202-748-8901. send us a tweet at c-span history or join us on facebook at facebook.com/cspanhistory. as we move outside to inside, one of the displays, and there are so many inside this fabulous museum, is moving beyond earth. and an example of the evolution of america's space shuttle program. and joining us again is valerie neal. we saw you just a moment ago in the tape portion. you are the curator, the chair of the space history department here at the museum. and let's talk about the shuttle program. no other country had something like that. >> well, briefly, the soviet union did. they built a craft called buran that mimicked our space shuttle. but it was several years later. they flew one test flight and then retired it. they didn't really have a need for a shuttle craft. but they were very worried about what we might use ours for. and they thought they should have one too, just in case. but really, in the annals of space history, the u.s. space shuttle is unique. it's the only operational craft that's reusable. it's the only craft that was the size of a cargo freight hauling truck out on the highway or an air freight carrier. it was much more capable than any other spacecraft has been, and very likely any other spacecraft ever will be. >> not enough room here for one of the space shuttles. the enterprise, correct, is at the dulles facility? >> well, we now have "discovery" at our center near dulles airport. we have the space shuttle "enterprise" for a number of years. the prototype space shuttle vehicle. but when it came to an end we requested a shuttle and we were fortunate to receive "discovery" the oldest of the space shuttles. and we turned "enterprise" back over to nasa and nasa placed it at the intrepid sea, air, and space museum in new york city. so it has a new home there on an aircraft carrier of all places. >> you study the space shuttle. so let's go back into history. how was it developed? why was it developed? and what's its impact on america's space exploration? >> well, the space shuttle signaled a turn in america's space program from destination-focused program, let's get to the moon and get there before the russians do. let's put humans on the moon. and once that was done, nasa and the nation reoriented to trying to use space as a place to do useful work. to make space a normal part of what americans do in science and technology. so the philosophy turned from these throwaway vehicles that you use one time, very expensive way to going into space and tried to develop a spacecraft on the model of an airline, a craft that could be flown again and again and again, could carry more passengers and could carry more cargo into space. and so the space shuttle was a vehicle that would then enable the construction of a space station. and with a space station, people could really begin to live and work off the planet. >> in the display just down the hall, "moving beyond earth," what is your take away? what will people learn and see? >> we hope people learn a couple of things about the space shuttle era. one is that it's harder to get into space and to stay in space and do it economically than anybody ever imagined. it turns out the airline wasn't really a good analogy for how to do space flight. and then the other is that people who work within the space flight industry, the space flight endeavor really keep encountering the same challenges over and over again, finding new solutions to them. the space entrepreneurs who are working today are all trying to find a less expensive way to go into space. and they're looking at reusable rockets where the rocket itself comes back down and lands so that it can be used again. there also are the same questions about what happens to the human body in space and how do you keep a crew healthy and fit and productively employed in space, particularly as the durations get longer and longer. so same questions, new solutions, new challenges. >> the evolution in part behind you from the mercury and gemini program to the apollo program to the space shuttle program. looking back, all a natural evolution in our space exploration? >> well, it didn't actually have to happen that way. so it's definitely an evolution, but it could have happened in the reverse. and in fact, wernher von braun and some of the early space pioneers imagined the first step being just to get into orbit and to build a space station and to establish a rhythm of life on a space station and then go to the moon. and then after the moon, then go to mars. and president kennedy kind of flipped the order of things. and so that's why we started with that sequence of vehicles. but had it not been the cold war, had we not been in this competition with the soviet union, it might have been a much different evolution. >> everyone we have talked to here at this museum talks about their job with smiles and enthusiasm and excitement. what's going on here? >> well, it's just a fantastic place to work. it really is. mainly because this museum is beloved by millions of people. and so it's a real privilege to work here at a place that people always say is their favorite museum, or they always say they envy us. but tonight especially everybody is smiling because we've reached the culmination of a two-year effort to totally renovate our central hall and a make it much more visitor-friendly, make it much more high-tech, and really put the objects on display with some new shine, some new sparkle. everybody is excited about that and that is like a debut. >> and for those watching on c-span, it is really like a night at the museum and open all night. if you are in washington, d.c., on this friday july 1st, come on down, and you will be here for a few more hours and fully staffed for tomorrow for the public, and the public can come overnight. >> and as always, it