With rain threatening we decided an indoor activity would be perfect. So we headed to Hampton, Virginia from Chesapeake Campground to visit the Virginia Air and Space Center to launch our adventure for that drizzly day.
At the entrance of the Virginia Air and Space Center
Virginia Air and Space Center
Even a vending machine looks like a space shuttle.
The Virginia Air and Space Center is an official NASA Visitor Center and a place to learn and appreciate American accomplishments.
NACA/NASA
Powerful information
A powerful engine
The woman who inspired the movie Hidden Figures
Before there was NASA there was NACA – National Advisory Committee for Aeronautic. NACA was formed on March 3, 1915, with a charter to “supervise and direct the scientific study of the problems of flight, with a view to their practical solution.” WIth illustrious members such as Orville Wright, the group was on the cutting edge of technology in the early decades of flight. Then in 1958 NACA became NASA – National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The first astronauts trained and lived right in Hampton.
Four Space Capsules
One of 4 nose cones on display at the Virginia Air and Space Center
Apollo XII nose cone
A view of the inside of a nose cone. Not much wiggle room.
NASA planes and another nose cone
At the Virginia Air and Space Center you can really rediscover America’s space program roots and come face to face with NASA’s space capsules. This is the only place in the world where you can see all four.
Moon Rock
Even planets hang from the rafters
Planets to explore
But there is so much more here. Take the time to examine a three billion year old, yes that’s billion with a B! The moon rock was brought back by Apollo 17. We also explored the next step in human space exploration with the Orion spacecraft.
See a Mars meteorite. And be awed by the Lunar Excursion Module Simulator (LEMS) that the very first astronauts used at NASA Langley Research Center to practice landing on the moon.
The roots of aviation
A replica of the 1903 Wright plane
Half plane half skeleton
But that’s is not all folks. This is a place where you’re issued a boarding pass to an aviation adventure. The exhibits run the gamut from the origins of flight to the future of air travel. There are a variety of hands on, one of a kind, exhibits and simulators that are able to transform anyone into a pilot for the day.
Interactive exhibits
Futuristic Aviation
And planes of the future
Large and medium planes.
And small planes too.
Your imagination will take you to new heights as you “fly” an airplane. Steve was transported back to his days in the Navy as an Air Traffic Controller. I was mesmerized by all of the airplanes suspended from the ceiling. There’s a replica of the 1903 Wright Flyer which had so much more meaning after having visited Kitty Hawk a couple of weeks earlier. You can even climb aboard a WWII bomber as well as take a virtual tour of the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier.
A fighter plane armed with missiles.
Here a plane
There a plane
Everywhere you look, a plane
Fighter planes then and now
With three floors of interactive exhibitions and observation, plus the Riverside 3D IMAX theater, Little Wings Play area, and Cosmo Café, this is a fabulous place to spend the entire day!!!
