The Air Force Band on Tuesday delivered a surprise for hundreds of spectators at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center: An outstanding flash mob performance of “Greensleeves/What Child is This” and “Carol of the Bells.” As you can see in the video below, the performance began with a single oboist playing “Greensleeves” beneath the Space Shuttle Discovery, in the James S. McDonnell Space Hanger. She was soon joined by a cellist, another oboist, a harpist, and before long, the performance swelled to dozens of musicians throughout the hanger. The performance moved over to the main section of the hanger…
Browsing: National Air and Space Museum
Reviewing history in the military, the Air Force and triumphs and misadventures in airpower. In October 1861, the Union Army Balloon Corps was activated as part of the Union Army during the American Civil War. The Balloon Corps was essentially an early form of reconnaissance conducted from a hot air balloon. How did this idea come about? Aeronaut Thaddeus Lowe was in the middle of experimenting a transatlantic crossing by hot air balloon. With the onset of the war, his attempts were interrupted. Instead, he was introduced to President Abraham Lincoln and offered his aviation expertise – he gave Lincoln…