Virginia Air and Space Center

With rain threatening, we decided an indoor activity would be perfect. So we headed to Hampton, Virginia from Chesapeake Campground to visit the Virginia Air and Space Center to launch our adventure for that drizzly day.

Virginia Air and Space Center

The Virginia Air and Space Center is an official NASA Visitor Center and a place to learn and appreciate American accomplishments.

Even a vending machine looks like a space shuttle.

NACA/NASA

Before there was NASA there was NACA – National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. NACA was formed on March 3, 1915, with a charter to “supervise and direct the scientific study of the problems of flight, with a view to their practical solution.” WIth illustrious members such as Orville Wright, the group was on the cutting edge of technology in the early decades of flight. Then in 1958 NACA became NASA – National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The first astronauts trained and lived right in Hampton.

The woman who inspired the movie Hidden Figures.

Four Space Capsules

At the Virginia Air and Space Center, you can really rediscover America’s space program roots and come face to face with NASA’s space capsules. This is the only place in the world where you can see all four.

One of 4 nose cones on display at the Virginia Air and Space Center.

Apollo XII nose cone.

Moon Rock

But there is so much more here. Take the time to examine a three- billion-year-old moon rock, yes that’s billion with a B! The moon rock was brought back by Apollo 17. We also explored the next step in human space exploration with the Orion spacecraft.

See a Mars meteorite. And be awed by the Lunar Excursion Module Simulator (LEMS) that the very first astronauts used at NASA Langley Research Center to practice landing on the moon.

The roots of aviation

But that’s is not all folks. This is a place where you’re issued a boarding pass to an aviation adventure. The exhibits run the gamut from the origins of flight to the future of air travel. There are a variety of hands-on, one-of-a-kind exhibits and simulators that are able to transform anyone into a pilot for the day.

Half plane half skeleton.

Interactive exhibits

Your imagination will take you to new heights as you “fly” an airplane. Steve was transported back to his days in the Navy as an Air Traffic Controller. I was mesmerized by all of the airplanes suspended from the ceiling. There’s a replica of the 1903 Wright Flyer which had so much more meaning after having visited Kitty Hawk a couple of weeks earlier. You can even climb aboard a WWII bomber as well as take a virtual tour of the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier.

Futuristic Aviation.

A fighter plane armed with missiles.

Here a plane...There a plane...Everywhere you look a plane!

With three floors of interactive exhibitions and observation, plus the Riverside 3D IMAX theater, Little Wings Play area, and Cosmo Café, this is a fabulous place to spend the entire day!!!

The Traveling Locavores hope you enjoyed these awesome photos!

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