Wow! That’s a common statement from visitors when they enter the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. Located near the end of Washington Dulles International Runways, the Udvar-Hazy Center is a must-see destination the Washington, DC/northern Virginia region.

Anyone who steps into the McDonnell Space Hangar will feel like a kid in a candy store when they get up close to the Center’s collection of space artifacts, including Space Shuttle Discovery, the Apollo 11 Mobile Quarantine Facility, the Gemini VII capsule, space suits, rockets, satellites, Skylab artifacts, and space toys (just to mention a few things).

The Center’s massive exhibit spaces make it easy to social distance, while taking in some pretty amazing sites. The Boeing Aviation Hangar has nearly 200 aircraft on display, including an Air France Concorde, a World War I-era Sopwith Camel, and the record-setting SR-71 Blackbird.

The Museum also has a restoration hangar with an overlook for watching the conservation work underway on a number of artifacts, including the B-26 Maurader Flak Bait, which flew more missions than any other American plane during World War II

Note: Admission to the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center is free.