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Smithsonian Air and Space Museum Unveils Five Newly Renovated Galleries

Historic capsules sit alongside SpaceX engines with immersive tech designed to engage visitors in the museum’s final push toward its 50th anniversary.

The revamped Air and Space Museum debuts SpaceX Falcon 9 parts and a Mars habitat exhibit
a gumdrop-shape white space capsule is seen on display with other rocket hardware in a museum gallery with blue walls and flooring

Overview

  • On July 28 the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum opened five renovated galleries as part of its $900 million overhaul.
  • The Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall reopened after a three-year closure with John Glenn’s Friendship 7 capsule, an Apollo lunar module, a 123-foot media band and redesigned flooring featuring embedded quotes.
  • In the new Futures in Space gallery visitors encounter a flown SpaceX Falcon 9 Merlin engine and grid fin, Sian Proctor’s Inspiration4 pressure suit and a Blue Origin New Shepard mockup.
  • Three aviation-focused galleries—Barron Hilton Pioneers of Flight, World War I: The Birth of Military Aviation and the Allan and Shelley Holt Innovations Gallery—also welcomed the public.
  • Admission remains free with required timed-entry passes as eight more exhibitions are scheduled to open in time for the institution’s 50th anniversary in 2026.