Were back live now at the Smithsonian National air and space museum where the museum today is celebrating its 40th birthday. It was 40 years ago today that president gerald ford dedicated this museum. In about a half hour, well bring you live coverage of the events celebrating that anniversary. In the meantime, we want to hear from you. Our phone lines are open. 2027488900 for those in the eastern or central time zones. If you live out west, 2027488901. Send us a tweet at cspan history or join us on facebook at facebook. Com cspanhistory. As we move outside to inside, one of the displays, and there are so many inside this fabulous museum, is moving beyond earth. And an example of the evolution of americas Space Shuttle program. And joining us again is valerie neal. We saw you just a moment ago in the tape portion. You are the curator, the chair of the space history here at the museum. And lets talk about the shuttle program. No other country had Something Like that. Well, briefly, the soviet union did. They built a craft called buran that mimicked our Space Shuttle. But it was several years later. They flew one test flight and then retired it. They didnt really have a need for a shuttle craft. But they were very worried about what we might use ours for. And they thought they should have one too, just in case. But really, in the annals of space history, the u. S. Space shuttle is unique. Its the only operational craft thats reusable. Its the only craft that was the size of a cargo freight hauling truck out on the highway or an air freight carrier. It was much more capable than any other spacecraft has been, and very likely any other spacecraft ever will be. Not enough room here for one of the Space Shuttles. The enterprise, correct, is at the dulles facility . Well, we now have discovery at our center near Dulles Airport. We have the Space Shuttle enterprise for a number of years. The prototype test flight vehicle. But when it came to an end we requested a shuttle and we were fortunate to receive discovery, the oldest of the Space Shuttles. And we turned enter price over to nasa and nasa placed it at the intrepid sea, air space museum in new york city. So it has a new home there on an Aircraft Carrier of all places. You study the Space Shuttle. So lets go back into history. How was it developed . Why was it developed . And whats its impact on americas Space Exploration . Well, the Space Shuttle signaled a turn in americas Space Program from destinationfocused program, lets get to the moon and get there before the russians do. Lets put humans on the moon. And once that was done, nasa and the nation reoriented to trying to use space as a place to do useful work. To make space a normal part of what americans do in science and technology. So the philosophy turned from these throwaway vehicles that you use one time, very expensive way to going into space and tried to develop a spacecraft on the model of an airline, a craft that could be flown again and again and again, could carry more passengers and could carry more cargo into space. And so the Space Shuttle was a vehicle that would then enable the construction of a space station. And with a space station, people could really begin to live and work off the planet. In the display just down the hall, moving beyond earth, what is your take away . What will people learn and see . We hope people learn a couple of things in the gallery about the Space Shuttle era. One is that its harder to get into space and to stay in space and do it economically than anybody everybody imagined. It turns out the airline wasnt really a good analogy for how to do space flight. And then the other is that people who work within the space flight industry, the space flight endeavour really keep encountering the same challenges over and over again, finding new solutions to them. The space entrepreneurs who are working today are all trying to find a less expensive way to go into space. And theyre looking at reusable rockets where the rocket itself comes back down and lands so that it can be used again. There also are the same questions about what happens to the human body in space and how do you keep a crew healthy and fit and productively employed in space, particularly as the durations get longer and longer. So same questions, new solutions, new challenges. The evolution in part behind you from the mercury and Gemini Program to the Apollo Program to the Space Shuttle program. Looking back, all a Natural Evolution in our Space Exploration . Well, it didnt actually have to happen that way. So its definitely an evolution, but it could have happened in the reverse. And in fact, wernher von braun and some of the early space pioneers imagined the first step just to get into orbit and to build a space station and to establish a rhythm of life on a space station and then go to the moon. And then after the moon, then go to mars. And president kennedy kind of flipped the order of things. And so thats why we started with that sequence of vehicles. But had it not been the cold war, had we not been in this competition with the soviet union, it might have been a much different evolution. Everyone we have talked to here at this museum talks about their job with smiles and enthusiasm and excitement. Whats going on here . Well, its just a fantastic place to work. It really is. Mainly because this museum is beloved by millions of people. And so its a real privilege to work here at a place that people always say is their favorite museum, or they always say they envy us. But tonight especially everybody is smiling because weve reached the culmination of a twoyear effort to totally renovate our central hall and make it much more visitorfriendly, make it much more hightech, and really put the objects on display with some new shine, some new sparkle. And so everybody is excited about that. Its like a debut party tonight. And for those of you watching