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The National Air and Space Museum
Rating Details »
Independence Ave and 6th St SW
Washington, DC 20560
(202) 633-1000
Washington, DC 20560
(202) 633-1000
- Nearest Transit:
-
L'Enfant Plaza (Green, Yellow, Orange, Blue)
- Hours:
Mon-Sun. 10:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
120 reviews for The National Air and Space Museum
We didn't have a lot of time in DC, and we decided that if we were going to do anything, we'd rather do one or two things well than to rush around attempting to see "everything" in half-assed fashion. So, we chose the National Air & Space Museum. It was sort of the perfect place for a couple where one person is fascinated by planes and the other is a total space science geek.
The price (free!) also helped because it meant that we could "splurge" on the IMAX and Planetarium stuff we might not have if we also had to pay admission. The fiance loved the air exhibits, though I think it would have been cooler to have a litlte more about modern aviation. I LOVED the space exhibits. The Black Hole show at the planetarium was really cool (except for the screaming kids - I mean, going to the edge of existance as we know it is frightening, especially for like 5 year olds!). We also saw the Fighter Pilot IMAX movie which was really cool as well. We saw that if you buy tickets to two shows, you save a few bucks on the second one, so that made it worthwhile to us.
The gift shop areas were much smaller than I'm accustomed to seeing in museums. Overall, we had a great time and I totally recommend checking this place out if you're in the area.
It's raining. And it's COLD.
The fates must be laughing at me because I had just weathered a major storm in San Jose only to fly east to another storm in DC. And did I mention it was cold? Because it was!
But I quickly warmed myself up by hitting up the National Air and Space Museum in the National Mall. It was something that was definitely on my list of museums to hit up.
It did not disappoint! I loved the displays of shuttles and the lunar modular and the history of the space race between the U.S. and Russia. I really enjoyed the history behind the Wright brothers and their attempts to fly. Because who knew where we had ended up without their efforts.
Planes, rockets, Skylab, and a replica of the Hubble Telescope, OH MY! We even caught a show on Black Holes.
The museum is free to all and welcome donations. It certainly kept us entertained and, more importantly, dry from all that rain!
Their cafe isn't much of one. Just McDonald's, Pizza, and some ice cream. Not too healthy but definitely made a lot of school kids smile as they stood in line for food. If you're hungry, definitely go elsewhere for food.
Day 1 of my DC trip
It takes a few visits to really work your way around everything, but I'm the type that looks at exhibits and is flooded with thoughts that take a while to process before I move on. That being the case, one thought I had - "why hasn't this country done anything progressive since the Moon landing?" sure, sure: shuttle. ISS. satellite comms. But really, some of the most thrilling days of exploration seem to have stopped dead in their tracks years before my birth, and consequently most of the exhibits are similarly dated.
I agree with what Steven G. writes -- if you want to see lots of airplanes (many from recent decades) hit up the Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, which is amazing and has plenty of thought-provoking exhibits like the restored Enola Gay.
Awesomeness!!! You can see the Wright brothers plane and a moon rock and all sorts of exciting things -- like rockets and space launchers! Most exciting place in DC if you ask me -- also the home of the I-MAX -- which makes it even even even cooler! You have to watch an IMAX movie -- i know this was probably more exciting ten years ago - but they have some fantastic ones about outer space and life on earth - and some that keep changing -- i know that they were showing dark knight here for a while -- which I missed :S -- and don't miss the astronaut ice cream -- the dried ice cream balls (def def eat the cookies and cream :P) and the gift shop is awesome as well! If you go to DC and you don't go here -- you will be disappointed!
As time passes from the original moon landings, this place is no longer cutting edge and needs an upgrade. Not as much devoted to the Apollo program and even less to the Gemini and Mercury programs which came before Apollo. Was not all that interested in the planes and there did not seem to be much order to the place. The NASA exhibits now look as antiquated as the rest of the museum.
One cool thing is that hidden in the downstairs toy store is the original Starship Enterprise that they used in the Star Trek television series. Sure its a small model made of balsa wood and paper but its the real deal! That alone redeemed the rest of the museum.
