Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, Illinois

Form Object

Chicago — Museum of Science and Industry
Illinois Aviation Museum Guide

Museum of Science and Industry ^[1]
E. 57th Street and Lake Shore Drive
Chicago, IL 60637
(773) 684-1414

The Museum of Science and Industry (MSI) is located in Chicago, Illinois, USA in Jackson Park, in the Hyde Park neighborhood adjacent to Lake Michigan. It is housed in the former Palace of Fine Arts from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. Initially endowed by Sears, Roebuck and Company president and philanthropist Julius Rosenwald, it first opened in 1933 during the Century of Progress Exposition. It is also the largest science museum in the western hemisphere.

Skytamer visited the Museum of Science and Industry on 24 May 2001. The photos shown below were taken on that date with an Olympus C202Z (1.6 mp, 1600×1200) digital camera … at the time it was cutting edge … no longer so!^[4] Since our visit to the Museum of Science and Industry, the following artifacts have been removed or relocated, so be sure to visit the Museum's website before your visit.

The German submarine U-505 is now located indoors, rather than outdoors when we visited it.
The Sikorsky HH-52A "Seaguard" (USCG 1459, c/n 62-138) has been removed.
The LTV A-7A-3B-CV "Corsair II" (BuNo 152668) has been removed.
The "Spirit of America" jet racer has been removed.
The 1855 L. Button Fire-Engine Works "Washington" No. 4 has been removed.
The 1856 Hunneman "Tub" No. 3 has been removed.
The 1867 Amoskeag "Mississippi" has been removed.

Among its diverse and expansive exhibits, the Museum features a working coal mine, a German submarine (U-505) captured during World War II, a 3,500-square-foot (330 m²) model railroad, the first diesel-powered streamlined stainless-steel passenger train (Pioneer Zephyr), and the Apollo 8 spacecraft which flew the first humans to the Moon.

The Museum has over 2,000 exhibits, displayed in 75 major halls. The Museum has several major permanent exhibits. The Coal Mine re-creates a working deep shaft bituminous coal mine inside the Museum's Central Pavilion using original equipment from Old Ben #17 circa 1933. Since 1954, the Museum has had the U-505 Submarine, one of just two German submarines captured during World War II, and the only captured one now on display in the Western Hemisphere. In 2004, the Museum opened a pit in the front lawn in front of the East Pavilion that would later become the subterranean McCormick Tribune Foundation Exhibition Hall, brought the U-505 out from behind the East Pavilion, and lowered the U-505 inside, opening The New U-505 Experience on June 5, 2005. Take Flight recreates a San Francisco to Chicago flight using a real Boeing 727-22 jet plane donated by United Airlines. Silent film star and stock market investor Colleen Moore's Fairy Castle is on display, as is The Great Train Story, a 3,500-square-foot (330 m²) model railroad that explains the story of transportation from Seattle to Chicago. The Transportation Zone includes exhibits on air and land transportation, including the 999 Empire State Express steam locomotive, the first vehicle ever to exceed 100 mph. The Transportation Zone also features two World War II warplanes donated by the British government, a Junkers Ju.87R-2/Trop Stuka dive-bomber, one of only two intact Stukas left in the world, and a Supermarine Spitfire. The first diesel-powered streamlined stainless-steel train, the Pioneer Zephyr, is on permanent display in the Great Hall, renamed the Entry Hall in 2008, and a free tour goes through it every 10–20 minutes. Several U.S. Navy warship models are on display. There is a flight simulator for the new F-35 Lightning II.

MSI's Henry Crown Space Center includes the Apollo 8 spacecraft which flew the first mission beyond low earth orbit to the Moon, enabling its crew, Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders to become the first ever human beings to see the Earth as a whole, as well as becoming the first to view the Moon up close (as well as the first to view its far side at all). Other exhibits include an OmniMax theater, Scott Carpenter's Mercury-Atlas 7 Aurora 7 spacecraft, a Lunar Module trainer and a life-size mockup of a Space Shuttle. ^[1,3

Sikorsky HH-52A “Seaguard” (USCG 1459, c/n 62-138), The Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, IL. (Photos by John Shupek copyright © 2001 Skytamer Images [4]) (Note: This aircraft has been removed from the Museum)

LTV A-7A-3b-CV “Corsair II” (BuNo 152668), The Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, IL. (Photos by John Shupek copyright © 2001 Skytamer Images [4]) (Note: This aircraft has been removed from the Museum.)

1855 L. Button Fire-Engine Works “Washington No.4”, The Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, IL. (Photos by John Shupek copyright © 2001 Skytamer Images [4]) (Note: This display has been removed from the Museum.)

1856 Hunneman “Tub No.3” Hand-Pumper, The Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, IL. (Photos by John Shupek copyright © 2001 Skytamer Images [4]) (Note: This display has been removed from the Museum.)

1869 Amoskeag Mfg. Co. “Mississippi”, The Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, IL. (Photos by John Shupek copyright © 2001 Skytamer Images [4]) (Note: This display has been removed from the Museum.)

Partial List of Displays

Aircraft

Boeing 40B-2 Air Mail Plane (NC288)
Boeing 727-22 (N7017U, c/n 18309/47)
Curtiss JN-4D “Jenny”
Junkers Ju.87B-2Trop “Stuka” (A5+HL)
LTV A-7A-3b-CV “Corsair II” (BuNo 152668) (Note: This display has been removed from the Museum.)
Sikorsky HH-52A “Seaguard” (USCG 1459, c/n 62-138) (Note: This display has been removed from the Museum.)
Travel Air Model R Racer “Texaco Mystery Ship” (NR1313)
Vickers-Supermarine “Spitfire” Mark.IA (P9306)

Missiles

Boeing ATM-84D “Harpoon”
Hughes XAIM-54A “Phoenix” (HM-X92T-000)
Soviet MKB Raduga P-15 “Termit” Anti-ship Missile

Balloons

1935 Piccard Gondola

Spacecraft

Scott Carpenter's Mercury-Atlas 7 “Aurora 7” Space Capsule
Apollo 8 Command Module
Lunar Module Model

Aircraft/Rocket Engines

1908-1912 Wright 4-Cylinder Vertical Engine
Pratt & Whitney RL-10 Rocket Engine

Pioneers

1903 Wright Flyer (replica)
Robert H. Goddard (Rocket Pioneer)

Jet-Racer

“Spirit of America” Jet-Racer (Note: This display has been removed from the Museum.)

Railroad Locomotives

1825 John Stevens “Steam-Wagon”
New York Central 999 “Empire State Express” Steam Locomotive
Burlington Pioneer Zephyr “The Silver Streak”

Fire-Engines

1855 L. Button Fire-Engine Works “Washington No. 4” (Note: This display has been removed from the Museum.)
1856 Hunneman “Tub No. 3” Hand-Pumper (Note: This display has been removed from the Museum.)
1869 Amoskeag Mfg. Co. “Mississippi” (Note: This display has been removed from the Museum.)

Submarines

German WW-II U-Boat “U-505” Submarine

References

Museum of Science and Industry, website
Google Earth, Satellite Image
Wikipedia, Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, Illinois