Tech Desk 
May 18, 2025
From NASA's early flights to spaceflights by private companies, families visiting the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum will soon have a new glimpse into how humans are reaching out into space.
Five newly renovated galleries opening July 28 are part of a major seven-year overhaul and will restore historic space capsules to the museum and add futuristic ones for the first time.
The principal attraction is the reopening of the Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall, which will showcase some of the museum's best-known space exhibits.
These consist of John Glenn's Friendship 7 capsule that orbited the Earth first for an American in 1962 and a replica of the Apollo 11 lunar module that was designed to resemble "Eagle" when America first landed on the moon in 1969.
Moreover, on exhibit is an actual moon rock, something the public can touch.
Another thrilling new addition is the Futures in Space gallery. It takes the place of "How Things Fly" and explores the future of space flight.
The exhibit asks questions such as "Who gets to go to space?" and "Why do we send people there?" It features fresh additions such as the RocketMotorTwo engine from Virgin Galactic's 2018 spaceflight and a grid fin from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that assisted its landing in 2017.
Furthermore, the Blue Origin New Shepard mock-up capsule—utilised by Jeff Bezos and others for suborbital flights—will also be displayed. Bezos promised to donate an actual flown capsule in the future.
