SPIDER at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

In August 2025 the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. opened a new gallery called Futures in Space. One of the featured artifacts in this gallery is a full scale test replica of the SPIDER robotic arm described here.

According to their website, “the gallery features developing technologies that bring down the cost of space, aim to inaugurate the era of commercial and tourist spaceflight, expand robotic planetary exploration and resource extraction, and keep humans alive in new environments”.

It is exhilarating and very humbling to see a robot that I helped create being displayed at the most amazing museum in the world (sorry Louvre)! This is especially meaningful for me because when I was a graduate student I used to frequent the museum because I found it so inspiring and motivational.

Here are some pictures from a visit to the gallery.