Welcome Center

The South Lobby is home to the Museum's Welcome Center, where Visitor Services staff, docents, and volunteers greet visitors and provide advice, directions, information, and answers to your questions.

Hanging overhead and spanning the entire gallery is a single large aircraft: Voyager, which in 1986 became the first aircraft to fly around the world without stopping or refueling. Two huge murals symbolizing the Museum's dual themes of air and space cover the gallery's east and west walls and extend upward to the second-floor ceiling. The Space Mural: A Cosmic View by Robert T. McCall evokes the past, present, and future of the Universe. Earth Flight Environment by Eric Sloane depicts the more familiar realm of the sky and some of its weather phenomena.

This exhibition is on view in Gallery 108

Smithsonian Institution Photo
SI2006-11212, Mark Avino/NASM

Voyager

First non-stop, non-refueled flight around the world.

On December 23, 1986, "Voyager" completed the first nonstop, non-refueled flight around the world. A unique aircraft constructed almost entirely of lightweight graphite-honeycomb composite materials and laden with fuel, "Voyager" lifted off from Edwards Air Force Base, California, at 8:01 a.m. on December 14, 1986. It returned nine days later at 8:05 a.m.

For their record-breaking flight, pilots Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, designer Burt Rutan, and crew chief Bruce Evans earned the Collier Trophy, aviation's most prestigious award.
Gift of Voyager Aircraft Inc.

Information Services

The information desk is staffed seven days a week from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. by volunteer Information Specialists. Smithsonian Information Center telephones are answered Monday through Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.: (202) 633-1000; TTY (202) 633-5285.

More information: Vistor Information