is free admission as well. we are hoping to have the museum full all night long. >> and you will hear more and more people behind me. let's go to mike in virginia. thank you for waiting and go ahead with your question with valerie neal here at the museum. >> caller: thank you for taking my call. i understand that the nro has donated a spy satellite to the museum, and what satellite was that and when do you expect it to go on display? thanks. >> well, i have to say you may have stumped the curator here because i don't know that they've actually donated one yet of the newer versions of spy satellites. but we do have on display here the camera system from the corona, which was one of the earliest spy satellites in the late 1960s and early '70s. it went under a code name of discoverer. but we have that camera on display in the film return bucket as well. we have another satellite called grab and another one called solrad. and they also were used for secret purposes masquerading under names that led the public to believe that they were simply scientific satellites. so those are the ones that i know of that are small and early. we are hoping some day to have a more recent one and a much larger one. but to my knowledge, that agreement hasn't been reached yet. sorry to disappoint you. >> john glenn, neil armstrong, mike collins the first director of this museum, and many who have died as well in search of space exploration. why were they such pioneers? >> well, the early astronauts were pioneers because space was this great unknown. and people referred to it as the new frontier or the next frontier. but in fact until you get to another planetary body, space is a vacuum. it's filled with harsh radiation. it's a very forbidding and unfriendly place. and no one knew quite what was going to happen out there. no one knew at the time if the technology would prove to be safe and reliable. they didn't know if the human body could withstand the difference of being in a microgravity environment. they didn't even know such simple things would you be able to see clearly? would you be able to swallow normally. so everything was new. and the fact that these test pilots were already proved and proved to be brave and courageous and bold, they loved flying and they were accustomed to pushing aircraft to their outer limits i think made them heroes. and the fact that we were in this cold war environment, and they became symbolic of americans. they became the knights that were going to do this cold war battle with the other side, with the soviet union. coincidentally, they all looked like boy scouts, you know, with their crew cuts and their crisp clothing. they just sort of looked like they represented the best of america. and all of those things together i think made them heroes in the eyes of the public. >> you have been here 25, 26 years. among the astronauts who have come through, who have you met? >> well, i've been fortunate to meet a number of the space shuttle astronauts. because that's the particular period of time i work in. but just two weeks ago we had michael collins here, the first time he has been here in a few years. our original director. and we've met buzz aldrin, neil armstrong, john glenn, scott carpenter, pete conrad used to come here. owen garriott back from the early period, john young and the bob cripin the first crew from the first space shuttle mission. eileen collins has been here and pam millroy, the two commanders of the space mission. and again in may, we had astronauts who had just returned from the international space station. so whenever they come to washington, they like to come here too. many of them spent hours here when they were children. and they say that this museum was partly responsible for their love of aviation and their passion to become astronauts. >> let me just make the point, for those of you listening on c-span radio, of course watching on c-span3's american history tv, we are live at the national air and space museum in washington, d.c. our next caller is john joining us from new hampshire with valerie neal. go ahead, please. >> good evening. i just want to ask if you're going to show the "uss enterprise" at all during the programming. i know other people involved in the restoration. and i've been looking forward to seeing it. also, i want to thank the national air and space museum for preserving human history for future generations. i see lots of planes i used to work on there. so again, thank you very much. >> thank you. the starship enterprise which actually never flew. >> right. though it appeared to fly. and you asked whether we'll be showing it here at the museum, certainly, and i assume c-span will be showing it also. it is on display here tonight, and will be on display here for the foreseeable future. i mean possibly forever. i don't think we will renovate this hall again for another 20 years or so. so you have a good chance to see it. it has been very carefully restored to look exactly as it looked in 1969, i think. at the time of the episode of "the trouble with tribbles," which was a key turning point in the history of that show and the history of that model. and it has been very carefully wired up with l.e.d. lights. and three times a day on the hours of 11:00, 1:00 and 3:00, the lights are activated and you can enjoy seeing "enterprise" as it appears on screen with flashing lights in red and green and white. see all the windows. it's quite a striking sight. i hope you'll come down and see it. >> what did gene roddenberry have in mind when we developed "star trek"? and 40, 45 years later, we're still talking about it. initially it wasn't that popular. >> exactly. it wasn't that popular to begin with. but it had a very devoted fan club early on, a very devoted audience. but he really wanted to do a kind of