Opened on July 1, 1976

In 1946 the Congress of the United States called for the creation of a National Air Museum. Its purpose was to memorialize the development of aviation by collecting, preserving, and displaying important aeronautical vehicles and equipment. The museum was established and for many years displayed its artifacts in the Arts and Industries Building of the Smithsonian Institution, located in Washington, D.C.

By the 1960s space travel had become an important facet of human flight. In 1966 Congress passed a new law changing the museum’s name to the National Air and Space Museum (NASM) and adding the commemoration of space flight to its mission. Congress also authorized the construction of a new building to house the expanded museum. Built on a three-block section of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., it was to be completed in...