Texas Air & Space Museum facts for kids

The Texas Air & Space Museum is an exciting place to visit near the Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport in Amarillo, Texas. It's a special museum that shows off many different kinds of airplanes and spacecraft. You can see both planes used by regular people and those used by the military. Plus, there are lots of cool items from the history of flying and space travel!

A Look Back: The Museum's Story

The museum started in 1989. A group of people in Amarillo who loved airplanes decided to create a museum about air and space. It first opened at a private airport called Tradewind Airport.

In 1997, the museum moved to the Amarillo International Airport. This airport is now known as Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport. The museum moved into old buildings that used to be Amarillo's main airport terminal from 1929 to 1972. This old airport was called English Field, then English Airport, and later Amarillo Air Terminal.

Over time, it became too expensive to keep up the old terminal building and hangars. So, in 2007, the museum had to close its doors. Most of its 14 aircraft were sent to other museums, and the other items were put into storage.

But the story didn't end there! In February 2010, the museum got a new name: the Texas Air & Space Museum. It found new spaces, both inside and outside, at the Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport. The museum happily reopened on February 15, 2011.

When it reopened, the museum had many historical displays about air and space inside. It also had three amazing aircraft: a North American P-51D Mustang, a de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver (which can land on water!), and a de Havilland DHC-4 C-7 Caribou.

More cool planes joined the museum later. In July 2011, the museum got the Speed Johnson F8F Beercat. This plane was built locally and raced in the famous Reno Air Races. In September 2011, a very special plane arrived: a NASA Gulfstream II Shuttle Training Aircraft. NASA called this plane '946'. It was flown 49 times by Rick Husband, who the airport is named after. Rick Husband was the commander of the Space Shuttle Columbia on mission STS-107. Sadly, on February 1, 2003, the Columbia broke apart as it returned to Earth, and all the astronauts on board were lost.

What You Can See: Awesome Exhibits

The museum has many interesting things to see, both inside and outside. You can explore different aircraft and learn about the history of flight.

Cool exhibits inside the museum

The Speed Johnson F8F Beercat and the North American P-51D Mustang planes

The NASA Shuttle Training Aircraft, flown by astronaut Rick Husband

The historic Douglas DC-3 plane

Aircraft Outside: Big Planes to Explore

You can see these large aircraft in the outdoor park:

• de Havilland Canada C-7A Caribou
• Grumman C-11A Shuttle Training Aircraft

Planes Inside: Up Close and Personal

These aircraft are kept inside the museum:

• Bell OH-13S Sioux 63-9085
• Douglas DC-3 N34
• Speed F4F Bearcat

Cool Stuff Inside: Stories and Models

The indoor exhibits tell many stories about aviation history:

• Aviators of the past – Learn about local pilots who made history in flying.
• Airports of the past – Discover nearby airports from the early days of aviation.
• Amarillo Army Airfield – See how aircraft and pilots came and went during the war years.
• Harold English and English Field Airport – Celebrate an important pilot and airfield from the area's early flying days.
• Military Aviation – This section highlights military aircraft and pilots from the war years. It focuses on the nearby Amarillo Army Air Field, which later became Amarillo Air Force Base.
• Model aircraft – See amazing models of both civilian and military planes. All these models were handmade by Jack Rude, a World War II veteran and expert model creator. He was a tail gunner on a B-17 bomber!

Space Exploration: To the Stars and Beyond

This part of the museum is all about the space program. It covers everything from the first Mercury flights to the Space Shuttle missions.