learn more about the museum as we talk with the direct, the curator, and valerie neal, chair of the museum's space history department. you can join the conversation as we'll take your phone calls, e-mails and tweets. the 40th anniversary, live this evening beginning at 6:00 eastern on c-span3's american history tv. >>> each week, american history tv's reel america brings your archival films that help tell the story of the 20th century. 50 years ago on march 16th, 1956, gemini 8 blasted off with neil armstrong and david scott on board. it was the sixth manned mission and one of the primary objectives was to rendezvous and dock with the gina spacecraft. this is a 25 minute nasa film, telling the story of a first docking with another aircraft in space and what caused it to violently tumble in space. the astronauts were forced to abort the mission and return to earth approximately ten hours after blastoff. >>> ignition. liftoff. liftoff. >> good flight. >> how is it looking? >> low, no problem. >> roger, how about you. >> go for stage. >> staging. >> should that thrust look? >> that is looking a

valerie neal: i am valerie neal.e are in the "milestones of flight" hall at the center of the museum. this is the hall where we display the pioneering aircraft and spacecraft that transformed the modern world. when this museum opened in july of 1976, almost every space artifact on display had recently been in the news. this was very much a museum of contemporary death spaceflight and it was, for most people, it was their first chance to see what had been lauded in the 1960's and 70's during this heroic age of space exploration when humans first ventured off the planet into space and all the way to the moon, when the united states and the soviet union began sending craft out to explore the nearby planets. all of this was exciting and thrilling, and people just flocked into the museum to see it. in the 40 years since the building opened, we have continued to acquire treasures of space history. we have about 17,000 artifacts related to space history. we have just over 1000 of them on display in our two locations here in

go ahead with your question with valerie neal here at the museum. >> hi, ms. neal. thanks very much for taking my call. hey, i understand that the nro has donated a spy satellite to the museum. what satellite was that, and when do you expect that to go on display? thanks. >> well, i have to say you may have stumped the curator here because i don't know that they've actually donated one yet of the newer versions of spy satellites. but we do have on display here the camera system from the corona, which was one of the earliest spy satellites in the late 1960s and early '70s. it went under a code name of discoverer. but we have that camera on display in the film return bucket as well. we have another satellite called grab and another one called solrad. and they also were used for secret purposes masquerading under names that led the public to believe that they were simply scientific satellites. so those are the ones that i know of that are small and early. we are hoping some day to have a more recent one and a much larger one. but to my knowledge, that agreement hasn't

our next caller is john joining us from new hampshire with valerie neal. go ahead, please. >> caller: good evening, ms. neal. i just want to ask if you're going to show the -- during the program. i know other people involved in the restoration. and i've been looking forward to seeing it. also, i want to thank the national air and space museum for preserving human history for future generations. i see lots of planes i used to work on there. so again, thank you very much. >> thank you. the starship enterprise which actually never flew. >> right. though it appeared to fly. and you asked whether we'll be showing it here at the museum, certainly, and i assume c-span will be showing it also. it is on display here tonight, and will be on display here for the foreseeable future. i mean possibly forever. i don't think we will renovate this hall again for another 20 years or so. so you have a good chance to see it. it has been very carefully restored to look exactly as it looked in 1969, i think. at the time of the episode of "the trouble with tribbles," which was a

go ahead with your question with valerie neal here at the museum. >> hi, ms. neal. thanks very much for taking my call. hey, i understand that the nro has donated a spy satellite to the museum. what satellite was that, and when do you expect that to go on display? thanks. >> well, i have to say you may have stumped the curator here because i don't know that they've actually donated one yet of the newer versions of spy satellites. but we do have on display here the camera system from the corona, which was one of the earliest spy satellites in the late 1960s and early '70s. it went under a code name of discoverer. but we have that camera on display in the film return bucket as well. we have another satellite called grab and another one called solrad. and they also were used for secret purposes masquerading under names that led the public to believe that they were simply scientific satellites. so those are the ones that i know of that are small and early. we are hoping some day to have a more recent one and a much larger one. but to my knowledge, that agreement hasn't

learn more as we talk with the director, general jr jack daly and valerie neal, chair of the museum's space history department. and you can join the conversation. we will be taking your phone calls, e-mails, and tweets. beginning atning 6:00 eastern on c-span3's american history tv. next on c-span, "washington journal" is live. after that, a conference hosted by the national education association. coming up in about five minutes, npr correspondent tom gjelten discusses his book, looking at her american -- how america has transformed following the 1965 immigration act or it then can blackwell -- immigration act. blackwell will discuss how american voters view donald trump during and then giuliana racialz will discuss discrimination and whether people think the u.s. will receive racial equality in the future. ."w, "washington journal ♪ u.s. capitol complex has 40 much quieted down heading into the fourth of july weekend. there was news coming out of capitol hill, including paul ryan, the speaker, who says there will be a vote on gun legislation and sweet, specifically as part of a broad

learn more about the museum as we talk with the direct, the curator, and valerie neal, chair of the museum'space history department. you can join the conversation as we'll take your phone calls, e-mails and tweets. the 40th anniversary, live this evening beginning at 6:00 eastern

