Like a monstrous praying mantis, the large lens-studded star balls of the Zeiss Model VIa optical projector stare down at you from above. For more than 40 years at the Smithsonian's Albert Einstein Planetarium, the Zeiss wowed audiences with an immersive night sky display full of stars and celestial bodies. Now in retirement, the Zeiss gets to hang out in the James S. McDonnell Space Hangar with a few of its little buddies -- the Concorde, the Enola Gay, the Lockheed Blackbird, the Gemini IV space capsule and the Space Shuttle Discovery.

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center
Chantilly, VA

03.22.21