Virginia Air and Space Museum (October 30, 2010)

Day in Hampton, Va turned out to be most amazing; and will be the theme of three posts; starting with this one. On a cool, crisp Saturday morning, got in the car and headed to the Virginia Air and Space Museum in Hampton, Va. A nice pleasant drive and less than 90 minutes later and I was paying the admission price plus the cost of the IMAX 3-D movie (that was " Frontiers of Flight" and I enjoyed it a great deal) for a total of $18. Liked the very striking building that houses the museum, and enjoyed the walk up to it. Inside though was what I had come to check out, and was amazed at the variety of sights inside the massive complex.

Have been a fan of the space program for a number of years, so was excited to see the Command Module of Apollo 12. Apollo 12 launched on November 14, 1969 and landed on the moon in the area known as the "Ocean of Storms" November 19 in the Lunar Module "Intrepid". Richard Gordon orbited alone in the "Yankee Clipper" seen here. Both were Navy names, as the crew was all-Navy. The LM left the moon on November 20, and the three men landed back on Earth in this ship on November 24. Many other space items can be found in the museum, including some other spacecraft such as a Mercury capsule and many unmanned craft.

Of course, there are a number of interesting aircraft, such as these seen at right. Not just warplanes though, they include civilian aircraft, replica aircraft (including a good replica of the 1903 Wright Flyer), and a number of rockets of various types. Also of interest to me were a number of space and flight simulators covering a wide range of air and spacecraft. I was pretty good on the aircraft simulators, not so good on trying to land the Lunar Module (managing to crash it into the moon in all three modes). I did have a great time trying it. There is a lot of things of note for just about anyone with any interest in space or aviation.
Many of the displays can be seen up close, many others from the raised walkways around the displays. The aircraft and other displays were all in good working order (in the case of those items that simulated or demonstrated something of aviation interest) and and the planes being indoor were in very good shape (that will be of note in my next post on the Air Power Park in Hampton, VA). There were also a number of other items such as flight suits, and other aviation artifacts of note. I thought the museum did a good job of covering flight from its earliest days, to future missions to Mars and beyond. I felt it was well worth the money. The IMAX had good comfortable seats, and was in good repair.
Finally, had to close this section with this moon rock. Seen here, the photo does not do it justice, it was the largest one I have seen on display (and I have seen a few. Brought back from Apollo 17's mission in December 1972 it was found to be some 3.67 billion years old. There was also a piece of Mars which came from the famous Mars meteorite of many years back.
I did not know quite what to expect, but found the visit very worthwhile, the museum staff friendly and helpful, and my time spent there very enjoyable. The variety of items and the quality of what was on display made me glad I went, and I can see myself returning for another visit in the future.