mythical show set in space, but he wanted to deal with contemporary issues. and that's what made it so interesting that almost every story was a kind of veiled reference to something that was going on in the world around us, whether it was cold war, antagonisms, the conflict in vietnam, women's rights, racial tensions in the united states, conflicts between science and the humanities, conflicts between liberal and conservative points of view. and so he was drawing all his subject matter from the present, but then projecting it out into the future. and that gave people a new lens to look at current affairs. >> we are about 15 minutes away from the ceremony that will take place not far from where we're at outside at 8:30 eastern time. let's go to tim joining us in iowa. thanks for your call. go ahead with your question. >> caller: hello. hello? >> good evening. >> hello, good evening. >> caller: good evening. i know that the museum only has so much space. how many artifacts are kept in storage? and how do you store them? >> oh, that's a great question. all together the museum has about 50,000 artifacts that range in size from full aircraft and spacecraft to small things that you can hold in the palm of your hand, things like mission patches or lapel pins or medals and medallions that people in the military services wear. we have -- i believe we have about 20% of our collection on display in the museum here on the mall. another 20% of our collection on display near dulles airport in our second facility, which is called the udvar-hazy center. and another 20% that is out on loans in museums around the country and even abroad. and the objects that are in storage are in two locations right now. one in maryland and one out at the udvar-hazy center near dulles airport that is state-of-the-art storage. it's beautiful, air conditioned, brand-new storage facility where things are packed in boxes and on shelves and in very good climate controlled conditions. the place in maryland has been our storage site since oh, the 1940s. and it's in need of being vacated. and that's what we are doing quite gradually is moving things from maryland to the new facility in virginia. just recently, we completed the move of all of our aircraft engines. before that we moved some of the most fragile objects, our leather and fur collection. and you might not think the air and space museum would not have much fur, but a lot of those early aviation jackets and caps were fur-lined. so we're taking categories of objects from the old facility to the new facility. and before long, we're afraid the new facility will be full again. and we'll have to build more storage space. >> born in arkansas. where did you study all of this? >> i studied space history by doing it, really. not by studying it in college or in graduate school. but i had the good fortune to work with nasa throughout the 1980s. and that was the dawn of the space shuttle era. and i was working with scientists and engineers who were involved in those early shuttle missions up to the "challenger" tragedy. so there were six years there of space flight, preparing for missions, executing missions. so i really learned space history on the job. other than the fact that i was a child in the 1960s and i was fascinated with alan shepard and john glenn. i remember like everybody who was alive then remembers exactly where i was the night we landed on the moon. >> july 1969. >> exactly. so it was part of my cultural background, but it wasn't at all what i thought i would make my career in. and that really became a matter of serendipity, of kind of being in the right place at the right time. i'm not an engineer. i'm not a scientist. i'm a historian and a writer. >> you mention maryland. our next call can be appropriately, from andrews air force base not too far away. patrick, you are on the air. are you in the air force? what do you do at andrews air force base? >> caller: i'm in the security forces. >> thank you. go ahead with your question. >> caller: all right. my question is was the landing of the reusable spacex, does the smithsonian plan on getting any and displaying at any of the museums? >> you know, i couldn't hear the question, patrick. if you could repeat it one more time there. >> is a lot of noise behind us. >> caller: i said with the landing of the spacex rocket, does the smithsonian plan on getting any of those rockets and displaying them at the museum? >> thank you. the spacex rocket. >> yes, yes. as a matter of fact, we have been watching spacex with a great deal of interest, and also blue origin. and we have opened a conversation with spacex not yet to acquire an entire rocket, but we're very much interested in acquiring one of the engines that has been used. and then as we watch their history, as they move into a more frequent pace of operations and evolve their technology, we're going to be watching that. and i think we'll eventually bring something larger into the museum. but right now we think an engine would be a perfect acquisition. >> why mars? and will we see that? >> well, mars has been on the horizon for as long as people have been dreaming of space flight. i think it's the planet that is most familiar to people, the one that seems most like earth, even though it's very much different from earth. and it's just far enough away to be this beckoning challenge. nasa is gearing up for a mission to mars in terms of the technology they're developing and the astronauts they're recruiting. but they don't yet have an approved mandate to go to mars. and that's really a matter of political will on the part of the congress, the president, and the american people. i would say for the last decade there has been interest in going to mars eventually, but there has not yet been a successful program that has caught on and gained