Alysa and Mitch's RV trip, DC - Air and Space

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May 13, 2004 16:41:54
The exterior of the new Air & Space Museum "annex", located just outside Dulles Airport. This place is HUGE, as you'll soon see.

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May 13, 2004 12:52:42
Interesting sculpture outside the museum.

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May 13, 2004 12:56:52
A little closer to the museum. What rises upwards is designed to look like a control tower.

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May 13, 2004 12:58:22
A view from the front door of the museum, looking outward.

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May 13, 2004 12:58:54

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May 13, 2004 13:06:17
Inside the museum is a huge, huge selection of aircraft. It's essentially a giant hangar. You can walk around nearly anywhere, including several catwalks.

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May 13, 2004 13:06:23
An SR-71, a retired spy plane. This specific SR-71 set several speed records, including flying from Los Angeles to Washington in just over an hour. Hmmm, that looks a little like a Space Shuttle in the background...

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May 13, 2004 13:10:25
Alysa shooting video.

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May 13, 2004 13:14:59
A closer angle of the SR-71. I've always liked this plane, for a few reasons. It looks cool. It's as fast as fast gets. It's filled with all sorts of fun electronic spy gear. And for the most part was never used offensively; I think only a few were ever equipped with missles of any type.

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May 13, 2004 13:15:44
Nose of the SR-71. I've seen an SR-71 before, on the aircraft carrier docked in Manhattan. (That one isn't called an SR-71 but it's the same thing. The CIA called it by another name.)

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May 13, 2004 13:19:41
Here's some info on this specific SR-71.

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May 13, 2004 13:24:58
Engines. Lots and lots of engines from various aircraft.

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May 13, 2004 13:35:40
A very new plane, the Lockheed Martin X-35B Joint Strike Fighter.

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May 13, 2004 13:42:06
Mitch in front of, you guessed it, the SR-71.

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May 13, 2004 13:42:19
Mitch in front of the SR-71 again.

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May 13, 2004 13:44:46
Oh my, yes, that IS a Space Shuttle! This is the Space Shuttle Enterprise, built as a test-flight vehicle prior to the shuttles flown into space.

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May 13, 2004 13:46:01
The Gemini VII, flown in 1964.

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May 13, 2004 13:46:27
Some info on the Enterprise. The name Enterprise is not a coincidence; thousands of Star Trek fans wrote into NASA asking the first shuttle to be named after their favorite ship.

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May 13, 2004 13:47:14
I've seen the Enterprise once before. For many years it was at Cape Canaveral in Florida, where I saw it in the mid-80's.

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May 13, 2004 13:48:33
Wide shot of the Enterprise. There were actually NASA engineers working on it the day we were there, possibly working on the Columbia investigation or maybe readying it for more display.

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