Udvar Hazy Air and Space Museum Touches Down on It's First Decade

from about.com/washingtondc

In 2003 the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum opened a companion facility, the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, on the property of Washington Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Virginia. This new museum provides a second location, about half an hour's drive from Washington, DC, to display the space shuttle Discovery, the Lockheed SR-71 and numerous aircraft, spacecraft and other artifacts that the Smithsonian's National Mall location is unable to accommodate. 

The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center provides dramatic views of an aerobatic airplane hot-dogging upside down, World War II fighters angling for a victory or numerous engines, rockets, satellites, gliders, helicopters, airliners, ultra-lights and experimental flying machines. Watch air traffic leaving from and arriving to Washington Dulles International Airport from the 164-foot Donald D. Engen Observation Tower. The tower displays air traffic control equipment that replicates those used in an operating airport control tower. 

The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center doors are open 10 a. m. to 5:30 p.m. seven days a week. Admission is free, however public parking is $15. The center has an IMAX theater and offers flight simulator rides for a fee. There is a cafeteria and a museum store. 

Address
14390 Air & Space Museum Pkwy
Chantilly, VA 
(202)633-1000

Floor Plans and Guides: Click Here

Since there is no direct Metro service to the Udvar-Hazy Center and parking at the facility is $15 per day you can save time, money and enjoy a Air and Space Museum Weekend at Embassy Suites Dulles Airport.

The hotel's Air and Space Udvar Hazy Museum Package includes:

• Free hotel shuttle to and from Udvar Hazy Air and Space Museum (parking is $15)
• Two tickets to the IMAX theatre at museum
• Free cooked to order breakfast
• Complimentary Evening Reception
• Two Room Suite

Click Here to begin your Udvar Hazy Air and Space Vacation with Embassy Suites Dulles Airport 

Enjoy a Space Shuttle Discovery Retrospective

Triple Your Trip with Embassy Suites Dulles Airport

Embassy Suites Dulles Airport can get you to your next getaway three times faster before you even get to Dulles International Airport!  "How is that possible?" you ask.  With the  Hilton HHonors™ Triple Your Trip promotion. Sign up and stay Friday, Saturday or Sunday nights to earn Triple HHonors Points from July 9 through September 30, 2013. And earn Double HHonors Points on Monday through Thursday at Embassy Suites Dulles Airport. If you're not a member, join today. Because whether you're earning Double Points on business or Triple Points on a weekend away, you can always count on HHonors to get you to your next getaway faster.

Also from now through September 30, 2013 Embassy Suites Dulles Airport is offering extra HHonor points to all guests plus all this:

• 15% discount off your total restaurant bill in Marty's Restaurant
• Free High Speed Internet
• Free cooked to order breakfast
• Complimentary Evening Reception
• Two Room Suite

Click here and book your Bonus Point offer with Embassy Suites Dulles Airport today !

Atrium Embassy Suites Dulles Airport

Solar Impulse lands at Dulles International Airport

(Reuters) - An airplane entirely powered by the sun landed in Washington on Sunday after a flight from St. Louis, the next-to-last leg of a journey across the United States intended to boost support for clean energy technologies.

The Solar Impulse landed at Dulles International Airport outside Washington at 12:15 a.m. EDT, organizers said in a statement. It will remain in the U.S. capital until it takes off for New York in early July for the last leg of its historic trip.

If the spindly experimental aircraft completes the journey as planned, it will be the first solar-powered plane capable of operating day and night to fly across the United States.

"It proves the reliability and potential of clean technologies, and this is crucial in pushing our message forward," Swiss pilot Bertrand Piccard said in the statement. Piccard founded the Solar Impulse project with fellow pilot Andre Borschberg.

With the wingspan of a jumbo jet and the weight of a small car, the Solar Impulse is a test model for a more advanced aircraft the team plans to build to fly around the world in 2015.

The plane completed the first leg of the journey from San Francisco to Phoenix in early May and flew later that month from Phoenix to Dallas.

In early June, the Solar Impulse made the trip from Dallas to St. Louis. It flew to Washington in nearly 30 hours of flying over two days.

The project began in 2003 with a 10-year budget of 90 million euros ($112 million). It has involved engineers from Swiss escalator maker Schindler and research aid from Belgian chemicals group Solvay.

The plane made its first intercontinental flight, from Spain to Morocco, in June 2012.

The aircraft is propelled by energy collected from 12,000 solar cells in its wings that simultaneously recharge batteries for night use.

Click here for the Calendar of Events at Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum including the Solar Impulse Exhibition

Where to Stay?

Embassy Suites Dulles Airport
13341 Woodland Park Drive
Herndon, Virginia, 20171, USA

TEL: 1-703-464-0200

Embassy Suites Dulles Airport Air and Space Museum Package includes:

• Complimentary Cooked-to-Order breakfast
• Evening reception with complimentary drinks* and snacks
• Two tickets to the IMAX Theater at the Air and Space Museum
• Shuttle to and from the Air and Space Museum (Vehicle parking at the Museum is $15.00)
• Two-room suite 
• Free Internet Access

Click here to reserve the Air and Space Museum Package and see the  Solar Impulse at Dulles International