This Week at The Museum of Flight:Space Day!

Have you seen Curiosity yet? The Museum is featuring a full-scale model of NASA's next Mars rover throughout the month of May. The actual Curiosity rover will be headed to Mars in 2011.  Space Day, an internationally recognized educational event, will be celebrated at the Museum on Thursday, May 6, during our Wells Fargo Free First Thursday 5-9 p.m. The Museum's education department will present a variety of fun, space-related activities including presentations in our new portable planetarium. Computer imaging expert Tim Harris will present "Computing on Mars: More than a Pretty Picture" at 7 p.m.  There are only two weeks left to see In Search of Amelia Earhart! This popular exhibit featuring personal artifacts, photos and newsreel footage of Earhart closes May 16.  Please note that the USAF Pilot in Training lecture scheduled for Saturday, May 8 has been cancelled due to a scheduling conflict. We apologize for any inconvenience.  On the Radar: A Tuskegee Airmen panel discussion, our annual Memorial Day program, sponsored by the city of Tukwila, and much more! Details on upcoming programs can be found in the calendar below or at museumofflight.org.   Dream, Discover, Soar!  Sincerely, The Museum of Flight In This Issue Family Programs In Search of Amelia Earhart May 2010 Events           Bank of America Weekend Family Workshops   Saturdays and Sundays 11:15 a.m. and 1:15 p.m.    Apollo Splashdown! Bank of America Weekend Family Workshop: Apollo Program: Splashdown!   Be a part of an Apollo astronaut recovery mission! Make your own Apollo space capsule, then reenact an Apollo re-entry and splashdown!           CONTACT INFORMATION   The Museum of Flight  206.764.5720, email   Membership  206.764.5711, email   Volunteering  206.768.7179, email   Giving  206.768.7162, email   Education 206.768.7116, email   Museum Store 206.764.5704, email     TTY  1.800.833.6385     May 2010 Events   In Search of Amelia Earhart closes Sunday, May 16 Don't miss the final days of the In Search of Amelia Earhart exhibit, which closes on Sunday, May 16.       Full-Scale Model of Curiosity, the Next NASA Mars Rover Temporary Exhibit in Museum Lobby beginning May 4 A full-scale model of NASA's next Mars rover, Curiosity--also known as the Mars Science Laboratory--is on loan from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory for the month of May. The rover will be exhibited in the Museum lobby. Curiosity is the size of a compact car, making it the largest--and most advanced--Mars rover yet. It is scheduled to be launched to the Red Planet in fall 2011. For more information (and how your name can be sent to Mars) please see:http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/     Wells Fargo Free First Thursday Thursday, May 6, 5-9 p.m. Once a month, the Museum stays open late-for free! Enjoy the Museum's Great Gallery, Personal Courage Wing, Space: Exploring the New Frontier exhibit and more from 5 to 9 p.m., courtesy of Wells Fargo. Museum Store and Wings Café will also remain open for the extended hours on this night.   Space Day Thursday, May 6, 5-9 p.m. Space Day is an internationally recognized educational event held on the first Friday in May. The Museum celebrates during its Free First Thursday on May 6 from 5 to 9 p.m. The Museum's education department will present a variety of fun, space-related activities.   Computing on Mars: More than a Pretty Picture - Presentation by Tim Harris Thursday, May 6, 7 p.m., Allen Theater Today, we take for granted that with a click of a mouse we can pull data from servers anywhere on earth - but what about when the server you're trying to talk to is anywhere from three to 21 light minutes away and possibly driving through a dust storm? Come find out a little about how NASA deals with this and other problems while working to bring stunning images and data back from the Red Planet, and how you can access and analyze this data for yourself. Computer imaging expert Tim Harris will make it all clear in this well-illustrated program.   Tip-to-Tail Tour: P-51 D Mustang Sunday, May 16, 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Hear about the Museum's newest addition, the P-51D Mustang in a tour from one of our docents.   