The National Air and Space Museum is known worldwide for its collection of rare and historically significant aircraft and spacecraft. The collection also includes a wide variety of other artifacts such as engines, medals, trophies, instruments, equipment, models, artwork, spacesuits, uniforms, and more. Altogether, it contains 38,000 aviation artifacts, 14,800 space objects, and 4,400 works of art.
In addition, the Museum's archival collections contain photographs, manuscripts, technical drawings, documents, film, and oral histories spanning the history of flight from ancient times to the present day. There are an estimated 1.7 million photographs, 700,000 feet of motion picture film, and two million technical drawings in the Archives.
In 2009, several conservation and preservation projects were undertaken. The Museum's collection grew with the acquisition of important art and artifacts.