This museum needs to be updated... the plane exhibits are a bit dingy and drab. The only ones that gave the the nostalgia (i don't know what to call it but you know what i mean) was the Apollo exhibit and the Wright brothers, everything else just looks like they threw it in and found a place for it.
If your a real airplane buff, i recommend going to the one in Chantilly, it is a huge hangar full of planes in a chronological lineup... almost as if they are ready to go out onto the runway and into action!
Amazing displays or various planes and shuttles. First time I came here was probally when I was in Middle school and it just blew my mind away.
Its great for kids of all ages because they enjoy it just as much as the adults!
Like other museums in the DC area admission is free so thats just another bonus to the vacation.
This would definitely be one of my favorite Smithsonian museums to go to whenever I go back to DC. Why? Cause I like all the planes and stuff :-p
To be honest, the museum was a lot bigger than I anticipated, and eventually, it just felt a bit overwhelming. There definitely wasn't anything lacking to see and even experience, but with all of that going on and the crowds of people (ok it wasn't crowded like a NY subway crowded but it was crowded enough), I wasn't able to leisurely stroll through the exhibits.
Maybe it if wasn't so crowded I would have experienced a 4-star rating. But regardless, it definitely is a must see museum...everyone seems to think so ;-)
I would go there when they first open though, and note...there are actually 2 sides to enter.
I was disappointed that I didn't like the Air & Space Museum as much as I wanted to. I found myself just glancing over the exhibits and not really taking the time to admire the cool stuff.
I think the reason was because the whole musem looked tired. Like it hadn't been renovated since it was built. I mean, it's cool that you can built your own fighter jet, but when it's still using DOS and 8-bit graphics, it's a little lame. The Wright Brother's exhibit was the coolest - mainly because it looked brand new! The rest of the place was completely forgetable. My favorite part of the museum was the board that showed all the flights taking off and landing all over the U.S. It even showed what it looked like on 9/11 - it was amazing to see all the planes disappear.
I probably wouldn't come back here unless they did a major overhaul. However, I will give them this, it is insanely popular, so maybe they are doing something right.
Obviously, you'll get the most out of this if you know something about history and aviation. I had a great time walking around looking at all the exhibits, especially laughing at the part that's made up to be like an aircraft carrier (I'm a naval officer).
Loved the exhibits on space flight and the progression of commercial flight through the years. What happened to the days of nifty flight attendant uniforms and feeling like you were really *living* when you flew?
Sidebar, the food court sells DONATO'S PIZZA, a favorite from my hometown in Ohio. I don't know what it's doing there, but try it! It's soooo good. :-)
I grew up going to this museum. This place been a favorite of mine for a good 30+ years. I still remember seeing my first IMAX movie there -- "To Fly" -- and they still play it (and I still love it) to this day!
Even though I no longer live in the area, I try to make it a point to stop by when I'm in town. There's always something new to see, and old favorites to look at again.
This is a fantastic museum with displays that can keep you occupied for hours! Admission is free, though there are a couple activities that you must pay for. Don't go here planning to eat... they only have McDonalds inside. It is quite possibly the worlds largest McDonalds though at two stories of fried oil artery clogging nastiness!
I'd recommend "not" checking out the planetarium, as they really just show a movie on a curved dome. There's no traditional planetarium show that they offer.
One of my favorite places to go in DC. Sure it's crowded, old, and packed with info, but that's because it's full of awesomeness!
Something about really big rockets turns me on.
One of the single greatest museums I have ever been to.
A monument to science, technology, and engineering, that presents something for everyone. It has the machinery to impress the lil'uns, and the history and complexity to satisfy the older ones, with a grand scope that covers everything from nuclear missiles to space colonization. Great artifacts and national treasures abound. I spent four hours in the thing on my second visit, spread over two days. The only problem is that it's often overcrowded with little kids and such. Great displays teach everything from the scientific method to actual specifics and there's just so much to be gained here.
