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  • Mercury Space Suit—1963

    Early space suits for the Mercury program (1961–63) were derived from a 1959 US Navy aviation suit design. The tight-fitting suit served as a backup to keep the astronaut alive in the tiny Mercury spacecraft if the vehicle developed a leak and lost its atmosphere.This suit represents the one worn by

  • Master Sgt. Ivan M. Ruiz

    CITATION TO ACCOMPANY THE AWARD OF THE AIR FORCE CROSS _______________________________________________________Awarded for actions during the Global War on Terror The President of the United States of America, authorized by section 8742 of title 10 U.S.C, awards the Air Force Cross to Master Sergeant

  • Memphis Belle Crew

    The young men assigned to the Memphis Belle represented a typical Eighth Air Force heavy bomber crew.  They ranged in age from 19 to 26 and came from states across the US, including Washington, Indiana, Texas, and Connecticut.  Like their Eighth Air Force counterparts—and contrary to a popular

  • Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23MS “Flogger-E”

    The Soviet-built MiG-23 “Flogger” was designed to replace the widely-used MiG-21. The MiG-23’s advanced radar and fire control system could fire missiles at targets beyond visual range. Variable “swing” wing geometry, similar to that of the General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark, and robust landing gear

  • Motor Transport Corps Medallion

    Note: This item is currently in storage.  At the beginning of World War I, the U.S. Army kept horses as its primary means of transportation of soldiers and movement of supplies and equipment. Even though automobiles had been in use for years before the war began, the U.S. Army maintained that horses

  • Motor Transport Corps Insignia

    Note: This item is currently in storage. The use of motor vehicles by the U.S. Army was in its infancy prior to and at the beginning of the United States’ involvement in World War I. Horses remained the main mode of transportation of soldiers and movement of supplies and equipment.  Training in the

  • Metatarsal Pads

    Note: This item is currently in storage. Combat boots during World War I tended to lack the cushion and shock absorption that modern-day combat boots are designed to have. These metatarsal pads were worn with the elastic strap over the top of one’s foot. They hold the pad in place over the bottom

  • Mercury Spacecraft

    Project Mercury was the first American human spaceflight program. Its goals were to put astronauts into orbit around the Earth, to find out if they could survive and work in space, and recover the crewmen and spacecraft safely. Between 1961 and 1963, six successful flights proved Americans could fly

  • Martin X-24B

    The X-24B aircraft showed that a “lifting body” could glide through the atmosphere and make a precise landing on a runway like an airplane. A lifting body is a fixed-wing air or spacecraft in which the body itself produces lift. X-24 studies supported space shuttle development in the early 1970s.

  • Martin X-24A

    This aircraft represents the Martin (now Lockheed Martin) X-24A, which the U.S. Air Force and NASA flew to study flight characteristics and maneuverability of “lifting bodies.” A lifting body is a fixed-wing air or spacecraft -- such as the space shuttle -- in which the body itself produces lift.