the political commitment that will be required. it's going to be an expensive endeavor. it probably will need to be done internationally so that the costs can be borne by various economies, various countries. and also just to involve other people, other nations who want to be part of space faring. the international space station is kind of the proof test of whether a major endeavor like that can be carried out internationally. >> well, from your vantage point, you're a historian, you're a researcher. your focus is the space shuttle program. but why space in general? why should we spend the billions of dollars to continue these type of programs? >> well, the arguments for going into space and staying in space and spending that money in space are varied. and they have to do with intangible reasons as well as very practical reasons. had we not ventured out into space, we would not be living the modern life we're living. we are so dependent now on satellites for almost everything we do in the world of communications, navigation, weather forecasting. from the research that scientists are doing in space, we've had a number of breakthroughs and benefits that have accrued to our knowledge of the practice of medicine or the understanding of how the body malfunctions. more esthetically and intangibly, it's one of those questions of, well, it's there, and we want to go wherever we think we can go. but i think the big misunderstanding is that we're spending fortunes going into space or doing things in space. if you look at absolute dollars, that seems like a lot of money. but if you look at the pie chart of how the united states spends its money, its public money, that's not even a sliver on that pie chart. it's such a small amount out of everything that we spend for -- human health and welfare, education, national security, and all of the social benefits, social programs we have like social security, medicare, medicaid. so in absolute dollars it sounds like a lot, but out of the whole menu of things that a government can do, it's one of the smallest things that the u.s. does. >> and donald is next. he is joining us from florida. go ahead, donald. >> caller: i'm a nuclear weapons instructor in the early '60s. i thought nuclear weapons and reentry vehicles, mark ii which is solid copper, and mark iii and iv, vivi. that's the end of it but i wonder if they have any black numbers with the nuclear weapons with it. mark a nine-ton nuclear weapon. >> we have a very early reentry vehicle. it's on display right behind me. we have a minuteman three intercontinental ballistic missile on display, and we also have a pershing intermediate range nuclear missile. >> right over there? is that over there? >> the green, yes. the green one with the conical top is our minuteman iii. we have a soviet ss-20 intermediate range nuclear missile as well. the reentry canisters, the reentry vehicles are still on those. but they're empty, of course. any weapons and the electronics inside those have all been removed. >> karen, you're next, joining us from pennsylvania. good evening. >> caller: hi. good evening, valerie. happy 40th anniversary. >> thank you. >> caller: i just have a simple question. i know when they first opened the hazy center, you could actually get a shuttle from the air and space museum down to there. are they still offering that? >> we are no longer offering a shuttle bus service between the downtown location in washington and the udvar-hazy center. but the metro system has been extended out to reston, virginia, and there is a shuttle bus that you can catch at the end of the line, the silver line metro or catch a shuttle bus at dulles international airport. and it makes a quicker trip. you're less affected by traffic if you ride the metro and that shuttle bus than if you take a shuttle from downtown washington. so it's easier, and it will get easier yet when the silver line is completed all the way out to the airport. >> my final question is somebody who has spent so much time here, what has intrigued you the most? what is most interesting to you on display that the public can see? >> oh, gee, that is a hard question because we have relationships with every object here. i would say that one of the intriguing things to me is on display in our space race area just behind me. and we have two slide rules. a slide rule that belonged to wernher von braun, who was the father of rocketry here in the united states. the father of the saturn v launch vehicle. and a slide rule used by his counterpart in the soviet union, sergei korolev who was the father of their cold war space program. and they're exactly the same. they're both made by the same manufacturer in germany. and to me, those objects that were held in the hands of two very influential men working on opposite sides of the globe, working against each other but using the very same tool to solve the very same problems puts a human face on the space race to me. and i like the human scale objects that give you some sense of who the people are and how they accomplished these tremendous feats. these great vehicles wouldn't have existed without hundreds if not thousands of people using their hands and their brains to bring them into being. >> we need to come back. we've only scratched the surface. valerie neal, thank you very much for your time here at the national air and space museum. we appreciate it. >> sure, it's a pleasure. >> and general jack dailey is the person who began our coverage. he will kick off the 40th anniversary celebration. we're going to take you back outside. we'll also hear from mike collins in a video presentation, former astronaut and first director of this museum as it celebrates its 40th birthday. aif jags america's story, and we went from the first powered control flight to the walking on the