live on cspan3 American History tv, it really is a night at the museum. Because its open all night. So if youre in washington, d. C. On this friday, july 1st, come on down and youll be here for a few more hours. I will indeed. And fully staffed until tomorrow morning when it opens again for the public. But the public can come overnight. As always, its free admission as well. So were hoping to have the museum full all night long. And youll hear more and more people behind me. Lets go to mike joining us in virginia. Thank you for waiting. Go ahead with your question with valerie neal here at the museum. Hi, ms. Neal. Thanks very much for taking my call. Hey, i understand that the nro has donated a Spy Satellite to the museum. What satellite was that, and when do you expect that to go on display . Thanks. Well, i have to say you may have stumped the curator here because i dont know that theyve actually donated one yet of the Newer Versions of Spy Satellites. But we do have on display here the camera system from the corona, which was one of the earliest Spy Satellites in the late 1960s and early 70s. It went under a code name of discoverer. But we have that camera on display in the film return bucket as well. We have another satellite called grab and another one called solrad. And they also were used for secret purposes masquerading under names that led the public to believe that they were simply scientific satellites. So those are the ones that i know of that are small and early. We are hoping some day to have a more recent one and a much larger one. But to my knowledge, that agreement hasnt been reached yet. Sorry to disappoint you. John glenn, Neil Armstrong, mike collins the first director of this museum, and many who have died as well in search of Space Exploration. Why were they such pioneers . Well, the early astronauts were pioneers because space was this great unknown. And people referred to it as the new frontier or the next frontier. But in fact until you get to another planetary body, space is a vacuum. Its filled with harsh radiation. Its a very forbidding and unfriendly place. And no one knew quite what was going to happen out there. No one knew at the time if the technology would prove to be safe and reliable. They didnt know if the human body could withstand the difference of being in a microgravity environment. They didnt even know such simple things would you be able to see clearly . Would you be able to swallow normally. So everything was new. And the fact that these test pilots were already proved and proved to be brave and courageous and bold, they loved flying and they were accustomed to pushing aircraft to their outer limits i think made them heroes. And the fact that we were in this cold war environment, and they became symbolic of americans. They became the knights that were going to do this cold war battle with the other side, with the soviet union. Coincidentally, they all looked like boy scouts, you know, with their crew cuts and their crisp clothing. They just sort of looked like they represented the best of america. And all of those things together i think made them heroes in the eyes of the public. You have been here 25, 26 years. Among the astronauts who have come through, who have you met . Well, ive been fortunate to meet a number of the Space Shuttle astronauts. Because thats the particular period of time i work in. But just two weeks ago we had Michael Collins here, the first time he has been here in a few years. Our original director. And weve met buzz aldrin, Neil Armstrong, john glenn, scott carpenter, pete conrad used to come here. Owen garriott back from the early period, john young and the first crew for the first Space Shuttle mission. Eileen collins has been here and pam melbourne, the two commanders of the shuttle mission. And again in may, we had astronauts who had just returned from the International Space station. So whenever they come to washington, they like to come here too. Many of them spent hours here when they were children. And they say that this museum was partly responsible for their love of aviation and their passion to become astronauts. Let me just make the point, for those of you listening on cspan radio, of course watching on cspan3s American History tv, we are live at the national air and space museum in washington, d. C. Our next caller is john joining us from New Hampshire with valerie neal. Go ahead, please. Good evening. I just want to ask if youre going to show the uss enter price during the program . I know other people involved in the restoration. And ive been looking forward to seeing it. Also, i want to thank the national air and space museum for preserving Human History for future generations. I see lots of planes i used to work on there. So again, thank you very much. Thank you. The star ship enterprise which actually never flew. Right. Though it appeared to fly. And you asked whether well be showing it here at the museum, certainly, and i assume cspan will be showing it also. It is on display here tonight, and will be on display here for the foreseeable future. I mean possibly forever. I dont think we will renovate this hall again for another 20 years or so. So you have a good chance to see it. It has been very carefully restored to look exactly as it looked in 1969, i think. At the time of the episode of the trouble with tribbles, which was a key turning point in the history of that show and the history of that model. And it has been very carefully wired up with l. E. D. Lights. And three times on the day on the hours of 11 00, 1 00, and 3 00, the lights are activated and you can enjoy seeing enterprise as it appeared on screen with flashing lights in red and green and white. See all the windows. Its quite a striking sight. I hope youll come down and see it. What did Gene Roddenberry have in mind when we developed star trek . And 40, 45 years later, were still talk about