Tuesday, 20 December 2011 13:05 Written by Emilia Rojas

Here in Chile it is very common to take the children to certain museums.  I am in favor of taking them to each one, but I imagine that museums such as the Histórico Domínico or the Decorative Arts museum would be very interesting for the younger ones… or maybe not after all.

One of the best places on the edge of Santiago is the National Museum of Space and Aeronautics. I have gone numerous times and it has always seemed fascinating to me.  Although I am not especially interested in airplanes, i love everything that has to do with space and history. The museum exhibits artifacts, space suits and gadgets which help us better understand the functionality of the aircrafts.  It provides anecdotes and historical recreations, such as the one featuring the Wright brothers, for example. There is even a recreation of Leonardo da Vinci's workshop!

It also features a room with spaceships that can be seen, touched, and explored; also, a showcase of birds, insects, and bats, which serves as a display of the inspiration, supplied by nature, that helped us overcome our challenges, in this case; flight.

The museum is very large, comfortable, and even provides special attention for people who are visually impaired, who can also appreciate the synthesis of the content of the permanent exhibition through volumes of drawings, moquettes, full-scale models, and the Braile system.

If you are not very familiar with area surrounding the city center, or if you live in a neighborhood on the other side of town, the museum would be an excellent reason to go explore our capital, or to take the buses and get to know, first-hand, the area in which Los Cerrillos Aerodrome, used to be.  The Aerodrome, which is almost connected to the museum, is currently the Portal Bicentenary project and was the first of our airports to be replaced in 1967 by the Aeropuerto Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez.

Details:
Museo Nacional Aeronáutico y del Espacio
Av. Pedro Aguirre Cerda 5000
Los Cerrillos, Santiago
T: (562) 435 30 30 (anexo 10 or 18)

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