moon. >> and the air space museum shows you exactly that history. >> everything that we have, it has a special significance to the development of aviation and space in this country. >> i came and saw this aircraft and i remember so it well as a small boy. my father explaining to me what it was, and it is the first airplane. >> and here we are in the same room with the airplane that the wright brothers flew. >> one of the main purposes of this museum is to preserve theser artifacts forever. >> i am sure that you could have reproductions or the mock-ups, but here, it is the real thing. >> everything in here has a story of great significance. it did it first or better than anything else. >> and you have is to stop a little bit and think about the story as you are viewing the object. >> i can always find something marvelous, and something that completely surprises me. the discovery space shuttle is so significant and so qui quintessentially smithsonian, and this is the shuttle that inspired a generation to realize the importance of space flight. >> our mission is to xh commemorate, educate and inspire. >> it is wonner d dful to see the young people coming in here to be inspired by things that have happened before. and maybe with be inspired to do a little bitt better in the math and the science and the technology and theirle school work. >> so important for young people to really get a good education in s.t.e.m. they see what has been accomplished in the past and i think about what they can do. >> and it changed my life and changed my direction, and helped to orient me ton the path of becoming a signist thetist. who knows what you will be inspired to be the next person on mars. >> the space exploration should continue. ♪ >> the smithsonian national air and space museum is more than a collection here on the mall. it is inspiration. if we can inspire, then we have done everything else right. [ applause ] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ applause ] good evening, ladies and gentlemen, i'm jack dailey, and it is my honor the welcome you in here to commemorating 40 years of inspiring the world, and celebrating a a new chapter in the world's most famous museum. for kicking us off with a high style tonight, i'd like to thank the united states air force band ceremonial brass quintet. please, give them a round of applause. they serenade here frequently in the sum me, and so if you hang around you can hear the entire program. when the museum opened july 1st, 1976, president ford called it a perfect birthday present from the american people to themselves. and we often say that aviation is america's story, but the revolution in the sky sparked by the wright brothers more than a s century ago belongs to the world. after the first flight in kitty hawk had a special perspective on the flow ball impact of the first small step. and standing here is none other than the commander of the module, and here to tell us more about the early days, i'd like to introduce a short video featuring general collins. >> i came to washington, sneaking up on 1976, and i used to run around town saying museum on the mall by the buy centennial. my name is mike collins. at one time i was in the space program on project gemini and apollo which you know as the first flight to the moon. then after that, i was lucky nouf be director of this museum, and the national ar air and spa muse museum, and some of them are way before my time. we were supposed to open up july 4th, 1976, and we beat it by three days. july 1st, 1976. we were supposed to cut the ribbon out here, the ribbon on the mall side of the building declarg it open. >> the signal came from a spacecraft between here and mars and outer space. i was hold mig breath, and i was thinking of all of the e l-- ho ing my breath, and i was thinking of all of the electrons up there, and look agent this mechanical shirring device, and believe it or not, all of the electrons did their cute thing, and the ribbon was snip and the building was opened. it was good. at the peak of the apollo program when kneel armstrong stepped out on the to the surface of the moon, that was the pique of the public interest. and buildings like this do a lot the stimulate that interest, and that is one thing that is so important about this beautiful surrounding of the national air and space museum which is a vital part of the smithsonian institution. [ applause ] >> the museum general collins built like the ship he flew to the moon is a priceless treasure to the people of the world. i'm honored to follow in his footsteps as director. as he mentioned, there was tension about whether the signal from mars would come in time to cut the ribbon. just in case, the president of the united states was on hand with a pair of sis zoars as a backup, but the viking performed flawlessly. days later, the viking i lander became the first american aircraftt to land on mars. in 1984, after the mission was complete, nasa formally transferred the ownership of the viking i lander to the museum. of course, we have not been able to collect it yet. so nasa working with the jet propulsion lab in the university of arizona was kind enough to check in on it for us, and this picture was taken on the high-rise are reconnaissance or orbitor to inspire the next generation to take up the staff. it would be impossible to recognize all of the staff, and the volunteers who have performed the museum's missions over the decades, but we have ten here tonight who have been here as part of the team since the very beginning 40 years ago. as i call your name, please stand. phil edwards. karen mannis. i am glad that i didn't ask you to hold your applause, and this is much better than waiting until the end. ted maxwell. barbara o'malley. bill rowe. chris strain. mark taylor. bob vander landen. estelle