Nasa logo

This nice Nasa logo ...

... was on the mobile quarantine facility that the Apollo 11 astronauts had to stay in to protect everyone on Earth from moon germs.  Yes, the information said "moon germs"

I need to take the logo and make a T-shirt out of it or something.

(at our visit to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy center)

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Layers and layers of aircraft at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy center

It seems that the general approach at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy center is that the aircraft are displayed with a minimum of artifice.  There is the layer of aircraft on the floor.  Another set hanging above them and they seem to be filling in a third layer above that.

There are three hangers, the Space hanger, the plane hanger and a restoration hanger where you can watch restoration of new aircraft joining the displays.

The first site on entering is the Blackbird.

There was a remote controlled unmanned helicopter that could drop nuclear depth charges on enemy submarines.  That put me in mind of the nuclear warhead torpedoes we saw at the Pearl Harbor museum that warned that they were just as likely to destroy the vessel that fired the torpedo as the target.  The mutual assured destruction of nuclear warfare seemed to be present at all scales from global to battle.

This set of spacesuits was outside of the space hanger.  The tiny one was not for a child, unfortunately but was a doll made to promote the space suit.

They also had the a Conchord.

And THE Enola Gay.  It was up on jacks, so they tucked more aircraft in underneath it.

Two flying wings, one from Nazi Germany.

There was so much to see that it is worth a trip back again.

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Space Shuttle Discovery at the other Air and Space Museum

Two weeks ago during a trip to Washington, D.C to see baseball we took a day and went to the other National Air and Space Museum, the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy center that is out by Dulles airport.  This museum, part of the same Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum that is on the National Mall, is packed full of aircraft and some spacecraft.

The Space Shuttle Discovery is there in the space hall with other interesting satellites and space technology.

The first view of it.

The engines.

A closeup of the Shuttle tiles that protected it on reentry. 

There is magnetic Space Scrabble!  It was intended for use on Skylab though never used.

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Late Spring flower delight

Clematis

Iris

Rose

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