it. Initially it wasnt that popular. Exactly. It wasnt that popular to begin with. But it had a very devoted fan club early on, a very devoted audience. But he really wanted to do a kind of mythical show set in space, but he wanted to deal with contemporary issues. And thats what made it so interesting that almost every story was a kind of veiled reference to something that was going on in the world around us, whether it was cold war, antagonisms, the conflict in vietnam, womens rights, racial tensions in the United States, conflicts between science and the humanities, conflicts between liberal and conservative points of view. And so he was drawing all his subject matter from the present, but then projecting it out into the future. And that gave people a new lens to look at current affairs. We are about 15 minutes away from the ceremony that will take place not far from where were at outside at 8 30 eastern time. Lets go to tim joining us in iowa. Thanks for your call. Go ahead with your question. Caller hello. Hello . Good evening. Hello, good evening. Caller good evening. I know that the museum only has so much space. How many artifacts are kept in storage . And how do you store them . Oh, thats a great question. All together the museum has about 50,000 artifacts that range in size from full aircraft and spacecraft to small things that you can hold in the palm of your hand, things like Mission Patches or lapel pins or medals and medallions that people in the military services wear. We have i believe we have about 20 of our collection on display in the museum here on the mall. Another 20 of our collection on display near Dulles Airport in our second facility, which is called the udvarhazy center. And another 20 that is out on loans in museums around the country and even abroad. And the objects that are in storage are in two locations right now. One in maryland and one out at the udvarhazy center near Dulles Airport that is stateoftheart storage. Its beautiful, air conditioned, brandnew Storage Facility where things are packed in boxes and on shelves and in very good climate controlled conditions. The place in maryland has been our storage site since oh, the 1940s. And its in need of being vacated. And thats what we are doing quite gradually is moving things from maryland to the new facility in virginia. Just recently, we completed the move of all of our aircraft engines. Before that we moved some of the most fragile objects, our leather and fur collection. And you might think the air and space museum would have much fur, but a lot of those early aviation jackets and caps were furlined. So were taking categories of objects from the old facility to the new facility. And before long, were afraid the new facility will be full again. And well have to build more storage space. Born in arkansas. Where did you study all of this . I studied space history by doing it, really. Not by studying it in college or in graduate school. But i had the good fortune to work with nasa throughout the 1980s. And that was the dawn of the Space Shuttle era. And i was working with scientists and engineers who were involved in those early Shuttle Missions up to the challenger tragedy. So there were six years there of space flight, preparing for missions, executing missions. So i really learned space history on the job. Other than the fact that i was a child in the 1960s and i was fascinated with alan shepard and john glenn. I remember like everybody who was alive then remembers exactly where i was the night we landed on the moon. July 1969. Exactly. So it was part of my cultural background, but it wasnt at all what i thought i would make my career in. And that really became a matter of serendipity, of kind of being in the right place at the right time. Im not an engineer. Im not a scientist. Im a historian and a writer. You mention maryland. Our next call apropose atlee from Andrews Air Force base not too far away. Patrick, you are on the air. Are you in the air force . What do you do at Andrews Air Force base . Caller im in the security forces. Thank you. Go ahead with your question. Caller all right. Does the my question is was the landing of the reusable spacex, does the smithsonian plan on getting any and displaying at any of the museums . You know, i couldnt hear the question, patrick. If you could repeat it one more time there. Is a lot of noise behind us. Caller i said with the landing of the spacex rocket, does the smithsonian plan on getting any of those rockets and displaying them at the museum . Thank you. The spacex rocket. Yes, yes. As a matter of fact, we have been watching spacex with a great deal of interest, and also blue origin. And we have opened a conversation with spacex not yet to acquire an entire rocket, but were very much interested in acquiring one of the engines that has been used. And then as we watch their history, as they move into a more frequent pace of operations and evolve their technology, were going to be watching that. And i think well eventually bring something larger into the museum. But right now we think an engine would be a perfect acquisition. Why mars . And will we see that . Well, mars has been on the horizon for as long as people have been dreaming of space flight. I think its the planet that is most familiar to people, the one that seems most like earth, even though its very much different from earth. And its just far enough away to be this beckoning challenge. Nasa is gearing up for a mission to mars in terms of the technology theyre developing and the astronauts theyre recruiting. But they dont yet have an approved mandate to go to mars. And thats really a matter of political will on the part of the congress, the president , and the American People. I would say for the last decade there has been interest in going to mars, but there has not yet been a Successful Program that has caught on and gained the political commitment