The Smithsonian Institution, or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded on August 10, 1846, it operates as a trust instrumentality and is not formally a part of any of the three branches of the federal government. The institution is named after its founding donor, British scientist James Smithson. It was originally organized as the United States National Museum, but that name ceased to exist administratively in 1967.
The National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States dedicated to human flight and space exploration.
The Oak Ridge Observatory, also known as the George R. Agassiz Station, is located at 42 Pinnacle Road, Harvard, Massachusetts. It was operated by the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian as a facility of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) from 1933 until August 19, 2005.
The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, also called the Udvar-Hazy Center, is the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM)'s annex at Washington Dulles International Airport in the Chantilly area of Fairfax County, Virginia. It holds numerous exhibits, including the Space Shuttle Discovery, the Enola Gay, and the Boeing 367-80, the main prototype for the popular Boeing 707 airliner.
The Smithsonian American Art Museum is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds one of the world's largest and most inclusive collections of art, from the colonial period to the present, made in the United States. The museum has more than 7,000 artists represented in the collection. Most exhibitions take place in the museum's main building, the Old Patent Office Building, while craft-focused exhibitions are shown in the Renwick Gallery.
Pioneer H was a proposed space probe for the US Pioneer program. If it had been approved, it would have been launched in 1974 and have been designated Pioneer 12; that designation was later applied to the Pioneer Venus Orbiter.
Alejandro Otero was a Venezuelan painter of Geometric abstraction, a sculptor, a writer and a cultural promoter. He was a founding member of the Los Disidentes group.
Smithsonian Libraries and Archives is an institutional archives and library system comprising 21 branch libraries serving the various Smithsonian Institution museums and research centers. The Libraries and Archives serve Smithsonian Institution staff as well as the scholarly community and general public with information and reference support. Its collections number nearly 3 million volumes including 50,000 rare books and manuscripts.
Walter J. Boyne was a United States Air Force officer, Command Pilot, combat veteran, aviation historian, and author of more than 50 books and over 1,000 magazine articles. He was a director of the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution and a Chairman of the National Aeronautic Association.
Ad Astra is a public artwork by American artist Richard Lippold. The abstract sculpture is located outside on the Jefferson Drive entrance of and in the collection of the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. The sculpture's title is Latin, meaning "To the Stars".
Freedom Bell, American Legion, is a public artwork located at Union Station in Washington, D.C., United States. A replica of the Liberty Bell, Freedom Bell, American Legion was surveyed as part of the Smithsonian's American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database in 1985.
Fortitude is a public artwork by the American artist James King, located in Fortitude Plaza at Howard University in Washington, D.C., United States. Fortitude was originally surveyed as part of the Smithsonian's Save Outdoor Sculpture! survey in 1993.
Continuum is a public artwork by American sculptor Charles O. Perry located in front of the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC, United States.
The Charles A. Lindbergh Chair in Aerospace History, also known as the Lindbergh Chair, is a one-year senior fellowship hosted by the U.S. National Air and Space Museum (NASM), to assist a scholar in the research and composition of a book about aerospace history. Named for the famous aviator Charles Lindbergh, the position is competitive: one experienced scholar is selected each year from multiple applicants worldwide. Up to $100,000 is granted to the winner.
Tom Day Crouch is an American aeronautics historian and curator.
The Smithsonian Gardens, a division of the Smithsonian Institution, is responsible for the "landscapes, interiorscapes, and horticulture-related collections and exhibits", which serve as an outdoor extension of the Smithsonian's museums and learning spaces in Washington, D.C. Established in 1972 as a groundskeeping and horticulture program, Smithsonian Gardens currently manages 180 acres of gardens on the National Mall, 64,000 square feet of greenhouse production space, and the Archives of American Gardens, a research collection of over 60,000 photographs and archival records covering American landscape history from the 1870s to the present.
Rosemarie Castoro was an American artist associated with the New York Minimalists. She worked in drawing, painting, sculpture, and other media. She was associated with Minimalism, Conceptual art, and concrete poetry. Castoro was a practitioner of monochrome painting and abstraction. Movement of the human body through physical space was a recurring theme in her work.
Frank H. Winter is an American historian and writer. He is the retired Curator of Rocketry of the National Air and Space Museum (NASM) of the Smithsonian Institution of Washington, D.C. Winter is also an internationally recognized historian of rocketry and spaceflight and the author of several landmark books besides numerous articles and papers on these topics.
