Air and Space Museum San Diego

Really interesting visit to this museum, which turned out to have some unexpected treasures, starting with the Apollo 9 capsule "GUMDROP". Always brilliant to stand next to a real spacecraft.

She went to LEO, not the Moon, and it was a critical component that bridged the gap between a manned orbit of the moon in Apollo 8, and proving all the other components that would ultimately make Apollo 11 viable for a manned landing.

CSM Gumpdrop from LEM Spider in LEO, March 1969

This 10 day mission in March 1969 was the third crewed Apollo Mission and only the second manned mission to use a Saturn V rocket. It was the first crewed flighted of the LEM, and proved the vital docking and extraction manoeuvres for the Apollo flight plan.

Net to that is the Space suit of William Anders who wore it to the Moon in Apollo 8 in the first ver crewed mission to the moon.

MiG17 in North Vietnamese colours, but believed to be of Polish origin

Then there were some nice models and artefacts from German WW1 Luftschiff

And then, to my amazement, were the ORIGINAL medal sets of WW1 legendary Aces of the skies

"Eddie" Rickenbacker, US Army

Billy Mitchell, US Army and arguably the father of the US Air Force

"Billy" Bishop, Royal Flying Corps

AND....

Manfred von Richthofen, German Air Force