washington. ken young. together they have represented over 400 years of service to the present past and future from this staff. please, give them a round of applause for their extraordinary service. [ applause ] the national air and space museum is one part of the smithsonian institution. it is the scenterpiece, but it s one part of the smithsonian institution which includes 19 and soon to be 20 museums, and nine research centers and extensive global outreach activities. we would not be able to fulfill our mission at the museum without our mandate to infuse with knowledge which has guided the smithsonian for 170 years. the next speaker arrived in the smith sosonian for the nation's 1976 buy centennial celebration. he directed the folk life and cultural heritage, and so if you have enjoyed the folk life festival out on the mall, you him to thank. now he oversees all of the research centers and institution, and centers and activities that are too numerous to list. it is my great pleasure to introduce the acting provost, and undersecretary for museums and research, dr. richard curran. richard. >> thank you. thank you, jack. as general dailey said i first worked for the smithsonian when i was young then, and 25er years old and first worked for the smithsonian when this museum opened. this, during that time we were celebratinging the bicentennial of the united states. 200 years of our kcountry. and just remember what it was like then. younger people will not, but those of a certain age will. we were in a space race with the russians, with the soviets. there was a cold war going on. and the whole challenge to go to space when president kennedy just over here in front of the capital at his inauguration challenged the country to send a man to the moon and back before the end of the decade, that was fresh in our minds, and so when we went to space, and when this museum was built, it was really a monument to our country in terms of our science, technology, engineering. the kind of innovation that made us great, and historically made us great as a country. but it was more than that. and if you were here 40 years ago when this museum opened, you recognized at that time just as those who were old enough to remember when neil armstrong stepped foot on the moon, but it is a victory not only only of the science and eng nooring technology, but national unity, national imagination, and we were all very much together as americans at that time, and very proud of our national accomplishment. now, this museum has continued to inspire as jack said millions and millions, and over 350 million people have walked through the museum. they have worn out the carpet many times. but generation after generation, they have been inspired with what they have seen. they have looked up and many a child walked through the museum, and said i want to be an astronaut or astro physicist or a pilot, and make these things happen, and design these airplanes, and spaceships ashlgs sond -- and so this is really an inspirational place for the country, the citizen, and the people around the world who have been here. now, jack, he is michael colins' successor, right? who built this museum, and that is something that jack and i shared, because after mike collins was the director of this museum, he became the undersecretary of the smithsonian and i am proud to occupy that office today. as i often say, well, mike collins had to go to the moon and back to do all of this, and all i have to do is to walk up a flight of stairs. but it makes me ever so proud to be part of the effort, part of the museum, and part of the smithsonian that serves all of you, all of us, and people beyond. we take very seriously the ideaf our mission of increasing and diffusing the knowledge of inspiring the next generation. it is a great responsibility that we share, and tonight, we are so, so happy to celebrate this birthday, and you have not only the people here, but we are joined by others have special b greetings. ♪ >> happy birthday. >> happy birthday. >> happy birthday. >> happy birthday. >> happy birthday. >> happy 40th birthday. >> happy 40th birthday. >> happy 40th birthday. >> thank you for inspiring me and my fellow astronauts. >> congratulations. >> congratulations. >> congratulations on 40 years of excel sneens keep inspiring those generations of future space explorers to reach high. >> congratulations to the national air and space museum on -- >> 40 fabulous years. >> happy birthday. >> nasa wishes you many more decades of inspiring the next generation to insmir and expl e explore. >> keep empowering those kids to live their dreams. >> happy birthday, national air and space museum. [ applause ] >> over the last 40 years we've open many new galleries and exhibitions including the state-of-the-art steven f.udrahazi center. but the beg milestones of flight hall has been our pride and joy in the doors hyped me is one of the world's greatest public spaces dedicated to discovery and exploration. as we transform the gallery for the next 350 million visitors we worked to define the treasures of human achieve men not merely display them. the newest exibts fire the midgeation like never before. that kind of growth requires vermont on a global scale and there is no better place to engage the young people of the world than the boeing milestones of flight hall. i'd like to thank boeing for supporting our mission to inspire the millions who will pass through these doors in the years ahead. it's now my great pleasure to welcome greta lundeberg, the vice president for strategy and advocacy at boeing. gre greta? [ applause ] >> thank you so much. thank you general dailey for our service to our country and for your leadership of this great american institution. i'm greta lundeberg, vice president for strategy and advocacy