Our Day at The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force (Part Three) Space Gallery

This is the third part of our trip to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. Make sure to check out my U.S. Air Force Museum Part 1 and Part 2. The links to my previous posts are at the bottom of this post if you want to check them out. The first part includes the aircraft used throughout history from the very beginning. The galleries go through all the wars in history from World War One all the way up to the Cold War. The second part included the Presidential Gallery which was pretty cool. We got to board and walk through JFK’s Air Force one! There were a couple other presidential planes we got to walk through too.

This post includes the Missile Gallery, Global Reach Gallery and the Space Gallery.

The Missile Gallery

The missile room was pretty short and sweet. Inside this circular room were these giant missiles. There was also a satellite in this room we could take a look at too. All around the room there was a lot of history and information along the outer walls. I expected these missiles to be huge but they are actually kind of dizzying when looking upward at them because they are so massive. It was pretty impressive.

In this room there is an upper level. In the second level there is a little cafe where you can stop for lunch. Which is exactly what we did. However, I talked about our lunch and the cafe in my first post. Sorry guys, I kind of jumped around slightly when writing these posts. There is also an overlook on the second level where you can overlook the final hanger in the museum. You can take the stairs or even take the glass elevator up which my kids totally loved!

Global Reach Gallery

In Global Reach (before reaching the Presidential Gallery) the kids were really excited to be able to walk inside a Troop Carrier. They were blown away by how humongous this craft is. My photos don’t even do it justice.

Part of it was glassed off so that people couldn’t go inside and help themselves to a seat. My boys thought this was so cool to see what the inside of a Troop Carrier looked like.

The Space Gallery

The first thing we saw when entering the Space Gallery section was the circular space-like building. Inside there are tables and chairs set up and you could take a seat and watch some of the videos they had playing on various TV screens. Some of them were pretty interesting but it was kind of hot inside that little building so we didn’t stay inside it long.

Next we went through the Space Shuttle exhibit they had there. It wasn’t a real space shuttle though. It would have been really cool if it was. They built this exhibit of a shuttle so that visitors could simulate what the inside of a space shuttle looks like. 

The Space Shuttle

My daughter was really excited about this part. She has always dreamed of working for NASA and going into space. Space has always been and interest of hers. She has a telescope and knows everything you need to know about the planets, stars and our solar system.

When we first walked on board we were greeted by a gentleman who gave us a guided tour. I loved that because as he took us through, he showed us where the pilots would sit. He also showed us other things the astronauts would do during their time on the shuttle. There were other rooms and areas that even had crawl spaces between the upper and lower deck. 

Our guide showed us a storage room and told our kids how they store food on a space shuttle. He also showed them how and where they slept too while in space. They were pretty interested in learning about this stuff. Because there’s no gravity, astronauts sleep in hanging cloth sacks. They also saw the “bathroom” and toilet and of course this is what my boys wanted to know about most. Go figure. 

We also got to take a look at Apollo 15 and a closer look at Gemini B. All the information about them and their exploration was on information stands too. In another area of the Space Gallery there was even a flying saucer. Of course there is nothing alien or extraterrestrial about it. It was human built.

The space suit photos were taken in the Hall of Fame Gallery earlier in the museum.

Final Words…

That sums up our adventure at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. If you have never been there, I highly recommend it. It’s located in Dayton, OH and it is worth the trip even if you have to travel. There is so much history in that museum and tons of aircraft that will blow you away. There’s nothing like seeing them in person. It truly was an amazing experience!

Posts in Series

Our Day at The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force (Part One)

Our Day at The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force (Part Two)

Our Day at The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force (Part Three)