Space in Our Collections

Each year, National Space Day is celebrated on the first Friday of May to recognize the achievements of space exploration and inspire interest in STEM fields. In honor of National Space Day, we looked into our Museum Collections to see where architecture intersects with the stars.

Paper Models Collection, Gift of David Kemnitzer

(Left) In 1969, Gulf™ Oil gas stations distributed this paper model of the Apollo 11 Lunar Module, along with an instruction sheet, in anticipation of the moon landing. The Lunar Module (LM) is a two-stage spacecraft: the lower stage acts as both the landing gear and launch platform, while the upper stage serves as the astronauts’ cabin and houses the ascent engine used to return to the orbiting Command and Service Modules. Altogether, the LM weighs about 35,000 pounds—that’s nearly as much as three adult elephants!

(Right) This paper model, designed and published in 1985, shows just how interested people were in space even 20 years after we landed on the moon. The Space Shuttle program began in 1981 and successful flights took place only one year later in 1982. These shuttles were designed for reuse and each orbiter was intended to survive 100 launches or 10 years of operation.

Robert C. Lautman Photography Collection, Gift of the Estate of Robert C. Lautman

Robert Lautman’s black-and-white photograph, taken in the late 1970s, captures the National Air and Space Museum at night with the Apollo 11 Lunar Module beautifully centered. The museum opened on July 4, 1976, on the National Mall in Washington, DC. Before then, the nation’s aeronautical and astronautical collections were housed in the Arts and Industries Building and a nearby small structure.

Washington National Cathedral Construction Archives Collection, Gift of the Washington National Cathedral

This is a 1973 draft of the Space Window at the Washington National Cathedral, created by artist Rodney Winfield. The final window was dedicated in 1974, marking the fifth anniversary of the moon landing. Read the full description from the Washington National Cathedral:

The window contains a 7.18-gram basalt lunar rock from the Sea of Tranquility, donated to the Cathedral by the crew of Apollo 11 (Neil Armstrong, Edwin (Buzz) Aldrin and Michael Collins). The window was dedicated on the fifth anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing, July 21, 1974. Artist Rodney Winfield of St. Louis created the design to symbolize the macrocosm and microcosm of space.

Radiations of light emanate from numerous solar spheres. Shining through deep colors are white dots symbolizing stars. The thin white trajectory encircling a sphere depicts a manned space ship. Winfield wanted to show the minuteness of humanity in God’s universe. Inspiration for the window’s design and color palette came from photographs taken during the Apollo 11 mission. Dr. Thomas Paine, director of NASA during the first three years of the Nixon administration, was the window’s benefactor. The “Space Window” is the only stained glass window in the Cathedral that incorporates all three lancets into a single image.