National Air & Space Museum Excursion:
Event time and place: National Air & Space Museum, Washington, DC. February 23, 2025
On Sunday February 23rd, I went to the National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. While I was there I visited the One World Connected, Exploring the Planets, and Destination Moon exhibits. The first exhibit I went to was One World Connected. This exhibit was about the growth of communication and travel made possible with satellites and airplanes. This exhibit had communication devices and satellite replicas on display, as well as an interactive radio. Near this radio was many infographics explaining the history and importance of radio to communication before satellites. The information displayed was very easy to understand, seeming to be targeted to middle schoolers, however they did still display some complex information, along with the more basic information. Most of this basic information was displayed on interactive screens near a large globe projection in the center of the exhibit. On these screens you could see how things like planes, animals and information move across the globe. These interactive screens were very effective at conveying important information. Most of the specific information that I remember from the exhibit came from the screens.
The next exhibit that I went to was Destination Moon, which was centered around the advancements in aerospace that lead to the achievement of getting to the moon. They showcased the flight Capsule from Freedom 7, the first United States manned flight into space, an engine from Apollo 11, along with the actual flight suit Neil Armstrong wore on the moon. This exhibit had interactive screens where you could click on the various parts of the display to get more information about each item, along with actual moon rocks that you could touch. The information displayed here seemed to be targeted at all ages. The information was simple enough for little kids to understand but also had more complex details that those who were more experienced with the journey to the moon could enjoy. The most interesting part of the exhibit was the short film that played on the back wall. The film contained video clips from old news segments leading up to the journey to the moon and compiled them together along with videos from inside mission control during the moon landing. This video was a great way to efficiently summarize the historical environment and timeline of the United States' mission to land on the moon.
The final exhibit I visited was Exploring the Planets. It focused on our solar system and the discoveries made within it. They had the Kepler space telescope on display, along with replica rovers, and a giant model of the solar system that hung from the ceiling. On the floor, they had projected the solar system model so you could really tell the size differences between the planets. They also had multiple plaques explaining exactly what each rover was created to do and where it was sent. This exhibit was focused more on elementary school students who had limited knowledge of the terminology used in astrology. It did also have information that was more complex, but most of the information was targeted at a younger audience. The majority of the information on display was something you could look at, but not necessarily interact with. In the middle of the exhibit, they had a video that went through different locations in our solar system and showed detailed views of them. The video was also displayed in a way to where it almost felt like being in VR. I do think the information in the exhibit could have benefited from some sort of interactive game where you might control a rover.
The many astronomical concepts displayed throughout the exhibits were shown mostly through the historic achievements that led to them. This made me feel like many of the concepts were not completely up to date or unsure if there even has been further progress.