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California Science Center
Aerospace Hall
Exposition Park
700 State Drive
Los Angeles, California 90037
Phone: (213) 744-7400
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Lockheed A-12 "Oxcart" (Two-Seater) CIA Reconnaissance Aircraft
Photo by John Shupek
Overview
The California Science Center is located in Exposition Park, which is home to a variety of great museums and attractions. It's also a neighbor to the University of Southern California and community gathering place Mercado La Paloma. Events take place in and around Exposition Park all year, so visit often to see what's coming up!
For nearly 20 years the California Science Center (and its predecessor institution, the California Museum of Science and Industry) has received support from various curatorial departments at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum. The artifacts which have been entrusted to the Science Center's care include, from the Aeronautics Department, Excalibur III (flown by Captain Charles Blair), and the beautiful 1929 Velie Monocoupe, painstakingly restored by world famous aviator Tony LeVier. Artifacts entrusted to the Science Center from the Department of Space History include flown spacecraft such as the Gemini 11 and Mercury MR-2 space capsules; a flown Apollo spacesuit and several orbiting astronomical observatories and deep space probes. These priceless artifacts play a key role in helping the Science Center to interpret the science and engineering principles that underlie important accomplishments in aeronautics and space exploration.
The Gemini Capsule they have is on loan from the Smithsonian, as it looked when it was recovered from its voyage in space. Image courtesy of NASA.
This longstanding relationship between the Science Center and the Smithsonian has proven beneficial to the National Air and Space Museum as well. A clear priority of the Smithsonian Institution is to make its resources available to a wide range of cultural and educational organizations across the United States so that it becomes a truly national institution. It is in this spirit that a new outreach effort called the Affiliations Program was created to foster fruitful partnerships with museums and cultural organizations throughout the country. In recognition of the need to solicit reputable partners for the Affiliations Program, in March 2000 the chairman of the National Air and Space Museum's Space History Department invited the California Science Center to formally apply for the program. In response to this invitation, the Science Center submitted its formal request for the new status and in October 2000 entered a new chapter in its relationship with the Smithsonian Institution by formally becoming a Smithsonian Affiliate.
Aircraft
