Admission will be free at The Museum of Flight on Saturday.
Museum President and CEO Doug King said Saturday will be a day to celebrate the institution’s acquisition of a space shuttle trainer, and free admission is a way the Museum can show its gratitude for the community’s goodwill and support during the Museum’s long effort to bring a NASA space shuttle to Seattle.
NASA announced this week that the retired space shuttles will be awarded to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the California Science Center in Los Angeles, the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
“While we are happy for the cities which have been awarded one the retiring space shuttles, we are thrilled to receive the full-fuselage shuttle trainer,” King said. “Not only is it a unique and exciting educational artifact to have as a centerpiece of our Space Gallery, but, unlike the actual shuttles, we will be able to allow the public to walk inside it and actually see where the shuttle astronauts trained. We invite everyone to celebrate with us at the Museum this Saturday.”
The non-profit Museum of Flight is one of the largest independent air and space museums in the world. The Museum’s collection includes more than 150 historically significant air- and spacecraft, as well as the William E. Boeing Red Barn® – the original manufacturing facility of the Boeing Co.
The Airpark includes outdoor displays with the first jet Air Force One, a Concorde airliner, and the first Boeing 747 jumbo jet. The Museum aeronautical library and archival holdings are the largest on the West Coast. The Education Office offers weekend family programs, programs for students and educators, and overnight camps for children. McCormick & Schmick’s Wings Café is on site.
The Museum of Flight is located at 9404 E. Marginal Way S., Seattle, Exit 158 off Interstate 5 on Boeing Field halfway between downtown Seattle and Sea-Tac Airport. The Museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $16 for adults, $14 for seniors 65 and older, $13 for active military, $9 for youth 5 to 17, and free for children under 5. Group rates are available. Admission on the first Thursday of the month is free from 5 to 9 p.m. courtesy of Wells Fargo. For general Museum information, please call 206-764-5720 or visit www.museumofflight.org.