that will be required. Its going to be an expensive endeavor. It probably will need to be done internationally so that the costs can be borne by various economies, various countries. And also just to involve other people, other nations who want to be part of space faring. The International Space station is kind of the proof test of whether a major endeavor like that can be carried out internationally. Well, from your vantage point, youre a historian, youre a researcher. Your focus is the Space Shuttle program. But why space in general . Why should we spend the billions of dollars to continue these type of programs . Well, the arguments for going into space and staying in space and spending that money in space are varied. And they have to do with intangible reasons as well as very practical reasons. Had we not ventured out into space, we would not be living the modern life were living. We are so dependent now on satellites for almost everything we do in the world of communications, navigation, weather forecasting. From the research that scientists are doing in space, weve had a number of breakthroughs and benefits that have accrued to our knowledge of the practice of medicine or the understanding of how the body malfunctions. More esthetically and intangibly, its one of those questions of, well, its there, and we want to go wherever we think we can go. But i think the big misunderstanding is that were spending fortunes going into space or doing things in space. If you look at absolute dollars, that seems like a lot of money. But if you look at the pie chart of how the United States spends its money, its public money, thats not even a sliver on that pie chart. Its such a small amount out of everything that we spend for human health and welfare, education, national security, and all of the social benefits, social programs we have like social security, medicare, medicaid. So in absolute dollar, it sounds like a lot. But out of the whole menu of things that a government can do, its one of the smallest things that the u. S. Does. And donald is next. He is joining us from florida. Go ahead, donald. Caller a weapons instructor in the early 60s. And i taught Nuclear Weapons and reentry vehicles mark ii which is solid copper, mark iii, iv, v, vi. But i wont if they have any of the Nuclear Weapons with the number of it. Mark vi had a mega ton nuclear weapon. We have a very early reentry vehicle. Its on display right behind me. We have a minuteman three Intercontinental Ballistic Missile on display, and we also have a pershing intermediate range Nuclear Missile. Right over there . Is that over there . The green, yes. The green one with the conical top is our minuteman iii. We have a soviet ss20 intermediate range Nuclear Missile as well. The reentry canisters, the reentry vehicles are still on those. But theyre empty, of course. Any weapons and the Electronics Inside those have all been removed. Karen, youre next, joining us from pennsylvania. Good evening. Caller hi. Good evening, valerie. Happy 40th anniversary. Thank you. Caller i just have a simple question. I know when they first opened the hazy center, you could actually get a shuttle from the air and space museum down to there. Are they still offering that . We are no longer offering a Shuttle Bus Service between the Downtown Location in washington and the udvarhazy center. But the metro center has been extended out to reston, virginia. And there is a shuttle bus that you can catch at the end of the line, the silver line metro. Or you can catch a shuttle bus at Dulles International airport. And it makes a quicker trip. Youre less affected by traffic if you ride the metro and that shuttle bus than if you take a shuttle from downtown washington. So its easier, and it will get easier yet when the silver line is completed all the way out to the airport. My final question is somebody who has spent so much time here, what has intrigued you the most . What is most interesting to you on display that the public can see . Oh, gee, that is a hard question because we have relationships with every object here. I would say that one of the intriguing things to me is on display in our space race area just behind me. And we have two slide rules. A slide rule that belonged to wernher von braun, who was the father of rocketry here in the United States. The father of the saturn v launch vehicle. And a slide rule used by his counterpart in the soviet union, Sergei Korolev who was the father of their cold war Space Program. And theyre exactly the same. Theyre both made by the same manufacturer in germany. And to me, those objects that were held in the hands of two very influential men working on opposite sides of the globe, working against each other but using the very same tool to solve the very same problems puts a human face on the space race to me. And i like the human scale objects that give you some sense of who the people are and how they accomplished these tremendous feats. These great vehicles wouldnt have existed without hundreds if not thousands of people using their hands and their brains to bring them into being. We need to come back. Weve only scratched the surface. Valerie neal, thank you very much for your time here at the national air and space museum. We appreciate it. Sure, its a pleasure. And general jack dailey is the person who began our coverage. He will kick off the 40th anniversary celebration. Were going to take you back outside. Well also hear from mike collins in a video presentation, former astronaut and first director of this museum as it celebrates its 40th birthday. We could have closed the museum. Aviation is americas story. We went from the first powered controlled man flight to walking on the moon, 66 years. The air and space museum shows you exactly that history. Everything that we have, has a special significance to the development of aviation and space in this country. I came and