Through the Regional Planetary Image Facility, CEPS 

 continued its mandate to serve NASA-funded Principal 

 Investigatots, other interested researchers, and the general 

 public by providing access to catalogued collections of imag- 

 ing data from all American spacecraft mission. 



Among the items added to the museum's collection this 

 year was a set of Smithsonian 150th anniversary commemora- 

 tive coins flown on the Space Shuttle (STS-79) mission in 

 1996. These were the first U.S. commemorative coins to be 

 flown in space, and were presented to the directors of both 

 NASM and the NMAH in a ceremony at NASM in December 

 1996. The Space History Division also arranged for the loan of 

 numerous objects, including the loan of the Apollo 14 Com- 

 mand Module to the Astronaut Hall of Fame in Titusville, 

 Florida. The Aeronautics Division added an Allied Signal 85- 

 12(H) auxiliary propulsion unit and an AGM-129 to the pro- 

 pulsion collection along with a cruise missile with a turbojet 

 engine that flew halfway around the world and was designed 

 by the Williams Company. 



The museum also acquired two suits used by Ametican 

 astronauts on Mir: the spacesuit worn by Norm Thagard, and 

 one designed to imitate the effects of gravity on the muscles 

 and bones during long spaceflights used by Shannon Lucid 

 during her six-month stay on Mir. 



In February 1997 NASM received the Herbert Stephen 

 Desind Collection that consists of 84 cubic feet of material, 

 primarily photographs of aerospace topics. The bulk of the 

 material relates to U.S. space exploration, including extensive 

 photo files on crewed missions through the Space Shuttle. 

 The collection is one of the most thorough in its coverage of 

 this field and contains both NASA and manufacturer- 

 generated photographs. 



The Collections Division has five major ongoing restora- 

 tion projects at the Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration, 

 and Storage Facility. A World War II RAF Hawker Hurri- 

 cane, a World War II Japanese Aichi Sieran, a World War I 

 vintage Neiuport 28, a Soviet SA-2 Guideline surface-to-air 

 missile, and Betty Skelton's famous Pitts S-lC "Little Stinker" 

 are being restored. In addition, several loans have required ex- 

 tensive work in the shop including the Waterman Aerobile, 

 the Fulton Airphibian, and the Berliner Helicopter. 



Other major projects of the Collections Division include 

 the creation of the first conservation lab within the Paul E. 

 Garber Preservation, Restoration, and Storage Facility and the 

 building of another temperature-and-humidity-controlled 

 storage container for the NASM art and poster collection. 



Exhibits and Public Services 



In addition to those mentioned above, the Exhibits Division 

 designed and executed several other exhibits. 



"Women and Flight," a temporary, traveling exhibition, 

 opened in June 1997. The exhibition showcased the photo- 

 graphs of NASM staff photographer Carolyn Russo. Russo 

 traveled around the country and as far away as Russia to cap- 

 ture images of women fliers as diverse as an astronaut, Eskimo 



bush pilot, aerobatic pilot, aerial artist, skywriter, hang 

 glider, airline pilot, and many other women ranging in age 

 from 18 to 85. The photogtaphs were accompanied by excerpts 

 from interviews Russo conducted with the women about their 

 experiences and their love of flight. 



In November 1996 a number of exhibits opened around the 

 museum commemorating the 50th annivetsary of the U.S. Air 

 Force, including a Korean War era F-86 Sabre jet fighter, a 

 collection of models of Air Force aircraft, and extensive works 

 of art from the Air Force collection. 



The Spirit of Texas, the helicopter that Ross Perot, Jr., and 

 J. Coburn flew around the world in 1982, was installed in the 

 "Pioneets of Flight" gallery. Other artifacts that have gone on 

 display include a motorcycle that aircraft builder Glenn Cur- 

 tiss built in 1906 (in "Early Flight") to test an engine for 

 aircraft use (he also set a world land speed record with it) and 

 a GOES weathet satellite model (in "Looking at Earth"). A 

 popular exhibit on aerobatic champion Patty Wagstaff, featur- 

 ing her Extra 260 aircraft was reinstalled. The balloon gon- 

 dola in which aeronaut Steve Fossett set distance records was 

 on short-term display. 



In April at the National Science Teachers Association Con- 

 vention in New Orleans, the Education Unit presented "Ex- 

 ploring the Planets," an on-line gallery, and related student 

 activities. They also conducted workshops on "Exploring the 

 Planets" to show teachets and curriculum specialists how to 

 use the museum's internet resources for planetary studies. A 

 third offering was a course on "How Things Fly," which gave 

 teachers a basic understanding of the principles of flight and 

 how to use the resources of the museum, especially the "How 

 Things Fly" exhibition. 



The Education Unit developed two new educational publi- 

 cations for the "How Things Fly" exhibition: a Field Tup 

 Guide to assist teachers who are planning bring a class to the 

 museum and a visitor guide that applies the science in the 

 exhibition to selected aircraft in the collection. 



In FY 1997, the museum's Docent Program gave school 

 tours and demonstrations to more than 13,000 students and 

 reached tens of thousands of the general visitots through 

 the public tours. They also gave tours to 8,184 visitors to 

 Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration, and Storage 

 Facility. 



National Museum of African Art 



Rosiyn A. Walker, Director 



The National Museum of African Art celebtates the rich 

 visual traditions and extraordinarily diverse cultures of Africa 

 and fosters an appreciation of African art and civilizations 

 through its collections, exhibitions, research, and public 

 programs. 



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