The Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum will celebrate its 40th anniversary by premiering a newly-redesigned gallery and staying open as the stars fill the sky above.
The flagship building for showcasing aerospace artifacts in the National Collection opened July 1, 1976. Four decades later, the Washington, DC museum will mark the occasion by hosting an evening ceremony and for the first time in its history, remain open all night long.
"Wonder what it would be like to explore a museum in the middle of the night? Here's your chance to find out. While the artifacts don't literally come to life once the Sun goes down, 'All Night at the Museum' [will] present a new way to enjoy our collection," the institution wrote on its website.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42986 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 06-25-2016 06:00 PM
American History TV on C-SPAN 3 will air the National Air and Space Museum's 40th anniversary celebration live on Friday, July 1 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. EDT.
American History TV will be LIVE starting at 6pm ET on July 1 as the museum marks its 40th anniversary. We'll tour the museum to see one-of-a-kind aviation and space artifacts, including the Spirit of St. Louis and the Apollo Lunar Module. We'll also take viewer calls and tweets with our guests:
Gen. J.R. "Jack" Dailey, National Air and Space Museum Director
Jeremy Kinney, National Air and Space Museum Curator
Valerie Neal, National Air and Space Museum Space History Department Chair
Plus we'll have LIVE coverage of the museum's 40th anniversary event at 8:30 p.m. ET from the building's steps leading to the National Mall.
The entire program re-airs at 9 p.m. ET July 1, immediately following our live coverage, and again on Monday, July 4 at 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. ET.
tncmaxq Member
Posts: 287 From: New Haven, CT USA Registered: Oct 2001
posted 06-26-2016 04:26 PM
Are there likely to be some astronaut appearances for the anniversary? The museum has not said yet but it would be good to know as I try to decide if I should make the trip or not.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42986 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 07-01-2016 09:19 AM
Tom Jones will be signing copies of his books from 9:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. at the museum store.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42986 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
Four decades after a signal sent from Mars led to the public opening of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, another transmission from space has led to the debut of the museum's renovated hall on its 40th anniversary.
Astronaut Jeff Williams, appearing in a video filmed aboard the International Space Station and projected onto the wall of the Washington, DC museum, launched the hall's public premiere and birthday celebration on Friday night (July 1).
"Your magnificent museum inspired millions over the past four decades, commemorating the spirit of exploration and the achievements of human flight," said Williams. "Please begin your countdown to re-open the Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall!"
stsmithva Member
Posts: 1933 From: Fairfax, VA, USA Registered: Feb 2007
posted 07-02-2016 05:09 PM
It was a great night. My wife and I bought "Launch Crew" tickets, which meant we got in two hours early, had a bunch of locally-made food and drinks, watched the speeches out front on a big-screen TV inside, then made our way upstairs to cheer as the lights to the refurbished main hall came on and the doors opened. The highlight, of course, was when Kevin Murphy, the voice of Tom Servo from "Mystery Science Theater 3000", took a picture of the IMAX theater crowd to post on Facebook, and I was visible way up on the side. So I got that going for me.
(If you've watched MST3K or Rifftrax, the interesting difference during the screening of "Destination Moon" was that in addition to plenty of funny mocking, the four jokesters pointed out things the 1950 movie got wrong and surprisingly correct about a lunar landing mission.)
posted 05-02-2016 02:56 PM
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