saw this aircraft. I remember it so well. A small boy. My father explaining to me what it was, the first airplane to ever fly. Here we are in the same room, with the airplane that Wright Brothers flew. One of the main purposes of this museum is to preserve the artifa artifacts. You could have mockups but you have the real thing. Everything that is in here has a story of great significance. It did it first or better than anything else. And you have to stop a little bit and think about the story as you view the object. I always find something marvelous, something that completely surprises me. The discovery Space Shuttle is so significant. And it is so quintessential smithsonian. This is the shuttle that has inspired a generation to realize the importance of space flight. Our mission is to commemorate, educate and inspire. Its wonderful to see the young people come in here and be inspired by things that have happened before and maybe be inspired to do a little better in math and science and technology and their school work. So important for young people to really get a good education in s. T. E. M. They see what has been accomplished in the past, and then they think about well, what can i do . It really changed my life. It changed my direction. It helped orient me along the path of becoming a scientist. Who knows what you will be inspired to be the next person on mars. The Space Exploration should continue. The Smithsonian National air and space museum is more than just the collection here on the mall. Its inspiration. If we can inspire, then weve done Everything Else right. [ applause ] [ applause ] good evening, ladies and gentlemen, im jack dailey, the john and Adrienne Mars director of the Smithsonian National air and space museum. And its my honor to welcome you here tonight as we commemorate 40 years of inspiring the world and celebrate a new chapter for the worlds most popular museum. For kicking us off with a high style tonight, id like to thank the United States air force band ceremonial brass quintet. Please give them a round of applause. [ applause ] the air force band serenades here frequently during the summer. So if you watch the schedule, you can hear the entire program among your friends here at the museum. When the museum first opened in july 1st, 1976, president ford called it a perfect birthday present from the American People to themselves. And we often say that aviation is americas story. But the revolution in the skies sparked by the Wright Brothers more than a century ago belongs to the world. The astronauts who saw the earth from the moon only 66 years after the first flight at kitty hawk had a special perspective on the Global Impact of that first small step. The director who oversaw this museums construction and stood on these very steps to open the doors 40 years ago was none other than Major General Michael Collins, United States air force retired. Command module pilot for apollo 11. Here to tell us more about our early days, id like to introduce a short video featuring general collins. I came to washington sneaking up on 1976, and i used to run around town saying museum on the mall by the bicentennial. My name is mike collins. At one time was in the Space Program on project gemini and apollo, which you know is the first flight to the moon. After that i was lucky enough to be director of this museum, the national air and space museum. So many of the things in it, the artifacts in it are old friends of mine. And some of them way before my time. We were supposed to open july 4th, 1976. And we actually beat it by three days, july 1st, 1976. We were supposed to cut the ribbon out here, the ribbon on the mall side of the building declaring it open. The signal came from a spacecraft between here and mars and outer space. I was holding my breath, thinking all those electrons gone lost up there in space. And all these vips standing around looking at this ribbon and this mechanical shearing device and nothing would happen. But believe it or not, all the electrons did their cute Little Things and the ribbon got snipped and the building got opened. It was good. At the peak of the Apollo Program when Neil Armstrong stepped out on to the surface of the moon, that i think was kind of the peak of the interest that the American Public had. Buildings like this do a lot to sustain that level of interest. And thats one of the things that i think is very important about this beautiful surrounding, the national air and space museum, which is a vital part of the smithsonian institution. [ applause ] the museum general collins built, like the ship he flew to the moon, a priceless treasure to the people of the world. And im honored to follow in his footsteps as director. As he mentioned, there was tension about whether the signal from mars would come in time to cut the ribbon. Just in case, the president of the United States was on hand with a pair of scissors as a backup. But viking performed flawlessly. Just days later, the viking i lander became the First American spacecraft to land on mars. In 1984, after its mission was complete, nasa formally transferred the ownership of viking i lander to the museum. Of course we havent been able to collect it yet. So nasa, working with the jet Propulsion Lab and the university of arizona was kind enough to check in on it for us. And this picture was taken by the highrise camera aboard the mars reconnaissance orbiter to celebrate the museums 40th birthday. It demonstrates the challenge ahead, and we have Unfinished Business on mars. And its up to the men and women of this museum to inspire the next generation to take up the task. It would be impossible to recognize all the staff of volunteers who have performed the museums mission over the decades. But we are honored to have ten of them with us here tonight who have been here as part of the team since the very beginning, 40 years ago. As i call your