NASA Ames Exploration Center

NASA Ames Exploration Center is a museum at a research facility in California that displays actual spacecraft and components from previous missions. The facility also shows interactive displays explaining how spacecraft work and how testing for aircraft and space systems takes place.

The location began in 1939 as the nation's second aeronautics laboratory and later supported development of spacecraft for Apollo and other space programs. The current exhibit documents this long involvement in American space history.

The center displays how space exploration shapes modern life through objects and exhibits that show how people understand and engage with space missions. Visitors see here how these endeavors influenced the everyday technology that people use today.

Plan your visit during weekday and weekend opening hours when all exhibit areas are accessible. Visitors should allow enough time to try the interactive displays and view the displayed objects.

The site houses one of the world's largest wind tunnels where complete aircraft are tested to check their performance in extreme conditions. This testing function was crucial to the development of many spacecraft and remains an active part of research today.