Technology & Innovation

Explore Technology & Innovation across the Smithsonian through stories, events, and exhibitions. Use the filters to browse by format, then bookmark events and exhibitions to keep track of what you want to visit or attend.

472 results
A person sits on the floor and holds a small white device over a large, vivid painting. A cord connects the device to laptop.
The material that makes each color, called a pigment, can tell us a lot about a painting’s time period, place, and artist.
A large, clear, rectangle-shape display case is filled with numerous artifacts, including space-theme games, toys, T-shirts, and license plates. In front of the case is a panel printed with captions, including this question: Why go to space? Digital renderings of a woman, child, and man are seen looking at and pointing to the display case.
The Futures in Space explores the potential near- and long-term futures that may emerge with advances in space exploration technology and enterprise. The gallery features developing technologies that bring down the cost of space, aim to . Shortened snippet. View full page for more details.
Location
National Air and Space Museum
– Ongoing
Front facing photograph of the Pioneers of Flight exhibit with a large plane suspended from the ceiling and a large compass in tile on the floor
In the 1920s and 30s, aviation pioneers pushed boundaries and blazed new trails in the air. The Pioneers of Flight celebrates this pivotal era of aviation with a vibrant space that features iconic aircraft, personal stories that build . Shortened snippet. View full page for more details.
Location
National Air and Space Museum
– Ongoing
Photograph of a museum exhibit with one small white airplane suspended from the ceiling to the left and many display boxes related to the environment.
Aerospace and Our Changing Environment focuses on how aerospace innovations help us understand climate change while providing new technologies to respond to the challenge. Aerospace and Our Changing Environment aims to explore both the science . Shortened snippet. View full page for more details.
Location
National Air and Space Museum
– Ongoing
A view of the Boeing Milestone exhibit with several large airplanes hanging from the ceiling and floor to ceiling glass windows in the background.
The Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall showcases some of the museum’s most iconic objects. With artifacts arrayed along walls and suspended from the ceiling—and interpretive displays that provide background and context—this central gallery of the. Shortened snippet. View full page for more details.
Location
National Air and Space Museum
– Ongoing
Image of World War 1 era plane. Two wings are seen parallel to each other with a design of a white star with a red circle in the middle atop a blue circle on the bottom of the wings.
The World War I exhibition uses fascinating artifacts and the distinctive sights and sounds of early combat aircraft to tell the story of how remarkable people adapted the new technology of the airplane to warfare and changed how the world . Shortened snippet. View full page for more details.
Location
National Air and Space Museum
– Ongoing
Satellite image of Earth with a black background.
On-going discovery about how our planet works is central to the research of both the Smithsonian and NASA. Data collected from instruments in space orbiting Earth and on the ground helps scientists, policy makers, and communities around the . Shortened snippet. View full page for more details.
Location
National Museum of Natural History
– Ongoing
Driverless car on a track. The car is called Stanley.
Stanley, the self-driving winner of a historic robotic vehicle race in 2005, is the landmark object on east wing of the museum’s third floor, connecting the military and political history exhibitions. At the time of Stanley’s development, the U. Shortened snippet. View full page for more details.
Location
National Museum of American History
– Ongoing