The Tulsa Air and Space Museum (TASM) is an aerospace museum located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. It is located in the northwest corner of the Tulsa International Airport property. Visitors to the museum can explore 19,000 square feet (1,800 m2) of exhibits highlighting Tulsa's aviation history. Historic exhibits, hands-on activities, and vintage aircraft are featured. A full-dome planetarium, added in 2006, offers a variety of educational and entertaining shows throughout the year. The museum also has educational facilities for school visits, summer camps, and Scout groups.[1] The museum is one of five partner museums in the Oklahoma Museum Network.
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In Hangar One, the museum's exhibits present a chronological history of aviation in Tulsa. The Early Birds exhibit explains the beginnings of aviation in Tulsa, with a special focus on Tulsa aviation pioneer Duncan A. McIntyre. The next exhibit is highlighted by a scale replica of Tulsa's original art deco airport terminal, originally designed by Leon Senter. The terminal's original cast iron door frames, cornerstone, terra cotta decoration and ornate art deco sconces are presented inside the exhibit, along with historic documents and photographs. The Pearl Harbor survivors' exhibit presents historic American and Japanese artifacts from World War II, along with an interactive touch-screen that allows visitors to listen to Oklahoma survivors of the Pearl Harbor attacks share their experiences.
The World War II exhibit also highlights Tulsa's contributions to the war, with presentations on the Spartan Aircraft Company, the Spartan College of Aviation and Technology and the Douglas Bomber Plant. A commercial aviation exhibit presents historic uniforms, documents, and photos from American Airlines, Trans World Airlines and other commercial carriers. American Airlines gets special attention due to the presence in Tulsa of the largest private aircraft maintenance base in the world, owned and operated by American. The space exhibit presents information on Tulsa's participation in the manned and unmanned space programs, beginning with the first Peaceful Uses of Space Conference held in Tulsa on May 26, 1961. Oklahoma astronauts are honored, while visitors have the opportunity to operate a mockup of the Space Shuttle's robotic arm.[2]
Present in Hangar One are several historic aircraft. Worthy of mention is one of the only surviving Spartan C-2 aircraft, one of two surviving Rockwell Ranger 2000's, a Spartan NP-1 and an F-14 Tomcat.[3]
The museum's collections focus primarily on Tulsa's aviation history. A significant collection of photos and documents from Douglas Aircraft Company centered around Air Force Plant #3 is housed in the archives. The majority of those documents are from 1941–1945 and 1953-1960. The collection also includes historic documents and photos from the Tulsa International Airport archives. The photos collected by former airport manager Charles Short are also stored in the archives, and include photos of Will Rogers, Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, Wiley Post, C.R. Smith and William Skelly.
The James E. Bertelsmeyer Planetarium opened at the Tulsa Air and Space Museum in May 2006. The planetarium uses 360-degree full dome technology, and features a 50 ft diameter dome.[4] The planetarium offers full-dome digital shows as well as traditional star shows. Shows that have played at TASM's planetarium include Astronaut, Oasis in Space and Infinity Express. Currently the Planetarium shows Secret of the Cardboard Rocket, Big, and Extreme Planets. The planetarium is open Tuesday-Saturday, 11:00 AM– 4:00 PM and Sunday 2:00 PM– 4:00 PM.[5]