The first aerial circumnavigation of the world was completed in 1924 by four aviators from an eight-man team of the United States Army Air Service, the precursor of the United States Air Force. The 17
Photograph of three Douglas World Cruiser aircraft on a beach, Alaska, 1924. New Orleans is in the foreground.
The aircraft shown here, Chicago, led the first round the world flight in 1924.
Pilots of the 1924 Round The World Flight
Major Martin and Sergeant Harvey at Port Moller after crash of the Seattle
The National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution is a museum in Washington, D.C., United States, dedicated to human flight and space exploration.
First aerial circumnavigation
…in the Smithsonian's Arts and Industries Building. In 1974, Chicago was restored under the direction of Walter Roderick, and transferred to the new National Air and Space Museum building for display in their Barron Hilton Pioneers of Flight exhibition gallery. Beginning in 1957, New Orleans was displayed at the National Museum…
Ad Astra sculpture at the museum entrance on the National Mall
The Spirit of St. Louis, flown by aviator Charles Lindbergh in 1927 on the first solo nonstop transatlantic flight
The Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia carried astronauts Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, and Michael Collins to the Moon and back during the first human lunar landing mission, July 1969
Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at the Dedication of the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian