World War I takes center stage at reopened Smithsonian Air and Space Museum

The Air and Space Museum unveiled a stunning renovation. Here are the must-sees.

Walk off the National Mall and through the new glass entrance of the National Air and Space Museum, and you're greeted by some of the most important and recognizable flying machines in history. A test model of the Lunar Module, the craft that ferried Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to the moon's surface, wrapped in shiny gold-colored protective film, immediately catches the eye. It's along the same wall as Friendship 7, the capsule in which John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth. An array of aircraft overhead includes Chuck Yeager's sound-barrier-breaking "Glamorous Glennis" rocket plane.

This way, we enter. (Eric Lee/For The Washington Post)

There are sleek satellites, towering ballistic missiles, and a touchable piece of the moon. And you're only in the first exhibition space.

After years of renovation, the Air and Space Museum has reopened five more of its galleries and its Imax theater, adding to the eight galleries, planetarium and cafe that reopened in October 2022. This is the second of three phases in the top-to-bottom rehabilitation of the building and its collection, an overhaul that began in 2018 and will cost almost $1 billion. There's a new layout, new themed exhibits, new interactive stations, and familiar objects in new settings. If you're coming back for the first time, here's what you need to know.

New entrance, same exits, more tickets

The first thing you'll probably notice is that the front door has moved. Before construction began, visitors had the option of entering from either the Mall or Independence Avenue SW. Now, visitors will go through security in the new winged, canopied entrance on the Mall — which, when viewed from across Jefferson Drive, bears a striking resemblance to Yoda. (You can't unsee it.) After exploring the museum, guests can head back out to the Mall, the way they entered, or onto the sidewalk on Independence Avenue, across from the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial.

Entering into the Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall feels like running into a friend you haven't seen for a few years. Stop for a moment to take it in, notice the subtle changes. The carpet's been removed, replaced by shiny terra-cotta. The space feels roomier, in part because the security and bag searches, which used to take place a few feet inside the museum doors, no longer take up precious floor area inside the museum. "One of the intentions" of the renovations "was to move that process outside the building, where security should obviously be," says museum director Christopher Browne.

Those security screenings, just inside the atrium's doors, are less TSA and more like going to Nationals Park — just walk through the metal detector-like machine without taking wallets, keys or phones out of your pockets, or having to empty your bag. If the alarm goes off, you'll have a secondary screening with security, but on our first visit, we breezed right through without stopping.

The Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall at the National Air and Space Museum. (Eric Lee/For The Washington Post)

When the museum reopened in 2022, it began requiring visitors reserve timed-entry tickets, similar to the National Museum of African American History and Culture. The reservations are popular — more than 5 million people have visited in less than three years — and can fill days in advance, especially for weekends. With new galleries open, the museum will double the number of passes it offers, but numbers will remain limited to control crowds. "We don't want a mosh pit" around the Wright Flyer, Browne says. If it's too crowded in the galleries, "we're not providing a quality experience."

Tickets can be reserved for entry on the hour between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., but ticket-holders can enter any time after their reservation begins — for example, if your ticket is for 11 a.m., you can enter at 11:30 or 2 p.m. without a problem, but if you arrive before the time on the ticket, you'll have to wait in line outside. If you strike out in advance, a limited number of same-day tickets become available on the museum's website at 8:30 a.m. daily.

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