The Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum maintains the world’s largest collection of historic aircraft and spacecraft as well as an amazing assortment of other historic objects. Many fascinating items from the 23 galleries and two off-site facilities are presented here in 200 full-color photographs, accompanied by intriguing stories that place their significance in context.

The museum on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., which opened in July 1976, houses the icons of flight, including the original 1903 Wright Flyer, Charles Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis, Chuck Yeager’s Bell X-1, John Glenn’s Friendship 7 spacecraft, the Apollo 11 command module, and a lunar rock sample that visitors can touch. Since opening, the building on the Mall has been the most visited museum facility in the world. The museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA, which opened in December 2003, permits the display of many more artifacts in an open, hangar-like setting, including a Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, a Concorde, the Boeing B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay, the “Dash 80” prototype for the 707, the sole-surviving Boeing 307 Stratoliner, and the space shuttle Enterprise. Gallery-by-gallery tours present these milestones of aviation and spaceflight, and each gallery section includes helpful notes about smaller objects and not-to-be-missed displays. The remarkable collection is a tribute to both technological and human achievement that will keep visitors engaged for years to come.