at the boeing confirm it's honored to be here with you tonight to celebrate the boeing milestone of flight hall during our centennial years ago as well as this museum's 40th anniversary, and also my birthday 678 so it's a special night for me as well. thanks. as a mother of a 4-year-old, my daughter talks a lot about what she wants to be when she grows up. some weeks it's a firefighter. other weeks it's batman or wonder woman. but after countless visits to the air and space museum all she talks about now is wanting to be an astronaut. while her career options may evolve i know she will never lose that fascination with space and science and innovation. and that's a testament to the stories and experiences this place unlocks for its millions of visitors each year. that's the reason that boeing has supported the national air and space museum for more than two decades. we agree with the museum that our goals should be inspiring the next generation of innovators and building on the progress of the last century. now, this july 15th, 100 years ago, our founder, bill boeing, got his start in a little red barn in seattle building planes made almost entirely of timber and canvas. over the past century the men and women of boeing have helped build the world's largest aerospace company and shaped the course of human history along the way. just think about the progress that we've made together. humans went from walking on earth to walking on the moon. from riding horses to flying jet planes and space craft. and while we celebrate the pioneers that built this incredible legacy of american innovation, it's more important than ever for our country to inspire a new generation of leaders, to dream, to innovate, to explore, and to inspire. as you make your way through the galleries tonight i'd ask that you just imagine the artifacts and stories that will narrate our next 100 years and we look forward to being part of that at boeing 678 thank you all for coming out tonight. and enjoy the museum. [ applause ] >> our next speaker knows how important that first spark can be to set you on a path to great achievement. after her first air show when she was 5 and a notable visit to this museum when she was 12 her path led to the civil air patrol and onto the united states air force academy. from there she became a respected air force officer and decorated combat pilot. by the way, she flew her combat in the f-1580 strike eagle. i should mention that she also had her husband as a crew member on that. so it was a real family affair on that one. as the first female member of the elite thunderbird demonstration and later part of joining forces, she embodies one of aviation's core lessons, from milestones to moon shots, it takes courage to attempt the things no one has done before and unshakeable confidence to achieve your goals. she is an outstanding role model for any young person who aims high in life, and she's not done yet. it's my great pleasure to introduce colonel nicole malachowski. >> well, good evening, everyone, and thank you general dailey for those gracious, gracious words. it's always a joy to be here, sir. it is an honor, like all of you, to be standing here at this iconic american mu see. i think it's a museum that insome so many ways embodies everything that is great about our country, freedom, innovation, technology, creatist and big dreams. today we are here to trumpet mile stoeps. the 40th anniversary of the museum is a milestone. all the milestones in aviation and space flight. it got we thinking about mile stoeps, why do we celebrate them and mark them as important. mile stoeps are those events along the arc of history, big ones and small ones that in this case have transformed aviation and space flight in so many ways. oftentimes it's ways that folks often remark that mankind could never have even imagined. you have heard that statement, that mankind could never even have imagined. is that really true? isn't it in fact our imaginations that these milestones and in our imaginations that these milestones are conceived and achieved. and over the past 40 years, as the other speakers have noted this me assume has sparked the imagination of countless visitors young and old alike. it was this place that parkr sparked by imagination in 1986, as a young 12-year-old girl i walked these halls, notebook in hand, reading every placard, inspecting every artifact and discovering every nook and cranny in this building behind me. i was doing this and i was imagining, imagining my place in this world of aviation. and that visit 30 years ago served as a launching point for my own persons over the past 25 20 years wearing our nation's uniform. you see, back in 1986 there weren't a lot of women pilots in the military. and the law prohibited women from flighting fighter aircraft. in elementary school i proclaimed to my class i'm going to be a fighter pilot some day. as you can imagine the response at the time was maybe less than throughs yas particular. in fact the teach he needled me a little bit and said quote maybe you should come back to class when you have something different in mind. demoralized i returned home shed a tear in front of my parents wondering allowed in the way a 12-year-old girl would, why couldn't i become a fighter pilot? but that summer my parents brought me here, to this museum a place where my imagination could finally run free, unconstrained by people's expectations of me or the status quo. and this place showed me that imagination is all about embracing the art of the possible. my life was transformed here forever. i stood in awe of the wright flyer and the wrooi brothers legacy. carlos lindbergh and the spirit of st. louis. for the first time in my life in a substantive way i learned about the contributions women had made to aviation and