In support of an official event 

The Museum will be closed Sunday, May 25
In addition, the Fourth Hangar will be closed Saturday, May 24

Access to the Presidential Gallery will be limited from May 15 to June 5
 

Fact Sheet Alphabetical List

Fact Sheet Search

  • Minuteman II Mission Procedures Trainer

    "Ace in the Hole: Minuteman Strategic Missiles"Since 1962, the Minuteman missile system has played an important role in American strategic defense. Highly trained and disciplined U.S. Air Force crews in isolated, heavily protected missile control complexes maintain, secure and operate the system.

  • Earth Satellites and Space Vehicles

     The Soviet Union sent the world's first man-made earth satellite into orbit in October 1957. Since that time orbiting satellites of many different kinds have become commonplace. The development of U.S. space technology began with the military, with heavy involvement by the USAF. In the mid-1950s,

  • Putting a Satellite into Orbit

    Sending a satellite into orbit around the earth is not simply a matter of overcoming gravity with the brute force of rocket power. Rather, rocket power helps us use gravity to place a satellite into orbit. The power of the rocket lifts the satellite out of the atmosphere so air friction at high

  • Peacekeeper Re-entry Vehicles & Deployment Bus

    The LMG-118A Peacekeeper intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) was more powerful and more accurate than the Minuteman III. It carried 10 nuclear weapons in its Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) warhead.The warhead was part of the missile's fourth stage, which consisted of

  • W53 Thermonuclear Bomb

    Based upon the Mk-53 "hydrogen" bomb, the W53 was modified to be carried by the Titan II Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). With a yield in the megaton range, the W53 fit into a Mk-6 re-entry vehicle installed on top of the Titan II.This artifact is on loan courtesy of the National Museum of

  • USAF Satellite Launch Vehicles

    Over the years, the USAF has developed several types of launch vehicles for the ballistic missile program. These ballistic missile launchers were modified and used to place many USAF and NASA projects into space. The three most important boosters to the United States' unmanned space program were the

  • Rocket Engine Evolution

    The first American rocket engine to produce more thrust than the 56,000 pounds delivered by the German V-2 (A-4) engine was the Rocketdyne XLR43-NA-1. Initially, this engine developed 75,000 pounds static thrust, but later its power output was improved to 120,000 pounds. The XLR43 was originally

  • Dr. Robert H. Goddard

     "The Father of Modern Rocketry""It is difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow."- Robert Hutchings Goddard (1882-1945) Physicist and inventor Dr. Robert H. Goddard is considered the father of practical modern rocketry and space

  • Rocket Propulsion

    Origins of Rocket Propulsion Although the precise history of the development of rocket propulsion is obscure, we know that the first rockets were developed in ancient China. Modern rocket engines that lift spacecraft into orbit operate on the very same principles as the first Chinese rockets. Both

  • John H. Glenn Jr.: Aviator and Astronaut

    In John Glenn's long aviation career, he flew with the U.S. Marines and the U.S. Air Force, set a speed record, and shot down enemy aircraft. But he is best known as the first American to orbit the Earth and, later in life, as the oldest person to fly in space.In World War II, Glenn volunteered for