portunity to learn about the premiere carrier-based fighter of 

 World War II. 



"Flights of Fancy: Photographs by Jacques-Henri Lartigue, 

 1904-1922," opened in September 1995. In 1904, at the age of 

 eight, Lartigue photographed the first glider flight by French 

 aviator Gabriel Voisin. By the age of 15, he had taken more 

 than 1,000 photographs of early aviators and flying machines. 

 This temporary exhibition features 84 prints. 



A light-hearted look at one of America's best-known toys, 

 "Flight Time Barbie: Dolls from the Popular Culture Collec- 

 tion of the National Air and Space Museum" was on display 

 from June 9 through Sept. 4, 1995. Fifty-six space- and avia- 

 tion-related toys, including 15 Barbie dolls, 19 other Mattel 

 personalities, outfits and playsets, were included in the sum- 

 mertime display. 



The first in a series of ma|or updates to the "Exploring the 

 Planets" gallery were made in 1995. A "What's New" unit will 

 highlight the Galileo Mission to Jupiter. It has been designed 

 to allow for quick updates as new images and data become 

 available. A unique, state-of-the-art 10' X 10' global color mo- 

 saic of Venus generated for NASM at NASA's Jet Propulsion 

 Laboratory using images returned by the Magellan spacecraft 

 has been installed over the gallery's entrance. 



Publications and Research 



Retired Vice Admiral Donald Engen, U.S. Navy, is the 

 museum's Dewitt C. Ramsey Chair for Naval Aviation His- 

 tory. During his tenure as Ramsey Fellow, Admiral Engen is 

 writing a book on the development of naval aviation from 

 World War II through the 1980s. 



Von Hardesty, of the Department of Aeronautics, was cho- 

 sen as a Regents Publication Fellow for 1994-1995. He is the 

 editor of the Smithsonian History of Aviation Book Series. 

 The series, now in its seventh year, has a total of 26 publica- 

 tions. 



Treasures of the National Air and Space Museum, a small- 

 format (4X4-1/2 in) picture book published in September, fea- 

 tures more than 280 artifacts from the Museum's aeronautics 

 and space collection. Published in April 1995, Aviation: A 

 Smithsonian Guide and Spaceflight: A Smithsonian Guide, explore 

 the technological and human achievements of aviation and 

 space flight. A third book in this series, "Planets: A Smithson- 

 ian Guide" was completed. 



Tom Crouch, chairman of the Department of Aeronautics, 

 completed an essay, "Capable of Flight: The Saga of the 1903 

 Wright Airplane," for the forthcoming volume, The Smithson- 

 ian on Exhibition. He also assisted the 2003 Committee of Day- 

 ton, Ohio, the Ohio Centennial of Flight Commission, the 

 North Carolina Centennial of Flight Commission and the 

 First Flight Society, Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in planning 

 for the 100th anniversary of powered flight. 



Flying aboard the Kuiper Airborne Observatory, a modified 

 C-14I aircraft and telescope, Laboratory for Astrophysics staff 

 members discovered that strong natural infrared lasers occur 

 in the disk of material around a peculiar star, MWC349, and 



they have successfully modeled the phenomenon in some 

 detail. 



CEPS' ongoing research in Earth's drylands and studies as- 

 sessing anthropogenic changes to the Earth's surface are part 

 of the Institution's Global Change Research Program. Staff 

 members continued their study of present day sand transport 

 and paleoclimatic change in the Western Desert of Egypt; con- 

 ducted field work in support of a study of environmental sta- 

 bility and change at the Mpala Research Station, central 

 Kenya; and, using remote sensing data, field evidence, and 

 sedimentological data, demonstrated that sand deposits in the 

 Mojave Desert in the southwestern United States have been 

 transported along distinct paths, crossing topographic barriers 

 and several ad]acenr drainage basins. 



As a component of CEPS research in planetary geology and 

 geophysics, staff members continued geologic mapping of 

 areas of Mars; and, using radar images and data from Magel- 

 lan, of Venus. CEPS Chairman Tom Watters, with a colleague 

 at Cornell University, published the results of a comparative 

 study of volcano-tectonic structures on Mars and analogous 

 structures on Venus known as coronae. Ted Maxwell and Bob 

 Craddock published the results of their analyses of the ancient 

 terrain that provides further support for an early, wet Martian 

 climate. Bruce Campbell, Bob Craddock, and Tom Watters 

 have begun investigations of the Moon using new data re- 

 turned by the Clementine spacecraft. 



Education and Outreach Activities 



During the past year, more than 129,000 people participated 

 in educational programs and services at the Museum, 65,000 

 of them students. Several schools utilized the programs via 

 Internet and television programs. The museum continues to 

 look for opportunities to provide educational materials and re- 

 sources not only to museum visitors, but also to educators and 

 families who cannot physically come to the museum. 



In July 1996, the museum will open "How Things Fly." 

 The purpose of the gallery, is to teach the basic forces of flight 

 in a hands-on, interactive fashion. The gallery will be sup- 

 ported by the museum's successful Explainers Program, a 

 group of high school and college students who provide chil- 

 dren and families with demonstrations on the forces of flight 

 and the nature of the universe. The Cessna Aircraft Company 

 pledged $1.5 million for a ten-year period to fund "The Ex- 

 plainers." Cessna's gift is the largest ever received by the Mu- 

 seum for an educational program. 



Other recent successes include a summer camp for students 

 in grades 4-12, focusing on the curricula for "Where Next, Co- 

 lumbus?," and two IMAX films, "Blue Planet" and "Destiny 

 in Space." More than 300 students attended the camp, made 

 possible through a gift from the M&M Mars Company. 



In collaboration with the Foundation for Advancements in 

 Science Education, the Public Broadcasting System, the Na- 

 tional Science Foundation, and several other funders, the De- 

 partment launched "Innovations in the American Classroom." 

 This special series invites nationally recognized outstanding 



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