Collection Item Summary:

This plaque commemorates two of humankind's greatest flight achievements - the first powered, controlled flight of the Wright Brothers in December 1903 and the first human lunar landing (Apollo 11) in July 1969. The fabric and wood pieces in the middle of the plaque are from the Wright Brothers airplane, Kitty Hawk. These two pieces were flown on the Apollo 11 mission and were in the lunar module Eagle that landed on the Moon with astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, Jr. The plaque was transferred to the Smithsonian from the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in 1972.