National Air and Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Házy Center
Aviation Museum, U.S.A.

Archive Photos

National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Házy Center, Chantilly, Virginia circa 2/16/2004 (photos by Jim Hough)

Overview - Steven F. Udvar-Házy Center

National Air and Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Házy Center
• Established: December 15, 2003
• Location: Chantilly, Virginia, United States
• Coordinates: 38.911444°N 77.444111°W
• Type: Aviation Museum
• Visitors: 1.6 million (2017)
• Public transit access: Fairfax Connector No. 983 from Wiehle-Reston East Metro Station via Dulles International Airport
• Website: https://airandspace.si.edu/udvar-hazy-center

The Steven F. Udvar-Házy Center, also called the Udvar-Házy Center, is the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM)'s annex at Washington Dulles International Airport in the Chantilly area of Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. It holds numerous exhibits, including the Space Shuttle Discovery and the Enola Gay.

The 760,000-ft² (71,000 m²) facility was made possible by a $65 million gift in October 1999 to the Smithsonian Institution by Steven F. Udvar-Házy, an immigrant from Hungary and co-founder of the International Lease Finance Corporation, an aircraft leasing corporation. The main NASM building, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C, had always contained more artifacts than could be displayed, and most of the collection had been stored, unavailable to visitors, at the Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration, and Storage Facility in Silver Hill, Maryland. A substantial addition to the center encompassing restoration, conservation and collection-storage facilities was completed in 2010. Restoration facilities and museum archives were moved from the museum's Garber facility to the new sections of the Udvar-Házy Center.

Architecture and Facilities

Designed by Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum, who also designed the National Air and Space Museum building, the Center required 15 years of preparation and was built by Hensel Phelps Construction Co. The exhibition areas comprise two large hangars, the 293,707-square-foot (27,286.3 m²) Boeing Aviation Hangar and the 53,067-square-foot (4,930.1 m²) James S. McDonnell Space Hangar. The Donald D. Engen Observation Tower provides a view of landing operations at adjacent Washington Dulles International Airport. The museum also contains an IMAX theater. A taxiway connects the museum to the airport.

Phase Two of the Udvar-Házy Center will be dedicated to the behind-the-scenes care of the Smithsonian's collection of aircraft, spacecraft, related artifacts and archival materials. On December 2, 2008, the Steven F. Udvar-Házy Center received a gift of $6 million for phase two from Airbus Americas Inc. - the largest corporate gift to the Smithsonian Institution in 2008.

The wing includes:

• The Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar - spacious enough to accommodate several aircraft at one time with a second-floor viewing area designed to give visitors a behind-the-scenes look.
• Archives - the foremost collection of documentary records of the history, science and technology of aeronautics and space flight will be housed in a single location for the first time, providing researchers with ample space and equipment.
• The Emil Buehler Conservation Laboratory - will provide conservators much-needed space to develop and execute specialized preservation strategies for artifacts.
• Collections processing unit - a dedicated loading dock and specially designed secure area for initial inspection and analysis of artifacts.

References

1. Photos: Jim Hough
2. Wikipedia: NASM Steven F. Udvar-Házy Center