National Aviation Day

Celebrate National Aviation Day on August 19, 2025. An exciting line-up of activities, special guests and presentations showcase the future of supersonic flight.

Outside near the T-38 jet and Space Mirror Memorial, strike a pose with a giant inflatable model of the new X-59 supersonic jet—a sleek, futuristic aircraft designed to fly faster than the speed of sound. Inside Space Shuttle Atlantis®, meet some of the NASA team responsible for the Quesst mission, and explore our activity zone, packed with hands-on experiences for aspiring pilots of all ages.

At 2:00 PM and 3:00 PM in Journey To Mars, hear from Carter Vu, an Astronaut Scholarship recipient and PhD researcher in computational hypersonics. His talk, “Milestones in Hypersonic Flight: How We Learned to Fly Faster than Sound,” will trace the evolution of flight from early gliders to cutting-edge hypersonic technology. Carter’s work on the Air Force BOLT II flight test and his collaborations with NASA and international aerospace organizations offer a unique perspective on the science behind supersonic and hypersonic innovation.