Texas Air & Space Museum facts for kids

The Texas Air & Space Museum is a cool place to visit in Amarillo, Texas. It's right next to the Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport. This museum shows off amazing airplanes and spacecraft. You can see both planes used by regular people and those used by the military. They also have lots of interesting items from air and space history.

History of the Museum

How the Museum Started

In 1989, a group of people in Amarillo who loved airplanes decided to start a museum. They created the first air and space museum at Tradewind Airport. This airport was a private one in the southeast part of Amarillo.

Moving to a New Home

In 1997, the museum moved to a bigger location. It went to the Amarillo International Airport. This airport is now called Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport. The museum moved into old buildings that used to be the city's main airport terminal. These buildings were used for flights from 1929 to 1972. They were known as English Field, then English Airport, and finally Amarillo Air Terminal.

A Short Break and Reopening

Keeping the old airport buildings in good shape became too expensive. So, in 2007, the museum had to close its doors. Most of its airplanes (13 out of 14) were sent to other museums. All the other cool 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 indoor and outdoor spaces at the Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport. On February 15, 2011, the museum reopened to the public. It had many historical displays inside. It also had three airplanes: a North American P-51D Mustang, a de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver, and a de Havilland DHC-4 C-7 Caribou.

New Additions to the Collection

In July 2011, the museum added a special plane called the Speed Johnson F8F Beercat. This plane was built and flown locally for races. In September 2011, another important aircraft arrived. It was a NASA Gulfstream II Shuttle Training Aircraft. NASA called it '946'. This plane was flown 49 times by Rick Husband. He was an astronaut and the commander of the Space Shuttle Columbia on mission STS-107. Sadly, the Columbia broke apart when it returned to Earth on February 1, 2003. All the crew members, including Rick Husband, passed away. The airport is named after him to honor his memory.

What You Can See: Exhibits

Indoor exhibits on the east wall of room 101

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

1974 Grumman G-1159 NASA Shuttle Training Aircraft flown 49 times by astronaut Rick Husband

1945 Douglas DC-3 N34, a historic plane that flew from Oklahoma City to Amarillo in 2014

Outdoor Aircraft Park

You can see these large aircraft outside:

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

Aircraft Indoors

Inside the museum, you can get a closer look at these planes:

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

Indoor Displays

The museum has many interesting displays inside, including:

• Local Aviation Heroes: This section tells stories about pilots and others from the area. They made important history in aviation.
• Old Airports: Learn about airports that were important in the early days of flying.
• Amarillo Army Airfield: Discover the history of planes and pilots during the war years at this local airfield.
• Harold English and English Field Airport: This display celebrates a very important pilot and the airport named after him.
• Military Aviation: See how military planes and pilots played a role in wars. It focuses on the nearby Amarillo Army Air Field, which later became Amarillo Air Force Base.
• Model Airplanes: Look at amazing models of both civilian and military aircraft. These models were all handmade by Jack Rude. He was a World War II veteran and a B-17 tail gunner.

Space Exploration

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