San Diego Air & Space Museum, San Diego, Guía del visitante y qué hacer cerca

The San Diego Air & Space Museum is an aviation and spaceflight museum in Balboa Park, San Diego, housed in the round Ford Building on Pan American Plaza. It follows the story of flight from the Wright Brothers to the Moon landings, with plenty of room for hands-on fun along the way.

The story behind it

The museum sits in the Ford Building, which was put up for the 1935 California Pacific International Exposition as the Ford Motor Company pavilion. Its circular shape still stands out among the Spanish-style buildings around it. Today it is home to a collection that honours pioneers such as the Wright Brothers, Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.

San Diego has its own place in that history. Lindbergh's famous Spirit of St. Louis was built here in 1927 by Ryan Airlines, which is one reason the city takes its aviation heritage so seriously. Behind the galleries, the museum also keeps a library and archive of rare books, periodicals, films, audio tapes, manuals and a very large number of photographs and papers.

What to look for

• The round shape of the Ford Building itself, a leftover from the 1935 exposition that looks quite different from its neighbours in Balboa Park.
• The exhibits on early flight and the great names of aviation, from the Wright Brothers to Amelia Earhart.
• The space galleries, which carry the story on to Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.
• The flight simulators and the Kid's Aviation Action Hangar, where visitors can try flying rather than only read about it.

Tips for your visit

• Allow a couple of hours if you want to see the galleries and try an interactive experience, longer with children or if you add the 3D/4D movie theater.
• Check current opening hours and admission details on the museum's website before you go.
• The museum is inside Balboa Park, so it is easy to combine with other museums, gardens and the walk to the zoo area.
• Choose a morning or a hot afternoon for the museum and save the park's open-air stretches for cooler, softer light.

See it on a quest

Want to see the museum as part of a wider walk? San Diego: The Animals Have Fled the Zoo. passes through this part of the city on foot. The museum is one stop on a longer route, the app tells you about each place as you reach it, and you solve a puzzle in what is in front of you. One ticket covers the whole group, and you can start whenever you like, with no guide and no set departure time.