Marking the largest single corporate gift to the Smithsonian, Boeing is donating $30 million to the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum to support an extensive renovation of the museum’s main hall, the “Milestones of Flight” gallery, and broadened educational activities and exhibitions. This will be the gallery’s first renovation since it opened in July 1976. “The expanded exhibition will trace the interconnected stories of the world’s most significant aircraft and spacecraft, with digital displays and a mobile experience in a new design that stretches from one entrance to the other,” states the museum’s April 3 release. The museum will rename the gallery the “Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall.” The company’s donation will also fund upgrades and enhancements for the interactive children’s exhibit, “How Things Fly,” and will support a new educational program examining the role of technology in aviation and space development. The upgrades are scheduled for completion in 2016 to coincide with the museum’s 40th anniversary and Boeing’s centennial. (See also Boeing’s release.)
The Air Force budget would grow to $234 billion while Space Force spending would shrink to $26 billion under the White House's yearly ask.