Outside Washington, D.C., space shuttles, fighter jets, and other aircraft are on display. They’re kept in two large hangars that make up the Smithsonian’s Udvar-Hazy Center. It’s an archive and restoration center for the National Air and Space Museum (NASM). The newest addition to this lineup is a bit more fantastical: It’s an X-wing, a fighter spacecraft flown by Poe Dameron in the movie Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Fictional vehicles may sound like an odd choice to display in a history museum, but they play a key role in aviation history, says Margaret Weitekamp. She’s the curator for the NASM’s social and cultural history collection.
“Imagination and inspiration have always been really important parts of the history of flight,” Weitekamp says. “Since 1977, Star Wars has been a powerful and persuasive vision of what spaceflight could look like in several centuries.”
Just outside Washington, D.C., you can see space shuttles, fighter jets, and other historical aircraft. They’re on display in two large hangars at the Smithsonian’s Udvar-Hazy Center, run by the National Air and Space Museum (NASM). Visitors will soon be able to check out something a bit more fantastical: a model of an X-wing. Poe Dameron flies this fictional fighter spacecraft in the movie Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Why show off an imaginary vehicle in a history museum? Because science fiction plays a key role in aviation history, says Margaret Weitekamp, a curator at NASM. “Imagination and inspiration have always been really important parts of the history of flight,” Weitekamp says. “Since 1977, Star Wars has been a powerful and persuasive vision of what spaceflight could look like in several centuries.”