saw that picture and now being an astronaut has moved way far down on my list! Ha!

    And I love the "paid nap" although I'm sure it was a little annoying for you :)

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