And it's why space capsules reenter the Earth's atmosphere with the large rounded surface facing forward. This being a flight exhibit, I kept looking up. It's better to think of the engine as creating an explosion that pushes the rocket forward whether there's air around it or not. The Times regrets the error. Volunteer docents and paid explainers are on hand.
Supervisors oversee the place from a control tower mock-up overlooking the gallery.
Stetser explained that a team of 15 people at NASM worked on the gallery, which is generously supported by Boeing, NASA, the National Science Foundation, Cessna, the James Smithson Society and others. We walked into a cutaway of a Boeing 757 that shows, for instance, how the windows are built and the seat structure. I climbed into the cockpit of a Cessna 150 and pretended to fly while I learned how to control the ailerons, rudder and elevator. I told Stetser and Lopez that I had never learned to fly but had once sat in the front seat of a homemade glider watching the ground rush up at me and hoping that the pilot, at my back, was watching it rush up, too. All rights reserved.