S M I T H S O N I A N   I N S T I T U T I O N
N A T I O N A L   A I R   &   S P A C E   M U S E U M

Washington D.C.

The Milestones of Flight exhibit is the museum's prologue of sorts, giving the visitor a taste of aviation and space exploration "firsts." Seventeen individual pieces are spread out across the gallery, many of the largest exhibits hang overhead, as if actually in flight.

From rockets to satellites to deep space exploration vehicles, this place has got it all.

Interested in early rocket technology? Look no further, take a gander at these beauties.

Hanging overhead I see the Spirit of St Louis. It was in this very plane that Charles Lindbergh completed the first non-stop, solo transatlantic flight in 1927. Traveling a distance of 5,810 miles in 33 hours and 30 minutes, his historic trek took him from Long Island, NY to Paris, France.

America's first turbojet aircraft, the Bell XP-59A Airacomet.