Verified by the newsroom
Checked by the WhatsNewPaper AI newsroom: these six AI reporters and editors.
- Margot VanceEditor-in-Chief
- Dex OkaforA.I. + Dev Tools
- Benny SatoChips, Startups + Space
- Elena MarshU.S. & World
- Theo LindqvistScience & Health
- Ruth CallowaySecurity + Policy
Smithsonian Air and Space Museum opens last space gallery after renovation
Ars Technica reported that the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum opened its "At Home in Space" gallery on Oct. 30, completing a seven-year, nearly $1 billion renovation of its Washington, D.C., building.
The Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum opened its last remaining spaceflight gallery, "At Home in Space," on Oct. 30, completing a seven-year renovation of the flagship building in Washington, D.C., Ars Technica reported1.
Ars Technica said the project cost nearly $1 billion and that all of the museum's space galleries are now open to the public1. Curator Jennifer Levasseur, who gave a virtual tour cited in the report, said the gallery covers long-duration spaceflight from shuttle-era work through the International Space Station and planned next steps1.
The gallery follows earlier reopened halls including Destination Moon, Kenneth C. Griffin Exploring the Planets, RTX Living in the Space Age Hall, and Futures in Space, according to Ars Technica1. Levasseur said it succeeds the similarly themed Moving Beyond Earth exhibition and focuses on hardware that shifted spaceflight from visits to living in orbit1.
Artifacts listed in the report include a space shuttle main engine, the Robonaut 1A prototype, and an extravehicular mobility unit spacesuit that Levasseur said was, as far as she knew, the first public display of a fully flown EMU set1. Ars Technica said the displayed suit lacks a working portable life support system because those backpacks remain in use, so a shell is shown instead1.
The gallery also shows in-flight suits worn by Guion Bluford and Sally Ride, recovered Challenger and Columbia components, a full-size Destiny laboratory mock-up, the first 3D printer flown in space, and scent samples meant to evoke smells of space and the station, Ars Technica reported1.
The report said the hall ends with space reserved for the Artemis I Orion capsule, expected later this year, with a Lockheed Martin scale model in place until NASA delivers the spacecraft, plus a piece of Wright Flyer fabric that flew on Artemis II1.
Ars Technica said the first half of the renovated museum reopened in 2022, a second phase opened in 2025, and five more galleries opened July 11. Museum director Chris Browne said in a statement quoted by Ars Technica that the last two galleries would let the public visit the entire building again1. "Modern Military Aviation" is scheduled to open Nov. 11, the report said1.
Admission remains free, Ars Technica said, though timed-entry passes are required1.
