National Air and Space Museum
6th St. & Independence Ave., SW
Washington, DC
See the Bell X-1, the first aircraft to break the sound barrier, in the same Hall as Friendship 7, NASA astronaut John Glenn’s spacecraft in which he became the first American to orbit the Earth.
The Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall showcases some of the museum’s most iconic objects. With artifacts arrayed along walls and suspended from the ceiling—and interpretive displays that provide background and context—this central gallery of the National Mall building invites visitors to explore the diverse and rich collections that make up the rest of the Museum’s exhibits, both in Washington, D.C., and at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. Banners featuring important individuals in aviation and spaceflight, as well as a large media screen, help bring these historic figures to life.