AIR AND SPACE LEGACY, NOW AND THEN

Man's quest to make of the sky a friendly environment to move freely like a bird and see the world from a more global perspective has resulted in the development of amazing machines that we call airplanes. Since the first sustained flight by the Wright brothers in December 1903, aviation has seen a massive an very diverse proliferation of aircrafts, not only with peaceful purposes for research, transport and leisure, but also with the purpose of being able to engage in combat for the sake of defense. Regardless of the objective in mind, the end result is that most of those aircrafts are capable of performing beatiful, graceful and amazing maneuvers thanks to their physical characteristics thoughtfully conceived. This is the work of aeronautical engineers whose skills designed and gave shape to those beautiful mechanical birds. But man's desire to populate the sky has gone beyond Earth's atmosphere, so complex and powerful rockets and spacecrafts have been built, thus allowing human beings -although a very reduced number of people so far- to live and work in space, and even go and explore the Moon.

A small number of the most famous and remarkable flying machines -both for air and space- are stored and in many cases displayed in museums throughout the world. A few of them are kept for the public in active facilities such as airports and space centers. My international trips as a researcher have allowed me to come in close proximity and visit those places that are now proud home to those artifacts that, once upon a time, wrote history and gave humans the possibility of moving beyond the bonds of gravity. With my camera I have tried to capture the details and overal beauty of those man-made birds to record and give some testimony of their aesthetic and achievements.

The following is my collection of photographs taken at museums and space centers that I have had the opportunity to visit so far. All photographs are copyright (2004-2023) by Ricardo Demarco. If you want to use any of them please contact me.

Museums: Deutsches Museum, Flugwerft Schleissheim, Germany National Air & Space Museum, U.S.A.: Feb 04 | Oct 04 | Aug 05 | Jan 06 | Sep 07 | Dec 13 | Jul 19 National US Air Force Museum, Ohio, U.S.A. Driggs-reed Memorial Airport, U.S.A. USS Intrepid, NYC, U.S.A.: Nov 04 | Aug 05 | Jan 16 USS Midway, San Diego, U.S.A. March Field Air Museum, Riverside, U.S.A.	USS Hornet, Alameda, U.S.A. Museum of Flight, Seattle, U.S.A. California Science Center, L.A., U.S.A.: Jul 13 | Jan 19 Museo Nacional Aeronáutico y del Espacio, Chile Le Bourget, Paris, France Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum, McMinnville, U.S.A.: Jul 15 | Jun 16 Future of Flight Center (Boeing at Everett, U.S.A.) Tillamook Air Museum, U.S.A.	Space Centers: Kennedy Space Center, U.S.A.: Oct 11 | Feb 15 | Jan 16 Johnson Space Center, Houston, U.S.A. NASA Headquarters, Washington D.C., U.S.A. Others: Space Telescope Science Institute, U.S.A. Apollo 50, U.S.A. Space Diplomacy Forum, U.S.A. By the Light of the Silvery Moon, U.S.A. High Altitude Gear, U.S.A.

A unique opportunity: me posing with the space shuttle Endeavour (background) in the Vehicle Assembly Building of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA. At the time this image was obtained, Endeavour was being prepared for her final flight to the Science Museum in Los Angeles, California, were it is currently on permanent display. Credit: Isabel Rivera.