Meet NASA Mars Rover Engineer Kobie Boykins Sunday, May 16, 1 p.m., Museum Lobby NASA Mars rover engineer Kobie Boykins will meet Museum visitors at the full-scale model of the next Mars rover, Curiosity, on exhibit in the Museum lobby. Boykins will talk informally about Curiosity and the previous Mars rovers that he helped design.      Royal Aeronautical Society Lecture: "So you want to be an Aviation Historian" with Museum of Flight Senior Curator Dan Hagedorn Tuesday, May 18, 6 p.m., Allen Theater "What Next?" That is the question posed by Dan to anyone who has amassed a private collection of aeronautica. Speaking from the point of view of an enthusiast who became a photographer, collector and author, Hagedorn will remind audience members that completing the mosaic of the first century of flight may involve your own unique contributions, and that organizing them and planning for their disposition when the inevitable day arrives requires deliberate action. He combines his 27-year military intelligence experiences with 20 years on staff at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum to illustrate that our aviation heritage belongs to all of us, and that no contribution is too small to be documented and preserved.     Aluminum Overcast: The EAA B-17 Bomber Wednesday, May 26-Monday, May 31 on the Museum Ramp 2010 is the 75th anniversary of the first flight of the Boeing B-17. The Seattle-born bomber played an important role in World War II and aviation history. For several days in May, the Museum will be the proud host of the Experimental Aircraft Association's popular B-17, Aluminum Overcast. Delivered to the U.S. Army Air Corps in May 1945, Aluminum Overcast was too late to see action in World War II. Sold for $750 as military surplus, the airplane served as a cargo hauler, an aerial mapping platform and in pest control. Now, Aluminum Overcast carries the wartime colors of the 398th Bomb Group, serving as a living tribute to World War II aviation. Museum visitors can tour, or even fly aboard this historic aircraft. For costs, reservations and more information, please call the EAA at 1-800-359-6217 or visit www.b17.org.   Cascade Warbirds Fly-In Saturday, May 29, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Join the Museum for the annual Cascade Warbirds Fly-in. Visitors will enjoy the chance to view a wide variety of beautifully restored vintage military aircraft representing several nations' armed forces from World War II through the Vietnam conflict. Operating under the motto "keep 'em flying," the Cascade Warbirds work to preserve history by maintaining important aircraft. Planes such as a North American T-28 Trojan, DeHavilland DHC-1 Chipmunk, Cessna O-2 Skymaster and a Douglas AD-4 Skyraider will participate in the fly-in. In addition, the pilot/owners of these planes will be on hand to answer questions and share their enthusiasm for these vintage warbirds.   Tuskegee Airmen Panel: "The Experience of the 332nd Fighter Group in the 15th Air Force" Sunday, May 30, 2 p.m., Allen Theater A special panel of World War II Tuskegee Airman veterans will be at the Museum to talk about their experiences flying combat missions during the War. The panel will be moderated by local Tuskegee Airman and former fighter pilot, Lt. Col. Bill Holloman III. Panelists include William M. Wheeler, who flew bomber escort missions over Germany, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Albania and Greece; Leo R. Gray, who flew combat missions flying P-51s based in Italy; and Robert J. "Bob" Friend, who after the war became an Assistant Deputy of Launch Vehicles for programs including the Titan, the Atlas and the Space Shuttle.   Memorial Day Weekend Programs Monday, May 31, Side Gallery, Noon Continuing a tradition first established in 1999, the Museum is pleased to be able to honor those who have given their lives in the service of their country through the Memorial Day Weekend. The Boeing Employees Concert Band will set the stage by performing patriotic music, beginning at noon. Museum CEO Dr. Bonnie J. Dunbar will preside over the ceremony. Our special guests will be several Tuskegee Airmen.   Memorial Day Weekend programs are generously supported by the City of Tukwila. Veterans and Active Duty Military receive Free Admission with ID.