Smithsonian Channel

If you have visited the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC or the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, I’m sure you’ve noticed the exciting exhibits and memorabilia from the “space race” of the 1960’s. In 2011, the Smithsonian Institution announced it will welcome another large piece of this history to the museum, when the 8-foot-high star from Coney Island’s Astroland goes on display.

Astroland uploaded to Flickr by sameffron

This huge lighted star was one of the two spinning stars installed in 1963 at Astroland’s entrance during the height of the space race. The stars remained at the entrance greeting guests for almost half a century until the park closed in 2006.

“The National Air and Space Museum is delighted to receive this important popular culture artifact into the national collection,” said Margaret A. Weitekamp, curator in the Division of Space History. “Astroland embodied the widespread excitement about human spaceflight in the early 1960s. Having a Star from the Astroland gateway, where thousands of people passed to enjoy this entertaining vision of the space age, is a wonderful example of that space craze.”

Come visit DC in a few years to see the star on display in the new section of the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, which is now under construction.