May 14, 2025

— From John Glenn's Friendship 7 to Blue Origin's New Shepard, space capsules and more are set to return to or debut on display with the opening of five "reimagined" galleries at the National Air and Space Museum this summer.

As part of a still on-going, seven-year renovation of the museum's flagship building in Washington, the Smithsonian has announced that it is ready to premiere more of its exhibitions following the reveal of eight of its halls on the building's west end in 2022. The next launch, scheduled for July 28, includes two galleries highlighting some of the most historic and newest space artifacts in the national collection.

The Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall, which visitors will first see after proceeding through the museum's newly-redesigned Jefferson Drive entrance along the National Mall showcases some of the museum's most iconic objects, including Glenn's Mercury spacecraft and an Apollo lunar module configured to appear as Apollo 11's "Eagle" looked in 1969 when it landed the first humans on the moon.

The displays in Milestones were the first to be redesigned in 2016 — in time for the museum's 40th anniversary — but then the hall was closed and the artifacts were removed again so that the area itself could be renovated.

Milestones' exhibits also include a North American X-15 rocket plane, the Gemini 4 capsule from which astronaut Ed White performed the first American spacewalk in 1965 and a moon rock that the public can touch.

Timelapse of redesigned entrance. Click to enlarge video in new pop-up window. (Smithsonian)

Also opening on July 28 will be the new "Futures in Space" exhibition, which takes over the location of the relocated "How Things Fly," next to the Milestones of Flight Hall. "Futures" will display artifacts new to the building to address topics like "who decides who goes to space?" and "why do we go?"

Debuting with Futures in Space are a Virgin Galactic "RocketMotorTwo" engine that powered pilots Mark Stucky and Frederick "CJ" Sturckow into space on a suborbital test flight on board the SpaceShipTwo "VSS Unity" in 2018 and an aluminum grid fin that helped SpaceX land a Falcon 9 rocket's first stage in 2017.

Also new is a mockup of Blue Origin's New Shepard capsule, a pressurized cabin used to fly cargo and clients beyond the boundary separating Earth and space. Jeff Bezos, the company's billionaire founder and its first passenger, has pledged to replace the replica with a flown capsule once it ha retired from flying.

Other areas of the National Air and Space Museum reopening at the same time include three aviation-themed halls — "Barron Hilton Pioneers of Flight," "World War I: The Birth of Military Aviation" and the Allan and Shelley Holt Innovations Gallery — and the the Lockheed Martin IMAX Theater.

The remaining eight galleries still under renovation are scheduled to open on July 1, 2026, the 50th anniversary of the National Air and Space Museum and in time for the United States' 250th anniversary. Among them are the interactive "At Home in Space," which will engage visitors in how humans live and work in space and venture beyond Earth orbit, and "RTX Living in the Space Age Hall," revealing how innovations in space technology have transformed our lives on Earth.

Likewise, the "National Science Foundation Discovering Our Universe" exhibition will show how advancements in astronomical tools changed our understanding of the universe.

Also opening next year, wrapping up the renovations, are the "Textron How Things Fly," "Jay I. Kislak World War II in the Air" and "Modern Military Aviation" galleries, as well as the "Flight and the Arts Center."

Free timed-entry passes are required to visit. Passes for the July 28 opening and beyond will be available on the National Air and Space Museum website June 13.