Edward J. Peterson Air and Space Museum

Introduction

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The Edward J. Peterson Air and Space Museum is located on Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs. This facility is one of twelve museums operated by the United States Air Force and is open to the public. It is named after 1st Lieutenant Edward J. Peterson, who died during a test flight at the base in August 1942.

Images

The Peterson Air and Space Museum opened in 1982 and among its attractions are eleven historic aircraft displayed on the museum grounds.

Aerial view of the museum showing the aircraft on display.

Medal of Honor Park

Medal of Honor-1

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

The museum was established in 1982 as the North American Aerospace Defense Command Visitors Center. The facility opened in the former Colorado Springs passenger terminal and has expanded to include a number of static displays. The museum presently has eleven historic aircraft on display, along with exhibits and other material that collectively tell the history of the US Air Force during the Cold War. For example, visitors can see one of the first generation F-86 Sabre aircraft. They can also walk throughout the historic displays of aircraft and see a F-4 Phantom that was developed during the Vietnam Conflict. The museum's outdoor park also include displays of surface-to-air missiles such as the Nike Ajax, Hercules and HAWK systems.

One of the most popular aspects of the museum is the Medal of Honor Park, which pays tribute to all United States Air Force Medal of Honor Recipients. The Medal of Honor is the highest honor member of the US military can receive. In addition to information about each recipient, museum staff has planted trees as a living tribute to each recipient.

Sources

"About Us." Peterson Air and Space Museum http://petemuseum.org/us.

"Peterson Air Force Base History." http://petemuseum.org/peterson-air-force-base-history.