artifacts and speak with the museum's director, and talk with museum curator jeremy kinney and valerie neal. you can join the conversation as we'll take your phone calls, e-mails and tweets. saturday night at 8:00 on lectures in history. >>> joy howell increasingly focused on her position as a mother, which was driving her support for suffrage, her position as a mother to say that women are different than men, that women really can do society better than men have done. >> boston college professor heather cox richardson on the new roles women assumed in the workforce and politics during the late 19th century and the growth of political organizations run by women that focused on issues like prohibition and women's suffrage. sunday morning at 10:00 on road to the white house rewind, the 1968 republican and democratic national conventions. >> resolute, without being bellicose, strong, w

we'll also talk with the museum curator and valerie neal, chair of the museum's space history departmentn join the conversation as we'll take your phone calls, e-mails, and tweets. saturday night at 8:00 -- >> joy ward how increasingly focused on her position as a mother, which is, of course, what's driving her support for suffrage. her position as a mother to say that women are different than men. that women really can do society better than men have done. >> boston college professor heather cox richardson on the new roles women assumed in the workforce and in politics during the late 19th century and the growth of political organizations run by women that focused on issues like prohibition and women's suffrage. sunday morning at 10:00, the 1968 republican and democratic national conventions. >> resolute, without being bellicose. strong without being arrogant. and that's the kind of an america that will help build the peace of this world. >> the time has come for us to leave the valley of despair and climb the mountain so that we may see the glory of the dawn, a new day for america, and

valerie neal, thank you very much for your time here at the national air and space museum. >> sure, it's a pleasure. >> and general jack dailey is the person who began our coverage. he will kick off the 40th anniversary celebration. we're going take it back outside. we'll also hear from mike collins in a video presentation, former astronaut and first director of this museum as it celebrates its 40th birthday. >>> aviation is america's story, we went through the first power controlled man flight, to walking on the moon 66 years. >> the air and space museum shows you exactly that history. >> everything we have has a special significance to the development of aviation and space in this country. >> i remember it so well as a small boy. my father explaining to me what it was. it was the first airplane ever flown. >> here we are in the same room with the airplane that the wright brothers flew. >> one of the main purposes of the museum is to preserve the artifacts wherever. >> sure, you can have reproksz or mock-ups, but here you have the real thing. >> everything that is in here has a story. o

. >> i'm valerie neal, a state history curator at the smithsonian's national air and space museum.nd we are at the steven f. udvar-hazy center, our location in northern virginia near dulles international airport. we have two large hangars here, one devoted to aviation, and one devoted to space. and this location has enabled us to bring out of storage hundreds of artifacts that the public were not able to see because they didn't fit into the main building on the national mall. we have cemespent some time loo at human space flight in the united states, starting with the space race of the 1960s, carrying through the space shuttle era of the 1980s, through the current time, and even the international space station, which is still in progress. the most noticeable object in the space hangar is obviously the space shuttle "discovery." this is the third space shuttle that was built. it looks like an airplane. it has wings. it has wheels. it was designed to be the 18 wheeler of space. it wasn't meant to go to the moon or to mars. it was meant to ride on the highway of earth orbit. and to ca

museum director jeremy kenny and valerie neal from the history department. we will be taking your phone calls, e-mails and tweets. the 40th anniversary of the smithsonian national air and c-span3'sum on american history tv. employment's impact is on suicide metaphors and disability benefits. you can see that tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. earlier today at the ideas forum , loretta lynch discussed criminal justice and civil rights and explain her decision to meet with bill clinton in phoenix earlier this week and her intention to accept the findings of the team investigating hillary clinton's use of a private e-mail server. >> you have a reputation of having the highest integrity, utmost solid judgment. when people heard what went down in phoenix, a lot of people were friends, supporters, backers of, what on earth was she thinking talking to bill clinton? so, what on earth were you thinking? what happened? attorney general lynch: that is a question that is called by what happened in phoenix because people have also wondered and raised questions about

events, learn more about the museum as we talk with its director, museum curator jeremy kenny and valerie neale. and you can join the conversation, we'll be taking your phone calls, emails and tweets. the 40th anniversary of the smithsonian national air and space museum live this evening beginning at 6:00 p.m. eastern on c-span 3's american history tv. >>> next on american history tv, nasa's earliest days with wally funk. one of 13 women selected to be the first lady astronaut trainees or f.l.a.t.s, this is sometimes called the mercury 13, as they underwent some of the same physiological tests as their male counterparts, the mercury 7 astronauts. unlike the mercury 7, these women never flew a nasa mission. funk was interviewed as part of the nasa johnson space center oral history collection. this is about 50 minutes. >> this is carol butler and i'm doing an oral history for the nasa history office with wally funk. retired ntsb investigator, senior flight instructor, chief pilot. wonderful woman of aerospace. thank you for joining us today. >> thank you very much for having me. >> to begin if we

our tour guide is valerie neal.ead of the space history department at the museum, who shows us story -- artifacts that tell the stories of space length --

artifacts and speak with the museum's director, and talk with museum curator jeremy kinney and valerie neal. you can join the conversation as we'll take your phone calls, e-mails and tweets. saturday night at 8:00 on lectures in history. >>> joy howell increasingly focused on her position as a mother, which was driving her support for suffrage, her position as a mother to say that women are different than men, that women really can do society better than men have done. >> boston college professor heather cox richardson on the new roles women assumed in the workforce and politics during the late 19th century and the growth of political organizations run by women that focused on issues like prohibition and women's suffrage. sunday morning at 10:00 on road to the white house rewind, the 1968 republican and democratic national conventions. >> resolute, without being bellicose, strong, without being arrogant. and that's the kind of an america that will help build the peace of this world. >> the time has come for us to leave the valley of despair and climb the mountain so that we may see the glor