In Balboa Park, this aviation and space museum occupies the former Ford Building, a landmark from the 1935–36 California Pacific International Exposition. Founded in 1961 and opened to the public in 1963, it moved through earlier Balboa Park buildings before an arson fire in 1978 destroyed much of its collection. Community support helped it reopen in 1980 with rebuilt holdings. Its galleries cover the history of flight and space exploration while emphasizing San Diego’s aerospace role, from early aviation and wartime aircraft to the jet age and Apollo 9. The museum also preserves local memory and, since 2005, has been affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution.