Completing a Seven-Year Restoration in Washington
After seven years of work and nearly $1 billion spent, the Smithsonian has completed the renovation and reimagination of the National Air and Space Museum’s flagship building in Washington, DC. On October 30, 2026, the institution debuted its last-to-open spaceflight exhibition, opening a new gallery devoted to establishing a spacefaring civilization.
Entitled “At Home in Space,” the new gallery succeeds the earlier exhibition “Moving Beyond Earth” and anchors the final stretch of the museum’s extensive revitalization project. Chris Browne, John and Adrienne Mars Director of the museum, noted that the public can once again visit the entirety of the building. Admission to all galleries remains free, though timed-entry passes are still required.
Inside the Permanent Exhibition Space
Curator Jennifer Levasseur guided visitors through the gallery, which spans the realities of long-duration spaceflight. An overhead mockup features an astronaut positioned on the end of a robotic arm against a full-size photo mural of the International Space Station. The astronaut wears an Expedition 60 mission patch.
🔴 Smithsonian completes $1B Air and Space Museum renovation with 'At Home in Space' gallery The National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC opened its final exhibition after seven years of renovation work on October 30. The gallery, titled 'At Home in Space,' chronicles… pic.twitter.com/qP1FdovYYx
The exhibition houses equipment and crew artifacts utilized in low Earth orbit. Visitors encounter coffee cups engineered specifically for microgravity, a flown miniPCR biotech toolkit, and a MinION portable device used to sequence DNA in space for the first time. The display also includes the first 3D printer flown in space. Originally sent up in 2014 by Made In Space—now part of Redwire—and NASA, the device produced hundreds of items, ranging from astronaut tools to station repair components.
Additional artifacts include a space shuttle main engine, a prototype humanoid robot named Robonaut 1A, and an extravehicular mobility unit (EMU) spacesuit. According to Levasseur, this marks the first and potentially only public display of a fully flown set of EMU equipment in the world. The suit on display features a portable life support system shell, while the actual backpacks are still needed for use.
The gallery also displays the in-flight “shirt-sleeve” suits worn by Guy Bluford and Sally Ride during their respective space shuttle missions. Furthermore, the exhibition includes recovered components from the Challenger and Columbia tragedies, marking only the second public display of fallen orbiter debris following a Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex exhibit.
Olfactory Displays and the Path to the Moon
Sensory installations feature prominently in the new space. Levasseur pointed out that the gallery answers what space and the ISS smell like by incorporating scent oils into dedicated interactive stations. Visitors can interact with various displays detailing orbital living before reaching the gallery’s conclusion.
That final section is reserved for the Artemis I capsule, the spacecraft that flew without astronauts to the Moon in 2022. A Lockheed Martin scale model currently stands as a placeholder until NASA delivers the authentic spacecraft to the Smithsonian later this year. A piece of fabric from the Wright Flyer that flew to the moon with Artemis II is also on display.
Finishing the Flagship Museum Overhaul
The opening of “At Home in Space” marks the functional conclusion of the museum’s massive infrastructure overhaul, which involved refacing exterior cladding and replacing mechanical systems. The first half of the museum originally reopened in 2022 with eight new or reimagined galleries, followed by a second phase in 2025 and five additional galleries on July 1.
The museum is scheduled to open its “Modern Military Aviation” gallery on November 11.
