Air and Space Museum celebrating 50th anniversary with new galleries

Smithsonian celebrates America's 250th Birthday

America is celebrating its 250th birthday this summer and FOX 5 is highlighting all the American history right here in the DMV. Our Gwen Tolbart is live at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History for a closer look. 

WASHINGTON - While the nation is celebrating its 250th birthday, the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum turns 50 in 2026. To celebrate, the museum is opening seven new galleries through the rest of the year.

National Air and Space Museum history

Timeline:

The National Air and Space Museum building on the National Mall opened in 1976, but the museum dates back a few more decades. 

President Harry Truman signed a bill establishing the Smithsonian's National Air Museum in 1946. Prior to its current home though, the Smithsonian's collection was housed in the Arts and Industries Building and the "Tin Shed," a metal building put up by the War Department behind the Smithsonian Castle after World War I.

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Over the years, the collection would expand to include exhibits from the Space Age, and in the ‘70s, funding was secured to build a new building to show the growing collection. Groundbreaking began on Nov. 20, 1972, with the museum officially opening on July 1, 1976, just days before the United States’ bicentennial.

50th anniversary

What we know:

To celebrate 50 years, the museum is opening five new galleries on July 1, along with two more galleries in the fall.

The "Flight and the Arts Center," "Jay I. Kislak World War II in the Air," "U.S. National Science Foundation Discovering Our Universe," "RTX Living in the Space Age" and "Textron How Things Fly" galleries will all open on July 1.

The galleries will feature works by artists like Francisco Goya, Norman Rockwell and Annie Leibovitz; planes from World War II; the Hubble Space Telescope and more.

"At Home in Space," a gallery showcasing astronauts' work in low Earth orbit, will open on Oct. 30, and "Modern Military Aviation" will open on Veterans Day, Nov. 11.

More information about the new exhibits can be found on the museum's website here.