As summer draws to an end you may be thinking about taking last minute vacations or day trips.
For short day trips, one of my favorite places to go are museums. Lucky for us, Tulsa has a host of amazing museums including TASM.
Tulsa Air & Space Museum (TASM)
The Tulsa Air and Space Museum, known commonly around here as TASM, is home to countless Oklahoma aerospace memorabilia and space planetarium.
Spartan School of Aeronautics
TASM was opened in 1998 as a project funded by the Spartan School of Aeronautics. Since opening their doors they have grown in size and exhibits.
The Mission of TASM is to preserve Oklahoma’s aerospace heritage and inspire science-based learning through discovery.
Oklahoma Aerospace History
Many people think of farms and tornados when they think of Oklahoma. However, Oklahoma is far more than that, especially when it comes to aerospace.
Oklahoma has played a major part in Aerospace since the early 20th century, when famed aircraft designer, Clyde Cessna, began testing aircraft in the state.
After the first World War two major airlines were founded in Oklahoma, the Tulsa-Oklahoma City Airways in 1927 (founded by Tom and Paul Braniff, who went on to establish Braniff Airways) and Southwest Air Fast Express (S.A.F.E.) in 1928.
Oklahoma is also the home to famed aviation pioneers Will Rogers and Wiley Post. While Rogers is primarily known for his vaudeville acts, Post is noted in aviation history for his record-breaking round the world fight in 1933. Post later went on to develop the first air pressure suits allowing aviators to fly up to 50,00ft altitudes.
During World War II Douglas Aircraft Company built two of the largest aircraft facilities in Oklahoma. These facilities built bombers for the U.S. Army Air Force. Half of the workers in these facilities were women who became the center of a publicity campaign across America promoting women factory workers and linked to the fabled ‘Rosie the Riveters’.
Fun for the Whole Family
TASM has a variety of exhibits from air crafts on display to personal items of famed Oklahoman aviators. There are even several interactive exhibits including an aircraft simulator.
The planetarium features several different showings throughout the day. I must say, however, that some of the showings were meant for toddlers because that’s the only age group that I could think would set through some of that garbage. Signing Rocket Ships, come on, let’s just say that was sad.
Other than some poor showings the overall museum was a lot of fun. Plus, it only takes about half a day to tour the whole museum, so that leaves the rest of the day for seeking out more adventures.