Took Baby1 Baby2 and Nanny there today post Baby1's projectile vomit this morning, immediately followed by her request to visit the museum to see the airplanes. We had a great time - she had a great time with their interactive displays (and no, she didn't puke on anything else after this morning's episode in our house). Why in the world an Air and Space Museum doesn't have helicopters, or at least I couldn't find them, I am not sure.
But I digress from the most important factor of this museum. The little food cart in front of the museum on the Mall side - they had SuperPretzels hanging. I'm always wary of "soft" pretzels in DC. Each time i've purchased one from a street vendor here, it's been hard as rock. Makes me miss them Philly trucks with the soggy salt-coated pretzels. But today, Baby1 requested one, and given how she post-puke basically inhaled the entirety of our lunch and was seemingly still hungry, I relented. I gave it to her, and asked if I could give the pretzel a test-pinch. She "hm"ed approval, and I pinched. Wow - not bad. Can I have a bite? Hm. Wow - REALLY not bad! Is it a bad thing when Mom's salivating over recovering Baby's food?
So yes - Museum is fun, get the cliche space ice cream, and save some space for not-bad pretzels in front of the museum. You can't imagine how bummed I was when Nanny recommended taking the remainder of Baby1's pretzel out with them in case Baby1 wanted more when they went to the park this afternoon.
One of the cooler museums in the area. Lots of great picture ops and large flying objects to look at. You can walk through an old plane if you like, or check out some NASA costumes. Wish we'd spent a little less time at other museums and more at this one.
I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this museum since I'm not a big air or space buff. I found it fascinating to see all the space shuttles and the early aircrafts and I learned a lot too. We were exhausted from a day of sightseeing but we still spent a couple hours here. Seeing the very first plane created by the Wright Brothers is a huge thrill even if you don't check out anything else. Other highlights were Amelia Earhart's plan and seeing early space rockets, shuttles etc. Definitely worth checking out.
I hadn't been there in 14 years so it was nice to get back. I think I obviously appreciated it more than when I was in Elementary school obviously...
Didn't really have enough time to explore like I wanted to but the history of Air travel was fascinating.
I'm sure everyone has already said it all, so I won't try to.
The most fun of the national museums, especially for kids. Everyone wants to fly, and that is heart of what makes this place cool. Then you add on all the touchable stuff, and the IMAX theater and well, American History Museum can eat my shorts.
TIP*** Check out the times of opening and closing of the museums you are thinking of doing, They don't all have the same hours.
PROS: lots of spaceships, planes, air stuff. There's an imax theater in there too.
CONS: after you go once or twice.. it's about the same. they don't really change things up or have anything new or interesting.
I had the McDonalds in here last time I was there.. it was the cheapest food in the place.. the prices were still jacked up though. the mcdonalds ended up giving me the runs. not fun!
You kind of know what you're getting yourself into when you walk up to this museum and there are multiple tour buses parked out front. Let me ruin the surprise for you: those buses are full of kids on their 8th grade field trip. 13/14-year-olds don't care about air. Or space. But they do enjoy ruining movies, malls and apparently this museum. Seriously, every ledge area is full of teenagers just sitting around talking about God only knows what. And yes, I realize that I am getting this old. I was one of those 8th graders once and I want to go back and slap myself for ruining an otherwise decent museum.
If possible go during winter (which is actually my recommendation for all Mall museums). I personally found the air section much more informative than space. Maybe space was ruined for me because I've been to NASA's Johnson Space Center? There you could try on space helmets. I was all over it! Over in air, the Wright Brother's exhibit was especially a delight. But then I saw a pile of 8th graders and cried on the inside.
Oh, and if you have no fear of 8th graders, this museum still isn't that great. There are plenty of other people shoving, fighting and screaming to make you want to take a Xanax.
This museum had great exhibits, lots of different types of planes, from all throughout history. The air and space stuff is not really my cup of tea, but many of the visitors and kids were very excited about the different exhibits.
I would definitely suggest for everyone interested in air and space to visit this museum!
As I journeyed into this popular museum, I found litters of kids swarming all over the place in excitement. If ever in my life I felt like a kid again this was surely the place.
