Experience the thrill of flying some of the world's most important airplanes and spacecraft. Best of the National Air and Space Museum provides unprecedented access to the most popular museum in the world. The Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum hosts an average of seven million visits every year. The Udvar-Hazy Center—three football fields long and ten stories high—receives more than one million visits annually. Best of the National Air and Space Museum features the best of both museums, from the Challenger space shuttle and the Wright flyer to the Spirit of St. Louis and the stealth bomber. Robert Van der Linden, curator of aeronautics, has selected the most important, popular, and just plain impressive aircraft and spacecraft from the collections of both museums to be showcased in this beautiful book. Each page spread includes intriguing facts of the item's design, use, mission, specifications, and dimensions. A must-have for space and aviation buffs.

Since that windy day in 1903 when the Wright brothers became airborne, the world has witnessed amazing advances in aviation and space flight. Among the highlights of this definitive pictorial review are the Wright brothers' flyer, Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis, the first airplane to circumnavigate the globe and much more. Full-color illustrations.

Iconic aviation and space artifacts from the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, the world's largest and most noteworthy collection.

Get up close and personal with iconic aviation and space artifacts from the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, the world's largest and most noteworthy collection Smithsonian Treasures of the National Air and Space Museum is a spectacularly illustrated, full-color guide to the most impressive, important, and interesting artifacts from the museum's vast collection. The book moves through chronological chapters, from the flight of kites, balloons, and the first airplanes, to 21st-century space tourism and NASA's new Artemis program. Each chapter features photographs and rich history on incredible objects that captivate visitors on a daily basis, including: Taking Flight: Early balloons and the 1903 Wright Flyer Aviation Goes to War: World War I aircraft and Eddie Rickenbacker's uniform The Shrinking Globe: Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis and Robert Goddard’s liquid-fuel rocket World War II: P-51 Mustang, B-26 bomber, and other iconic warbirds Jet Age Meets Space Age (Postwar): Chuck Yeager’s flight jacket and Alan Shepard's spacesuit The Moon and Beyond: Neil Armstrong's Apollo 11 spacesuit and the Apollo lunar module Pushing Boundaries: The Hubble Space Telescope and Boeing 747 Into the Future: Starship Enterprise from Star Trek and the Merlin engine from SpaceX Skip the crowds and enjoy the most engaging and revolutionary objects the museum has to offer! Smithsonian Treasures of the National Air and Space Museum is a sweeping tribute to more than a century's worth of aviation and space history that shows how far we've come and how far we can go.

This Autobiography headlines the collections, both on view and behind the scenes, of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. The official story and insiders' tales of the museum are shared by its curators, the people who know it best. Photography and backstage glimpses show off the collection, including well-known artifacts like Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis and the Apollo 11 command module, as well as rare treasures not displayed to the public. --from publisher description.

"The Nation's Hangar: Aircraft Treasures of the Smithsonian offers a fascinating textual and visual history of civilian, military, and commercial aviation from the earliest balloon flights to today's most advanced aircraft. The Nation's Hangar charts the awe-inspiring history of flight around the world. F. Robert Van Der Linden, a Smithsonian curator and leading expert on aviation history, explains the fascinating stories behind aviation's great technological advances and provides historic and social context that highlights the many ways in which these innovations have changed the course of human history. The Nation's Hangar is also a visual delight. The Smithsonian aircraft collection has never looked so compelling and sleek. The Nation's Hangar is a must-have for that fly boy or fly girl in your flight pattern"--

More than four hundred photographs and reproductions, accompanied by an entertaining text, provide an intriguing glimpse of the richly diverse treasures of the Smithsonian, from art masterpieces to historical memorabilia to technological innovations.