Museum of Flight Honors Fallen Astronauts

PRESS RELEASE

NASA’s annual Day of Remembrance is the last Thursday every January. The Museum of Flight joins this tradition Jan. 25-28, honoring the astronauts lost in service during NASA’s Apollo and space shuttle programs. Special exhibits and video in the Museum’s Charles Simonyi Space Gallery will look back at the tragic events of Apollo 1 (Jan. 27, 1967) and the space shuttles Challenger (January 28, 1986) and Columbia (Feb. 1, 2003).

Founded in 1965, the independent, nonprofit Museum of Flight is one of the largest air and space museums in the world, serving 600,000 visitors. The Museum’s collection includes more than 160 historically significant airplanes and spacecraft, from the first fighter plane (1914) to today’s 787 Dreamliner. Attractions at the 23-acre, 5-building Seattle campus include the original Boeing Company factory, the NASA Space Shuttle Trainer, Air Force One, Concorde, Lockheed Blackbird and Apollo Moon rockets. In addition to the Seattle campus adjacent to King County International Airport, the Museum also has its 3-acre Restoration Center and Reserve Collection at Paine Field in Everett (not currently open to the public).

With a foundation of aviation history, the Museum is also a hub of news and dialogue with leaders in the emerging field of private spaceflight ventures. The Museum’s aviation and space library and archives are the largest on the West Coast. More than 150,000 individuals are served annually by the Museum’s onsite and outreach educational programs. The Museum of Flight is accredited by the American Association of Museums, and is an Affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution.

The Museum of Flight is located at 9404 E. Marginal Way S., Seattle, Exit 158 off Interstate 5 on Boeing Field halfway between downtown Seattle and Sea-Tac Airport. The Museum is open every day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Museum admission for adults is $26. Youth 5 through 17 are $18, youth 4 and under are free. Seniors 65 and over $22. Groups of ten or more: $20 per adult, $13 per youth, $18 per senior. Admission is free from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. on the first Thursday of every month. Parking is always free. There is a full lunch menu café operated by McCormick & Schmick’s. For general Museum information, please call 206-764-5720 or visit www.museumofflight.org