As I entered the cockpit of a commercial airplane, I felt as if I was living my childhood dream as a pilot. Well, not really since there was a protective glass blocking me from messing with all the instrument panels, but sort of. Everywhere I walked I was surrounded by airplanes and jet bombers hung up as if they were a mile away. Huge spaceships and rockets were assorted throughout the hangar. There were a variety of cool exhibits..the Wright Flyer room, the hall with crazy in-depth images of Saturn, and even an interactive area where you can engage in experiments exploring interesting scientific phenomenon. With that said, the National Air and Space Museum is definitely a must while visiting DC.
Oh yeah, make sure you eat before because the only choice you will have here is a McDonald's/Boston Market fast food counter which is extremely overpriced. I had a Big Mac meal for almost $9!!!
I LOVE THIS MUSEUM!
First, the museum is freakin' huge!
I visited this place twice but didn't finish browsing the whole.
So many airplanes and stuff.
No need to pay for tickets, but if you donate money, it will be fine.
(and yes I donated $1. It was a meaningful donation!!!)
The Air and Space has to be one of my favorite museums in DC for two reasons.
1. planetarium
2. space ice cream
If not for the educational opportunity - go for the stoner haven qualities.
It's a great museum. I came here as a kid. My only complaint is that given the nature of big aircraft, the exhibits don't really change over time. I suppose it is the Disneyland for Washingtonians. The McDonald's is a good place for fast food if you are trapped down on the Mall. I still need to get out to the Annex out by Dulles.
Where else am I going to see the Wright Flyer, a Gemini capsule, and even some ICBMs for free?
As an engineer, I suppose I am biased towards this stuff, but I thought this museum was amazing. The objects on display truly are one of a kind and should appeal to anybody, American or not.
It's one of those places that makes you proud to be a Human being.
Hold on I have to sneeze....
Nope, lost it. Damn.
I don't really intend to review this place. Although it's definitely one of my favorite places to visit, we might have totally different opinions on what's fascinating, so I can't really say this place is going to blow you away with any sense of objectivity.
I do however want to point out what I think a lot of people mistakenly overlook: a model of the solar system that is in ONE TEN-BILLIONTH scale. Whether or not it interests you to the degree it does me, at least I think you should point it out and explain it to your kids if you have kids with you. Don't try to point it out to random kids.
It starts with the sun right outside the entrance, and it's about the size of a tennis ball and has info around it. Then head left, away from the capital, toward the Washington Monument and right away you're at Mercury and Venus and pretty soon Earth which is about the size of a BB. Remember this is a scale model, so sizes and distances are in the same proportion as real life, but it's literally ten billion times smaller. You'll see all the planets as you keep walking down the sidewalk. They're in little acrylic boxes with facts printed on signs on little poles. It's just insane, though because Pluto is more than two blocks from the Earth and it's the size of a grain of salt. How the hell did anybody ever discover that? A grain of salt TWO BLOCKS away from a BB? It's very very amazing in my opinion.
I'm starting to hate my friends visiting me in DC. Ever since I moved to the DC area, I've been successfully avoiding kid havens like these. But every time one of my friends visits me I'm forced to go to one. Does anyone feel my pain? Or does everyone else love kids?
Anyway, with all that aside I actually enjoyed this museum. The layout is huge and when I look down from the second floor balcony for some reason the set up reminds me of a Vegas casino. It's really spaced out and open allowing even the craziest kid crowds to have room.
The displays are informative and neat but I have one question: Did anyone else realize that they still have Pluto as a planet? I thought he was ousted out of the exclusive planet crowd couple years ago...
All in all great museum even if there are tons of kids running around.
I've only managed to come here 3 times in my years, yet I'm a member and I live in San Francisco...
means I still get the magazine though!! :D
It's amazing to see these artifacts of aviation and space exploration history up close. While I found the Deutsches Museum (in Munich) to have a greater quantity of planes and spacecraft on display (while not even being exclusive to just air and space technology), it's nice to admire a collection on our own soil (plus the signs here are in English). Agreed that parts of it are rather dated, but I feel it's still an important place for EVERYONE to go spend a few hours to learn about this aspect of history, and hopefully inspire more kids to become the engineers of the future.
