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00:00It's known as a sanctuary. The iconic displays the sense of history that it brings. So what's scarier, landing in F 14 on the deck of a aircraft carrier at night or reading, visioning? One of the most busy museums in the world? Well, I think the bigger task, quite frankly, is re envisioning this national treasure for the future. I mean, it's we know its impact. You've just said that it's influenced you. I came here in 1977, a year after opening. I was 19 years old and I was really struck by the DC 3 above us because that was an aircraft I had flown in a small child. And so I made that connection and that that led to my professional life in aviation. So we know the power of the place. Not as scary as landing at night on a ship, but very, very important. The level of stress might be approaching that. It's interesting to think that this wing has been closed since before Covid 2018. You said when it reopened recently, the real measure of success will be when visitors return home and say, you must see this. Is that already happening? Absolutely. We're getting about 5000 visitors a day and we've had really good feedback both through the media and through our visitors. And I think part of it is because it's 40, almost 50 percent, the artifacts in the museum today are here for the first time. And we're able to expand the storytelling in a way that the other measure of success is. We hope that everybody coming into this museum, however they present whatever they look like, wherever they come from, they will be able to see themselves in the stories and the artifacts, just as I did in 1970. So it's not lost on me that one of the big talkers here is this X wing fighter from the Star Wars movies. Obviously, it is not an operational aircraft or a piece of history the way some of these other exhibits are. But it speaks to the vision that you have in connecting fantasy with innovation. What's that lesson for young people? Well, it starts with an idea and there's that moment of inspiration and it can come any number of ways. So, for instance, if you go into our Destination Moon Gallery, we tell the true story of Apollo. You'll see games and some of the things that the young astronauts were influenced by his children. So we know the iconic value or the influential value of these artifacts. And I've taken some heat for the swings. People said it's never flown. It's why is it Air and Space Museum? And I I remind folks, I said, well, we have 6000 paintings that never flew. So it's really a question of meeting our audiences where they are. What is it that connects to them that resonates? And we know that the power of the excellent fighter does that for a lot of our audience. We've got a lot of competition for eyeballs and interest. Right. You're trying to appeal to kids who are on tech talk and social media and have the attention span of a 10 second video. So I'm guessing this actually helps to bridge that divide. It does. And I think that what we really hold dear at the Smithsonian and certainly here at this museum is a commitment to authenticity and accuracy. So that when you come here, whether it's in person or virtually, this is the real deal. And so sometimes some of the other media and influences in our lives can't lay that claim. And so it's really important that we hold to that, because it's not just the artifacts and how real they are and authentic. It's the stories, the people's stories behind them. There are amazing stories all around us, including that of the Apollo mission. The Apollo 11 capsule is something that reminds us of the harsh environment that is space. As you and I sit here in Orion, space capsule is orbiting the moon. How much do current events drive your vision for the museum? Well, very much so. I mean, very folks often think of museums having a retrospective look. And so it begs the question, why is why do we have a gallery dedicated to the Apollo missions? What's its relevance? The why? And other than the fact that it was just an amazing story. You know, the president just a few months ago, I think used the term moon shot. So what is moonshot mean to a generation today that was not alive during Apollo? Most of the people coming into that gallery today will not have been alive to see the launches of the Saturn fives and the Apollo Air. And I think the relevance and the reason we tell that Apollo story really gets down to four elements. One is, you know, to take on a big challenge and to solve problems, you need a strong vision. Certainly Kennedy articulated that you need a commitment of national resource. Four hundred thousand Americans, millions of dollars working on that project. You need a tolerance for risk. You have to be willing to take chances and then you have to have that human ingenuity that I think is often under estimated. You put those things together with the Apollo missions demonstrated as you can do incredible things. So fast forward. How does that play out with climate change and curing cancer? Some of these seemingly intractable problems. I walk through that gallery and say, no, we can't solve a problem. A seven year project. I believe in total, yes. This is a huge undertaking. Does it have a price tag? It does. This is an investment both by the citizens of this country. Their taxes have paid for seven hundred and twenty nine million dollars of rebuilding this building, as you noted earlier. It's had a lot of wear and tear since it first opened over 40 years ago. But importantly, the actual galleries, the look and feel like this gallery is financed privately and through our corporate and individual benefactors, people that have trust in us and have given us their treasure, their donations to fill finish this project. And that that equates to over 250 million dollars. Two hundred and fifty million dollars a you're a full time fundraiser as well. Indeed. But I remind myself, people don't give to me. They give to this museum. And the stories that we're telling, I'm compelled by your story or personal story or career. Three hundred and fifteen traps. More than five hundred fifteen hundred hours flying the F 14 Tomcat, this iconic fighter plane that that that is just sort of has its own cult following now. You went on to be the manager of Dulles Airport, Reagan National Airport, the director here at the Air and Space Museum. But you've said in conversations that in flight school you experienced something called they believe it's a flight down. Oh, yeah, absolutely. That you actually failed the equivalent of a certain exercise that that you needed to pass in your training. I just wonder how much that influenced your approach to your career or your trajectory after that. Well, it's very humbling to be told that you failed in something you've worked hard at. But I think what it does is it's a real test of character to decide, you know, how invested are you in what it is you're doing and just with exploration, with Apollo, with all these stories. There was failure along the way and you learn from your failures. It's always important not to repeat the failures, but to learn from them, but to think that we're going to do incredible things either at a level like this museum, land a person on the moon or in my case, learn to fly an aircraft on and off. Security or failure is part of that process.

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Reopened National Air and Space Museum: An Inside Look

Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum Director Christopher Browne offers a behind-the-scenes look at the newly re-opened museum and insights on new exhibits and the mission behind the renovation with Bloomberg’s Joe Mathieu. (Source: Bloomberg)