name, please stand. Phil edwards. [ applause ] karen manus. [ applause ] im glad i didnt ask you to hold your applause. This is much better than waiting until the end. Okay. Ted maxwell. [ applause ] barbara omalley. [ applause ] bill rowe. [ applause ] chris stream. [ applause ] mark taylor. [ applause ] bob vanderlinden. [ applause ] estelle washington. [ applause ] and ken young. [ applause ] together they have dedicated more than 400 years to this museum in its hundreds of millions of visitors, and are the perfect representatives of our committed staff, present, path, and future. Please give them now, please give them a round of applause for their extraordinary service. [ applause ] the national air and space museum is just one part of the smithsonian institution. It is the centerpiece, but its just one part of the smithsonian. Which includes 19 and soon to be 20 museums, 9 Research Centers and Extensive Global outreach activities. We wouldnt be able to fulfill our mission at the Museum Without james smithsons mandate for the increase and diffusion of knowledge which has guided the smithsonian for almost 170 years. Our next feature arrive at the smithsonian in 1976 for the nations bicentennial celebration. For many years he directed the center for folk life and cultural heritage. If you enjoyed the festival out on the pal today, you have him to thank. Now he oversees all of the institutions museums and Research Centers, and a list of other centers and programs and activities too numerous to list, its my great pleasure to introduce the acting provost and undersecretary for museums and research, dr. Richard curran. Richard . [ applause ] thank you. Thank you, jack. As general dailey said, i was i first worked for the smithsonian. I was young then. I was 25 years old and first worked for the smithsonian when this museum opened. This during that time we were celebrating the bicentennial of the United States. 200 years of our country. And just remember what it was like then. Now younger people will not. But those of a certain age will. We were in a space race with the russians, with the soviets. There was a cold war going on. And the whole challenge to go to space, when president kennedy just over here in front of the capitol at his inauguration challenged the country to send a man to the moon and back before the end of the decade, that was fresh in our minds. And so when we went to space and when this museum was built, it was really a monument to our country in terms of our science, technology, and engineering. The kind of innovation that made us great and historically has made us great as a country. But it was even more than that. And if you were here 40 years ago when this museum opened, you recognized at that time just as those who are old enough to remember when Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, that this was a victory not only of science and engineering technology, but national unity, national imagination. We were all very much together as americans at that time and very proud of our national accomplishment. Now this museum has continued to inspire, as jack said, millions and millions. Over 350 Million People have walked through this museum. Theyve worn out the carpet many times. But generation after generation has been inspired with what theyve seen and looked up. And many a child walked through this museum and said i want to be an astronaut or an astrophysicist, or i want to be a pilot, or i want to be the person that makes these things happen and designs these airplanes and spaceships. And so this has really been an inspirational place for our country, for our citizens, and people around the world who have been here. Now, jack is Michael Collins successor, right . Down a few steps, who built this museum. And thats something jack and i shared. Because after mike collins was the director of this museum, he became the undersecretary of the smithsonian. And im very proud to occupy that office today. And as i often say, mike collins had to go to the moon and back to do all this. All i have to do is walk up a flight of stairs. But it makes me ever so proud to be part of this effort, part of the museum, part of the smithsonian that really serves all of you, all of us and people beyond. We take very seriously the idea of our mission of increasing and diffusing knowledge of inspiring the next generation. Its a great responsibility we share. And tonight we are so, so happy to celebrate this birthday. And you have not only the people here, but were joined by others who have special birthday greetings. Happy birthday. Happy birthday. Happy birthday. Happy birthday. Happy birthday. Happy birthday. Happy 40th birthday. Happy 40th birthday. Happy 40th birthday. Thank you for inspiring me and my fellow astronauts. Congratulations. Congratulations on 40 years of excellence. Keep inspiring those generations of future space explorers, to aim high and reach for the stars. Congratulations to the national air and space museum on 40 fabulous years. Happy birthday to the national air and space museum. Nasa wishes you many more decades of inspiring the next generation to reach higher and to explore. Keep empowering those kids to live their dreams. Happy birthday, national air and space museum. [ applause ] over the last 40 years weve opened many new galleries and exhibitions, including the stateoftheart steven f. Udvarhazy center in chantilly, virginia. But the heart of the museum has always been our central exhibit space, now called the boeing milestones of flight hall. More than 327 Million People have passed through the doors behind me into one of the worlds great public spaces dedicated to discovery and exploration. As we transform the gallery for the next 300 million visitors, we work to interpret the priceless treasures of human achievement, not merely display them. The new exhibits capture the spark behind the milestone stories and fire