$30 Million Rehab of Air & Space Museum Announced

Renovation plans for the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum on the National Mall in Washington include more prominent display of a model of the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM), which carried men to the surface of the Moon. (Image Source: Wikipedia.org )

By Nell Greenfield Boyce

Throngs of museum-goers mill through the grand entrance hall of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., every day, gawking at such treasures as the Apollo 11 capsule that carried Neil Armstrong's crew to the moon and back, as well as Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis airplane.

But the famous museum and exhibits have not significantly changed since the museum opened in 1976.

Now the largest corporate donation ever for a Smithsonian museum — $30 million from Boeing — will let curators remodel the display at the nation's most visited museum to suit today's needs. The gift was announced Thursday.

Additions to the museum will include the model of the "Starship Enterprise" used in the Star Trek television series, as well as a Telstar satellite like the one that enabled the first transatlantic television transmission.

More - Link >>> http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/04/03/298718398/smithsonians-air-and-space-museum-to-get-30-million-spiffier

Source: National Public Radio.

More on the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum:
Link >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Air_and_Space_Museum

More on the Smithsonian Institution:
Link >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smithsonian_Institution

Cornell University President to Become New Secretary of Smithsonian Institution:
Link >>> http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/03/10/288683634/smithsonian-institution-gets-a-new-director

Third Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, then considered the highest scientific appointment in the nation (1887), was Samuel Pierpont Langley, previously Director of Pittsburgh's Allegheny Observatory:
Link >>> http://johnbrashear.tripod.com/bio/LangleySP.htm

Scale-model of Telstar Satellite displayed at Pittsburgh's original Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science from 1960s through 1991:
Link >>> http://buhlplanetarium2.tripod.com/exhibits/telstar.html

2014: 75th Year of Pittsburgh's Buhl Planetarium

Want to receive SpaceWatchtower blog posts in your inbox ?
Send request to < spacewatchtower@planetarium.cc >..

gaw

Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
Friends of the Zeiss < http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/fotz/ >
Electronic Mail - < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
About the SpaceWatchtower Editor / Author: < http://buhlplanetarium2.tripod.com/weblog/spacewatchtower/gaw/ >
SpaceWatchtower Blog: < http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/ >
Also see: South Hills Backyard Astronomers Blog: < http://shbastronomers.blogspot.com/ >
Barnestormin: Writing, Essays, Pgh. News, & More: < http://www.barnestormin.blogspot.com/ >
SPACE & SCIENCE NEWS, ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR:
< http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#news >
Twitter: < https://twitter.com/spacewatchtower >
Facebook: < http://www.facebook.com/pages/SpaceWatchtower/238017839577841?sk=wall >
Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
* Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh:
  < http://www.planetarium.cc >
* Adler Planetarium, Chicago:
  < http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
* Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear:
  < http://johnbrashear.tripod.com >
* Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries:
  < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc >
* Civil War Museum of Andrew Carnegie Free Library:
  < http://garespypost.tripod.com >
* Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh:
  < http://inclinedplane.tripod.com >
* Public Transit:
  < http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/transit >