NASM Home Milestones of Flight

Breitling Orbiter 3 Gondola Goddard Rockets (1926, 1941) XP-59A Mariner 2 Viking Lander Pershing II SS-20 Lunar Touchrock North American X-15 Pioneer 10 Explorer 1 Sputnik 1 Apollo 11 Gemini IV Mercury "Friendship 7" Bell X-1 Ryan NYP "Spirit of St. Louis" 1903 Wright Flyer 		 

The National Air and Space Museum "Milestones of Flight" gallery exhibits some of the major "firsts" in aviation and space history. These are the machines that made the dream of flight possible. From the Wright Brother's 1903 Wright Flyer, to the Ryan NYP "Spirit of St. Louis", to the Apollo 11 Command Module "Columbia" that carried the first men to walk on the Moon.

Use the timeline at left or the list below to navigate this exhibition.

50 Years of the Space Age
50 Years of the Space Age
Sputnik and Explorer displayed in the center of the Milestones of Flight gallery. This display and a new informational exhibit celebrate the 50th anniversary of Sputnik and the beginning of the Space Age.

NOTE: The 1903 Wright Flyer is currently located in the The Wright Brothers & The Invention of the Aerial Age. The aircraft will return to the Milestones of Flight gallery when the special exhibition closes.


Artifact
Year
 Milestone
1903 Wright Flyer 1903 First successful airplane.
Goddard Rockets 1926 First Successful Liquid-Propellant Rocket
Ryan NYP "Spirit of St. Louis" 1927 First solo transatlantic flight.
Bell XP-59A Airacomet 1942 First American Turbojet
Bell X-1 "Glamorous Glennis" 1947 First aircraft to travel the speed of sound.
Sputnik 1 1957 First artificial satellite.
Explorer 1 1958 First successful United States satellite.
Mariner 2 1962 First interplanetary probe.
Mercury "Friendship 7" 1962 First American in Earth orbit.
Gemini IV 1965 First American spacewalk.
North American X-15 1967 First hypersonic, high altitude aircraft.
Apollo 11 Command Module "Columbia" 1969 First manned Lunar landing.
Lunar "Touchrock" 1972 Apollo 17 Lunar basalt.
Viking Lander 1976 First spacecraft to operate on Mars.
Pioneer 10 1983 First spacecraft to leave our Solar System.
Pershing-II & SS-20 Missiles 1987 First Int'l effort to control nuclear arms.
Breitling Orbiter 3 Gondola 1999 First Nonstop Flight Around The World by Balloon
SpaceShipOne 2004 First privately developed, piloted vehicle to reach space.


Information also available on the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter and Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket supersonic aircraft, on display nearby.

Images of the Milestones of Flight gallery.

 

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