the imagination like never before. According to a recent study, the world needs more than a million pilots and aviation technicians to meet the goal of demand over the next 20 years. That kind of growth requires investment on a global scale, and there is no better place to engage the young people of the world than the boeing milestones of flight hall. Id like to thank boeing for supporting our mission and to inspire the millions who will pass through these doors in the years ahead. Its now my great pleasure to welcome greta lundberg, the Vice President for strategy and advocacy at boeing. Greta . [ applause ] thank you so much. Thank you, general dailey for your service to our country and for your leadership of this Great American institution. Im greta lundberg, Vice President for strategy and advocacy at the boeing company. And its an honor to be here with you tonight to celebrate the boeing milestone of flight hall during our centennial year as well as this museums 40th anniversary. And also my birthday. So its a special night for me as well. [ applause ] thanks. As a mother of a 4yearold, my daughter talks a lot about what she wants to be when she grows up. Some weeks its a firefighter. Other weeks its batman or wonder woman. But after countless visits to the air and space museum, all she talks about now is wanting to be an astronaut. While her Career Options may evolve, i know shell never lose that fascination with space and science and innovation, and thats a testament to the stories and experiences this place unlocks for its millions of visitors each year. Thats the reason that boeing has supported the national air and space museum for more than two decades. We agree with the museum that our goals should be inspiring the next generation of innovators and building on the progress of the last century. Now this july 15th, 100 years ago, our founder bill boeing got his start in a Little Red Barn in seattle. Building planes made almost entirely of timber and canvas. Over the past century, the men and women of boeing have helped build the Worlds Largest Aerospace Company and shaped the course of Human History along the way. Just think about the progress that weve made together. Humans went from walking on earth to walking on the moon. From riding horses to flying jet planes and spacecraft. And while we celebrate the pioneers that built this incredible legacy of american innovation, its more important than ever for our country to inspire a new generation of leaders, to dream, to innovate, to explore, and to inspire. As you make your way through the galleries tonight i would ask that you just imagine the artifacts and stories that will narrate our next 100 years, and we look forward to being part of that at boeing. Thank you all for coming out tonight. And enjoy the museum. [ applause ] our next speaker knows how important that first spark can be to set you on a path to great achievement. After her first air show when she was 5 and a notable visit to this museum when she was 12, her path led to the Civil Air Patrol and onto the United States air force academy. From there, she became a respected air force officer and decorated combat pilot. By the way, she flew her combat in the f1580 strike eagle. I should mention she also had her husband as a crew member on that. So it was a real Family Affair on that one. As the first female member of the elite Thunderbird Demonstration Team and later she as the white house fellow and executive director of joining forces, she embodies one of aviations core lessons. From milestones to moon shots, it takes courage to attempt the things that no one has done before, an unshakable confidence to achieve your goals. She is an outstanding role model for any young person who aims high in life and shes not done yet. Its my great pleasure to introduce colonel nicole malachowski. Good evening, everyone, and thank you general dailey for those gracious words. Its always a joy to be here, sir, and it is an honor to be standing here at this iconic american museum. I think its a museum in so many ways embodies everything that is great about our country, freedom, innovation, technology, creativity and big dreams. Today were here to trumpet the significance of milestones, the 40th anniversary of this museum is a milestone. All of the milestones over time in aviation and space flight. It got me thinking about milestones like why do we celebrated them and why do we mark them as important. Milestones are those events along the arc of history, big ones and small ones that in this case have transformed aviation and space flight in so many ways. Oftentimes its ways that people often remark that mankind could never even have imagined. You have heard that statement, that mankind could never even have imagined. Is that really true . Isnt it in fact our imaginati n imaginations these milestones in our imaginations these milestones are conceived and ultimately achieved . Over the past 40 years as the other speakers noted this museums that parked imagination of countless visitors young and old alike. And it was this place that sparked my own imagination in 1986. As a 12yearold girl i walked these halls, notebook in hand, reading every placard, inspecting every artifact and discovering every nook and cranny in this building behind me. And i was doing this and i was imagining, imagining my place in this world of aviation. And that visit 30 years ago served as a launching point for my own experiences over the past 20 years wearing our nations uniform. You see, back in 1986, there werent a lot of women pilots in the military. And the law prohibited women from flying fighter aircraft. In fact, in elementary school, i proclaimed to my class, im going to be a Fighter Pilot some day. As you can imagine the response at the time was maybe less than enthusiastic. In fact, the teacher even needled me a little bit and said, quote, maybe you should come back