National Electronics Museum: Radars! Sensors! Defense products!
If there ever was a more perfect museum for self-proclaimed geeks, spy enthusiasts, gadget-types and conspiracy theorists, the National Electronics Museum will fulfill all those wonderments. With 12 galleries dedicated to radars, sensors and other defense products, the National Electronics Museum provides an interesting look into the technical and functional work of electrical engineers and their products not found anywhere else in Washington, D.C.
Located in Linthicum, Md near BWI Airport, the museum was started in 1973 after a family event with the Westinghouse Defense and Electronics Systems Center. During the event, three radars from “yesterday, today and tomorrow” were displayed its products for employees and their families to examine. This started a collection of radars, communication devices, underwater equipment and other related objects, and thus the National Electronics Museum was created in 1980.
The museum expanded rapidly – partly from the sheer size of some of its displays. 22,000 square feet of indoor space covers an exhibition gallery, storage area, laboratory, conference and events space, and outdoor exhibit space. There's a permanent outdoor exhibit space and changing indoor galleries as well.
The 12 galleries include Early Radar, Cold Water Radar, Modern Radar, Under Seas, Electro-optical, Space Sensor, WWII Radar, and the fundamentals gallery. The Cold Water Radar gallery includes Air Force and Navy airborne fire-control radars and discusses how the radar inspired the household microwave oven and how the Doppler effect was applied to car speed.
The Uder Seas gallery discusses the fundamentals of underwater sound transmission and displays antisubmarine warfare systems and future Bow Conformal SONAR arrays. Using a variety of photos and hardware, it shows how SONAR decides were developed for tracking and imaging. The Modern Radar exhibit shows how radars have revolutionized modern warfare since the Korean War. The exhibit demonstrates how to land planes at nearby BWI, among other modern-day practices.
HelloMetro Tip: The National Electronics Museum holds educational programs for kids, including the Young Engineers and Scientists Seminars, Pioneer Camp and the Robot Festival. It also offers a science scholarship to engineering students at the University of Maryland.
Posted by Rin-rin Yu
