Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum

The Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum is a museum focusing on aircraft and nuclear missiles of the United States Air Force. It is located near Ashland, Nebraska, along Interstate 80 southwest of Omaha. The objective of the museum is to preserve and display historic aircraft, missile, and space vehicles and provide educational resources.[2]

Strategic Air Command and Aerospace Museum
SR-71A Blackbird on display
Location within Nebraska
Former name
  • Strategic Aerospace Museum
  • Strategic Air Command Museum
  • Strategic Air & Space Museum
Established1959, 1998
LocationAshland, Nebraska (1998– )
Offutt AFB (1959–1998)
Coordinates41.018°N 96.320°W / 41.018; -96.320
TypeAviation museum
DirectorJeffrey Cannon[1]
CuratorBrian York
Websitesacmuseum.org
Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum
Location in the United States

History

Offutt Air Force Base in eastern Nebraska became the headquarters of the Strategic Air Command in 1948, and continues as the headquarters of U.S. Strategic Command. The museum at Offutt, adjacent to Bellevue, a suburb south of Omaha, began with its first airplane in 1959 as the Strategic Aerospace Museum. General Curtis LeMay's vision of a museum that preserved historic aircraft had become a reality. Over the following years, the outdoor museum's name changed to the Strategic Air Command Museum or SAC Museum.

On May 16, 1998, after a $33 million grass roots capital campaign, the museum moved indoors to a location more accessible to the public, between Omaha and Lincoln, that allowed the aircraft to be protected from the elements to which they had previously been exposed. As part of the moving process, two aircraft (a Douglas C-124 Globemaster II and C-133 Cargomaster) were relocated to the Air Mobility Command Museum at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware.

On June 15, 2001, the name of the Strategic Air Command (SAC) Museum was officially changed to the Strategic Air & Space Museum. This change incorporated the museum's rich past while attempting to reach a larger audience through dynamic programming and exciting educational programs that seek to captivate the interests and imaginations of everyone. On June 25, 2015, the museum announced another name change to the Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum, in an effort to reconnect to the museum's original mission of preserving the history of the Strategic Air Command while promoting interest in aviation and science among the general public.[3]

The museum is a $29.5 million, 300,000-square-foot (28,000 m2) building that features a glass atrium, two aircraft display hangars, a traveling exhibit area, a children's interactive gallery, a 200-seat theater, a museum store, an aircraft restoration gallery, and a snack bar. The glass atrium is constructed of 525 glass panels that encase a Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird. The two aircraft display hangars protect the aircraft collection and exhibits from harsh outdoor elements. The museum participates in an exhibit exchange program with other national museums and displays them in the traveling exhibit area.[2] Three large missiles are displayed vertically outdoors in front of the museum.

Collection
Strategic Air Command shield
on exterior of museum
Lockheed U-2C on display

Aircraft
The collection includes the Apollo Block 1 command module from the Apollo program's uncrewed February, 1966, AS-201 mission

Rockets and missiles

Spacecraft

References
  1. Ursch, Blake (25 April 2018). "SAC Museum's new executive director is UNL grad who's worked at Joslyn Art Museum, with Smithsonian Institution". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  2. Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum official website
  3. "A New Name for the Museum". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. 25 June 2015. Archived from the original on 10 April 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  4. "Avro Hawker Vulcan". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  5. "B-17G "Flying Fortress"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  6. "B-47E "Stratojet"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  7. "EC-135 "Looking Glass"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  8. "AIRCRAFT ON LOAN (by Location)" (PDF). National Museum of the United States Air Force. April 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  9. "KC-97G "Stratofreighter"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  10. "B-52 Stratofortress". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  11. "B-29TB "Superfortress"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  12. "B-36J "Peacemaker"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  13. "B-58A "Hustler"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  14. "F-102A "Delta Dagger"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  15. "T-29A "Flying Classroom"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  16. "A-26B "Invader"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  17. "C-47A "Skytrain"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  18. "C-54D "Skymaster"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  19. "C-119G "Flying Boxcar"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  20. "FB-111A "Aardvark"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  21. "HU-16B "Albatross"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  22. "T-33A "T-Bird"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  23. "U-2C "Dragon Lady"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  24. "SR-71A "Blackbird"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  25. "B-57E "Intruder"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  26. "XF-85 "Goblin"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  27. "F-101B "Voodoo"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  28. "RF-4C "Phantom II"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  29. "MIG-21F "Fishbed-C"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  30. "Airframe Dossier - Mikoyan Gurevich MiG-21F-13 Fishbed-C (NATO), c/n 742105". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  31. "B-25N "Mitchell"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  32. "Airframe Dossier - North American TB-25N Mitchell, s/n 44-28738 USAF, c/n 108-32013, c/r N3441G". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  33. "F-86H "Sabre"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  34. "RB-45C "Tornado"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  35. "T-39A "Sabreliner"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  36. "CH-21B "Work Horse"". Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  37. "F-84F "Thunderstreak"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  38. "F-105 "Thunderchief"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  39. "B-1A "Lancer"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  40. "H-19B "Whirlwind"". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  41. "Missiles & Rockets". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  42. "Apollo Command Space Module (CSM 009)". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  43. "Apollo Boilerplate". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  44. "X-38 Crew Return Vehicle". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  45. "Project Vela Satellite". Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Retrieved 22 April 2020.

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