But I am a rocket scientist after all, how could I not love this place?
First of all i have to admit that i LOVVVVVVVVEEEEE planes and rockets. So I 'might' be a little biased.
Regardless though, this place is pretty awesome and has lots of exhibits and cool stuff to look at. From modern day to beginning, there is something to see.
One of the best features I think is the IMAX theater here and the simulators. I had been here a million times and didnt go on the simulators before. Weeeeeee they are fun! After I did the combat one, my friends and I agreed if we ever got rich, we would totally buy one of those things and put it in our house and play it all day.
If you haven't been here you should go.
An amazing place for even those who never considered themselves interested in such things.
Minus one star for housing one of if not the biggest McDonalds in the world: two stories of artery hardening and wasted calories.
Okay, so this museum panders to my geektastic love of everything related to astronomy. My father had a great telescope when I was growing up and I had so many books on constellations and supernovae. Going into this museum had a massive setup of everything related to aviation. Seriously? The original Kitty Hawk plane? So cool.
Yes, I realize that an obsession with planes and space is pretty nerdy and misunderstood in the same way that obsession with trains is, but it's still enjoyable. They even have a hands on kids area that's so much fun even adults will enjoy all the little experiments.
The museum itself isn't very attractive looking, and it gives off the air of being retro or old. I guess that's what a museum is though, isn't it? Maybe I'm too used to museums in LA and NY that are all redesigned and respaced to be works of art themselves.
Anyways, I can't give the exhibits less than four stars, because they're truly a feast for the eyes, with airplanes and space vehicles dropping from the ceiling. They have flight models used by the Wright brothers, the first transatlantic flight plane, apollo shuttles, and even a piece of the moon that you can touch! That's a unique experience in and of itself!
Who could not be amazed to see the Kitty Hawk plane that kicked off aviation in the USA? Or John Glenn's space capsule? Or the moon shots and all their equipment? Fantastic museum and go see the IMAX where it originated!!! HERE! Yes... go see the movie, "To Fly," and you will feel like you are flying in every known venue.
One of the top museums in D.C. and the USA.
Take all the children and this place would be more like a museum than a playground!
VERY, VERY cool, educational and there's a HUGE cafe inside with all your unhealthy needs! McDonalds and an ice cream stop... Gain knowledge AND pounds... then walk around town!
This museum was fun, but I think I need to come back when I'm not so crammed for time and tired from the previous museum.
The Apollo exhibits are amazing, and I stayed the longest there. NASA/NSA and other science like stuff is interesting, but not as much after a really long day. The galaxy and satellite stuff are interesting too, but I was more interested in the astronauts, and WWII stuff, but did not get to that part of the museum.
There is a Micky D's and Boston market in the food court, and kids are running around everywhere.
They closed soon after we arrived, so this review will have to be continued at a later date.
Space ICCEEEEE CCREEAAAMMMMMM!!!!! As a kid i thought this stuff was the shizz, and now i just see it as cavity inducing cardboard--but i still can't help myself and I buy some whenever i go to this museum.
For starters, I hate science, and space, and air. But this museum is so alluring. From childhood thru present I've been in awe at the exhibits here. I especially love when I came a few years ago and they had the R.I.P Pluto exhibit. Space nerds have humor--who would have thunk it? On a sticky hot day there's nothing like visitng the planetarium and letting your jaw drop as you watch astroids and planets collide.
Oh, hands down the BEST museum gift shop in DC.
My favorite Smithsonian hands down. Planes, planes, and more planes. I loved this place as a kid, and as an adult I like it just as much. The thing I have qualms about are the lines for the IMAX shows and their cost as well, but that's a normal reaction after getting everything for free.
Totally irrelevant story, I saw my first bum outside the museum here who subsequently got up and stepped into a limo around the corner. Not just a old wives tale.
