Strategic Air and Space Museum

, and several golf courses.

=History=The museum began with its first airplane in 1959 as the Strategic Aerospace Museum at Offutt Air Force Base. General Curtis LeMay's vision of a Museum that preserved historic aircraft had become a reality. Over the following years, the museum's name changed to the Strategic Air Command Museum or SAC Museum.

On May 16, 1998, after a 33 million-dollar grass roots capital campaign, the Museum moved to a location more accessible to the public.

On June 15, 2001 the name of the Strategic Air Command (SAC) Museum was changed to the Strategic Air & Space Museum. This change incorporated the Museum's rich past while reaching out to a growing audience through dynamic programming and exciting educational programs that captivate the interests and imaginations of everyone.

The Museum is a $29.5 million, convert|300000|sqft|m2|sing=on building that features a glass atrium, two aircraft display hangars, a traveling exhibit area, a children's interactive gallery, a 200-seat theater, a Museum store, an aircraft restoration gallery, and a snack bar. The glass atrium is constructed of 525 glass panels that encase a Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird. The two aircraft display hangars protect the aircraft collection and exhibits from harsh outdoor elements. The museum participates in an exhibit exchange program with other national museums and displays them in the traveling exhibit area. Three large missiles are displayed vertically outdoors in front of the museum.

=Collection=The museum's collection includes examples of most aircraft operated by the Strategic Air Command, including:

* Avro Hawker Vulcan, one of three on display in the United States
* Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress
* Boeing B-29TB Superfortress
* Boeing B-47 Stratojet
* Boeing RB-52B Stratofortress
* Boeing KC-97G Stratofreighter
* Boeing EC-135 Looking Glass
* Convair B-36J Peacemaker, one of only four surviving
* Convair B-58 Hustler
* McDonnell XF-85 Goblin, one of only two ever produced
* Lockheed U-2C Dragon Lady
* Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird
* North American B-25N Mitchell
* North American B-25N Mitchell (sectioned fuselage) "44-28738"
* Apollo Block I Command Module, flown on AS-201
* Rockwell B-1A Lancer, one of only two surviving
* General Dynamics FB-111A S/N 68-0267

=Traveling exhibits=The current traveling exhibit is SPACE: A JOURNEY TO OUR FUTURE which includes a walk-through mock-up of a possible Martian base, displays on space exploration, and slices of meteorites from Mars and the Moon.

=References=

External links

* [http://www.sacmuseum.org/ Official website]