Washington · RedAwning

National Air and Space MuseumSmithsonian on the National Mall — Wright Flyer, Apollo 11 command module, Spirit of St. Louis, and free admission since 1976

The most-visited Smithsonian museum and one of the most-visited museums on Earth — opened July 1, 1976 on the National Mall at the corner of 6th Street and Independence Avenue SW. The collection holds the 1903 Wright Flyer, Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis, the Apollo 11 command module Columbia, the Bell X-1 in which Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier, and the Spaceflight Hall's Skylab orbital workshop you can walk through. Admission is free; timed-entry passes required.

Hours today10:00 AM – 5:30 PMMonday hours
TicketsFrom $9Lockheed Martin IMAX Theater
LocationWashington, District of Columbia600 Independence Ave SW
Official siteairandspace.si.eduPlan your visit

1976Opened
FreeAdmission
60,000+Aircraft & spacecraft
~3MAnnual visitors

The National Air and Space Museum opened on July 1, 1976 — President Gerald Ford cut the ribbon on the bicentennial of American independence, and within its first year the museum drew over ten million visitors, the largest first-year attendance of any museum in history. Designed by Gyo Obata of Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum (HOK), the 681,000-square-foot Mall building presents a four-block-long Tennessee marble facade on Independence Avenue SW, broken by four glass-walled exhibition halls that frame the aircraft hanging inside. The collection covers the entire history of human flight, from the 1903 Wright Flyer through the 1969 Apollo 11 command module and into the present-day commercial spaceflight era.

The Mall building is in the middle of a multi-phase renovation through 2025–2026 — roughly half the galleries are open at any given moment, with the closed half cycling through. The currently-open marquee galleries include the Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall (Spirit of St. Louis, the Apollo 11 command module Columbia, Bell X-1, SpaceShipOne); the Wright Brothers gallery (the 1903 Flyer that flew at Kitty Hawk); the Apollo to the Moon gallery (Apollo 14 command module, lunar samples, an actual flown Lunar Module); and the Lockheed Martin IMAX Theater. The companion Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, twenty-five miles west near Dulles Airport in Chantilly, Virginia, holds the larger items — the Space Shuttle Discovery, the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, the Concorde, and the Enola Gay — admission also free, no pass required.

Plan three hours minimum for the Mall building, six if you hit Udvar-Hazy on the same day. Free timed-entry passes for the Mall site release 30 days ahead at 8:00 AM ET via airandspace.si.edu and sell out the same day during peak weeks; a smaller daily 10:00 AM batch covers same-day walk-ups. The closest Metro stops are L'Enfant Plaza (5-minute walk via Independence Ave) and Smithsonian (8-minute walk through the Mall). Federal cabinet-grade security screening at the entrance — bring no firearms, and any bag larger than 12" × 17" × 8" must fit through the X-ray. The Mars Café and the McDonald's-operated cafeteria are the two dining options inside.

Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia
The actual command module that brought Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins back from the Moon on July 24, 1969 — splashed down in the Pacific 920 miles southwest of Hawaii. Hangs in the Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall (the front atrium) at exactly the position the visitor first sees walking in from Independence Avenue. Rotated through several traveling exhibitions in 2017–2019; permanently re-installed in 2022.
1903 Wright Flyer
The world's first powered, controlled, sustained-heavier-than-air flight — December 17, 1903 at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The actual Flyer flew four times that day; the longest was 852 feet in 59 seconds at 7 mph. Donated to the Smithsonian in 1948 after a 20-year dispute with the Science Museum London; displayed in a dedicated, low-light gallery on the second floor with a recreated dunes diorama under the wings.
Spirit of St. Louis
The Ryan NYP monoplane Charles Lindbergh flew solo from Roosevelt Field, New York, to Le Bourget Field, Paris, on May 20–21, 1927 — 33 hours 30 minutes nonstop, the first solo transatlantic flight. Suspended in the Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall directly above the Apollo 11 capsule. The forward fuselage has no windshield — Lindbergh navigated by periscope.
Bell X-1 "Glamorous Glennis"
The orange bullet-shaped rocket-plane Chuck Yeager flew through the sound barrier on October 14, 1947 over the Mojave Desert — Mach 1.06, the first manned aircraft to do so in level flight. Yeager named it for his wife. Hangs in the Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall directly across from the Spirit of St. Louis. The XLR-11 rocket motor is exposed beneath the fuselage.
Apollo Lunar Module LM-2
The flight-rated Apollo lunar module that flew Apollo 5's unmanned ascent-stage test in January 1968 — never landed on the Moon, but identical to the modules that did. Stands in the Apollo to the Moon gallery on a recreated lunar-surface diorama. The crew compartment is 235 cubic feet — about the volume of a Volkswagen Beetle.
Lockheed Martin IMAX Theater
The five-story IMAX screen on the museum's east end — opened in 1976 with the original 70mm IMAX projector and renovated in 2010 with digital 3D. Ticketed shows ($9 adult) run hourly: Apollo 11 (the 2019 Todd Douglas Miller film), A Beautiful Planet (Toni Myers' 2016 ISS documentary), and Hidden Pacific. Reserve at the box office or online; afternoon shows often sell out by noon.
Albert Einstein Planetarium
A 70-foot dome on the second floor with a Zeiss Universarium IX projector and a digital all-dome system — ticketed shows ($9) run every 45 minutes: One World, One Sky (Big Bird's First Star), Dark Universe (Neil deGrasse Tyson narrating dark matter and dark energy), and From Earth to the Universe. Free Sky Tonight live presentations Tuesdays and Saturdays at 1:30 PM.
Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center (Companion site)
The 760,000-square-foot annex twenty-five miles west near Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, VA, opened December 2003. Holds the Space Shuttle Discovery in the McDonnell Space Hangar, plus the Concorde Air France F-BVFA, the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, the Boeing B-29 Enola Gay, and 170 other large aircraft. Admission is free, no timed-entry pass required, but parking is $15. Open daily 10:00 AM–5:30 PM.

Open hours

Closed Christmas Day. The Mall building is in the middle of a multi-year renovation (through 2025–2026); roughly half of the museum is open at any given time. The companion Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles Airport in Chantilly, VA holds the Space Shuttle Discovery, the Concorde, and the Enola Gay — also free, no timed-entry pass required.

MondayToday10:00 AM – 5:30 PM
Tuesday10:00 AM – 5:30 PM
Wednesday10:00 AM – 5:30 PM
Thursday10:00 AM – 5:30 PM
Friday10:00 AM – 5:30 PM
Saturday10:00 AM – 5:30 PM
Sunday10:00 AM – 5:30 PM

Note · Free timed-entry passes required for the Mall building — released 30 days ahead at 8:00 AM ET, plus a daily 10:00 AM same-day batch. Last entry 4:30 PM. Walk-up tickets are sometimes available 30 minutes before opening.

Ticket pricing

Per-person admission. Buy in advance to skip the gate line.

General AdmissionFreeFree with timed-entry pass — book at airandspace.si.edu
Lockheed Martin IMAX Theater$9Per show — Apollo 11, A Beautiful Planet, others
Albert Einstein Planetarium$9Per show — One World, One Sky and others
Flight Simulator (single pod)$12Per rider, two riders per pod — first-come, ages 6+, height 48"+
Highlights Tour (group)FreeFree 60-minute docent walk — Wright Flyer to Apollo 11

All Smithsonian museum admission is free. Timed-entry passes are also free but required for the Mall building only; the Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly does not require them. Bag check is airport-grade — no firearms, and large bags must fit through the X-ray scanner. The closest Metro stops are L'Enfant Plaza (5-min walk) and Smithsonian (8-min walk).

Reserve free passes

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