space plate. the list goes on. their stories flooded by imagination with the art of the possible. and then in the smallest little corner of the museum i saw them. my heros to this very day, the women air force service pilots of world war ii. america's first women military aviators. so the light bulb went off in my 12-year-old head, over 40 years ago, prior to my visit in 1986 those women flew, they flew in service to their country. in that moment i realized that i could, too. the 12-year-old in me was catalyzed to action. my imagination was unleashed. and it led to 20 years of flying the f-15e and the f-16. i'm watching the young folks down here in the front and i'm wondering how many astronauts and how many scientists and engineers, how many pilots are we going to have inspired here today, tonight, in this museum. and so it goes, that arc of history moves on, milestones conceived and achieved by our imaginati imagination. this museum reminds us that the world of aviation and space flight is open to all of us. milestones are not an end to themselves. they simply set the bar higher. they simply show us what the art of the possible look like. and they serve as a call to action to all of us to achieve those things that we can and we do conceive in our wildest dreams. and that's a wonderful lesson to humanity. and so with that, to the smithsonian team and general dailey, sir -- sir, thank you very much. my heart felt thanks for letting me be here tonight, for bringing imaginations to life, including my own. and god bless the wonderful men and women and their flying machines. [ applause ] request you figure why we had her speak here tonight? she is exactly what we're -- she was hooked here. and that's exactly what we hope happens to many of these young folks that come through the museum. thank you all for joining us tonight to celebrate the national air and space mu see. tonight is not about the past. it's about the future. the future of this museum and the future of exploration and discovery on earth and off of it. for 40 years we've commemorate ed -- to that end i'd like to turn the helm of tonight's program over to one of the museum's youngest team members. the explainers program, which is sponsored by general electric aviation employs high school and college students to engage visitors of all ages on the scientific principles of aviation and space exploration. they open the doors to discovery for visitors from all over the world. and they are going to do that for us here tonight. here to launch the new boeing of milestones flight hall, and to introduce the next chapter of the national air and space museum is a jurat american university majoring in physics. and her name is rae stewart. rae, come on up. >> thank you general dailey. we are moments away from opening the doors and kicking off our all night at the museum celebration. we have lots of programs and events all throughout the night and into tomorrow morning. and we hope you can join us for them. we are here to honor both the legacy and the future of this great museum. places like the national air and space museum have the profound ability to draw out awe and wonder and plant seeds of curiosity. in my own life it was museums like this one that ignited my love for science. i'm here in washington, d.c. to study physics and thankfully have incredible opportunity to be an explainer here at the museum. explainers get to best see the true value of these artifacts. as we tell the stories behind the inventions and scientific discoveries behind these walls we witness the past collide with the future with every smile, every wide-eyed look and every moment of true understanding. so many people who have come through these doors leave touched and inspired by what they have seen. and these experiences act as seeds for further innovation and discovery. i am so proud of this museum, and i'm so blessed by the way it has touched not only my own life but also the lives of millions of other people. so happy birthday, national air and space museum. we are t-minus 47 seconds from opening the doors and launching our new -- brand-new boeing milestones of flight hall. and the explainers here are going to open the doors and begin the all night at the museum. before we do that, we have one last birthday message. go ahead and take a look. >> hello i'm expedition 48 commander jeff williams of nasa flying 350 miles above the earth aboard the international space station. my crew mates and i wanted to take a moment to wish the smithsonian's national air and space museum a happy 40th birthday. your magnificent museum has inspired millions over the past four decades in commemorating the spirit of exploration and the achievements of human flight. with that, and to start a new era for the museum please begin your downdown for the reopening of the boeing milestones of flight hall. >> ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one -- blast off! [ applause ] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ each week, american history tv's real america brings you archival films that provide context for today's public affairs issues. >> friendship 7 awaits its pilot. and the pilot has waited three years for this day. three long arduous years of study, of training, of waiting. and now he's ready. his name is john glenn. ♪ astronaut john glenn of new concord, ohio, lieutenant colonel, united states marine corps. married, father of two teenaged children. glenn has been a pilot over half of his 40 years. has flown in two wars. and as a veteran test pilot who five years earlier established a transcontinental flight record as the first man to average super sonic speeds across america. he volunteered for space flight. he is one of seven astronauts selected for project mercky the man and space program directed by the national