to class when you have Something Different in mind. So demoralized i returned home, shed a little tear in front of my parents, wondering aloud, in the dramatic way that a young 12yearold girl would, why couldnt i be a Fighter Pilot . That summer my parents brought me here, to this museum, a place where my imagination could finally run free, unconstrained by peoples expectations of me or the status quo. And this place showed me that imagination is all about embracing the art of the possible. My life was transformed here forever. I stood in awe of the wright flyer and the Wright Brothers legacy, Charles Lindbergh and the spirit of st. Louis. And for the very first time in my life in a substantive way i learned about the contributions women made to aviation and space flight. Amelia earhart, betsy coleman, jackie cochran, the list goes on. Their stories flooded my imagination with the art of the possible. Then in the smallest corner of the museum i saw them, my heros to this very day, the Women Air Force Service Pilots of world war ii, americas first women military aviators. So the light bulb went off in my 12yearold head, over 40 years ago prior to my visit in 1986 those women flew. They flew in service to their country. At that moment i realized i could, too. The 12yearold in my was catalyzed to action. My imagination was unleashed and it led to 20 years of flying the f15 and the f16. Im watching this Wonderful Group of young folks down here in the front and i ask how many astronauts, and how many scientists and engineers, how many pilots are we going to have inspired here today, tonight in this museum. So it goes, that arc of history moves on. Milestones conceived and achieved by our imagination. This museum reminds us that the world of aviation and space flight is open to all of us. Milestones are not an end to themselves. They simply set the bar higher. They show us what the art of the possible looks like. And they serve as a call to action. To all of us, to achieve those things that we can and we do conceive in our wildest dreams. And thats a wonderful lesson to humanity. And so with that, to the smithsonian team and general dailey, sir, thank you very much. My heartfelt thanks for letting me be here toon, for bringing imaginations to life, including my own, and god bless the wonderful men and women and their flying machines. [ applause ] can you figure out why we had her speak here tonight . She is exactly what were she was hooked here and thats exactly what we hope happens to many of these young folks that come through the museum. But thank you all for joining us tonight to celebrate the national air and space museum. Of course tonight is not about the past. Its about the future. The future of this museum and the future of exploration and discovery on earth and off of it. For 40 years weve commemorated the greatest achievements of the 20th century. Now we turn our sights to shaping the 21st century and to passing the torch to the future generations. To that end id like to turn the helm of tonights program over to one of the museums Youngest Team members, the explainers program, which is sponsored by General Electric aviation, employed high school and College Students to engain visitors of all ages on the scientific principles of aviation and Space Exploration. They open the doors to discovery for visitors from all over the world and her going to do that for us here tonight. Here to launch the new boeing of milestones flight hall, and to introduce the next chapter of the national air and space museum is a junior at American University majoring in physics. And her name is rae stewart. Rae, come on up. [ applause ] thank you general dailey. We are moments away from opening the doors and kicking off our all night at the museum celebration. We have lots of programs and events all throughout the night and into tomorrow morning. We hope you can join us for them. Tonight we gather to honor both the legacy and future of this great museum. Places like the national air and space museum have the profound ability to draw out awe and wonder and plant seeds of curiosity. In my own life it was museums like this one that ignited my love for science. Im here in washington, d. C. To study physics and thankfully have the Incredible Opportunity to be an explainer here at the museum. Explainers get to best see the true value of these artifacts. As we tell the stories behind the inventions, innovations and scientific discoveries within these walls we witness the past collide with the future with every smile, every wide eyed look and every moment of true understanding. So many people who have come through these doors leave touched and inspired by what they have seen. And these experiences act as seeds for further innovation and discovery. I am so proud of this museum. And im so blessed by the way this touched not only my own life but also the lives of millions of other people. So happy Birthday National air and space museum. We are t minus 47 seconds from opening the doors and launching our new, brandnew boeing milestones of flight hall. And the explainers here are going to open the doors and begin the all night at the museum. But before we do that, we have one last birthday message. So go ahead and take a look. Hello im expedition 48 commander Jeff Williams of nasa, flying 250 miles above the earth aboard the International Space station. My crew mates and i wanted to take a moment to wish the Smithsonian National air and space museum a happy 40th birthday. Your magnificent museum has inspired millions over the past four decades in commemorating the spirit of exploration and the achievements of human flight. With that, and to start a new era for the museum, please begin your countdown for the reopening of the boeing milestones of flight hall. Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one blast off [ applause ]
vimarsana.com © 2020. All Rights Reserved.