Expo '67, US Pavilion part two

Today we're going inside the United States pavilion at Montreal's "Expo '67". To see the exteriors from part one, go here.

There were several levels of exhibits inside the geodesic dome, and it appears that the top level was reserved for a display of the history of flight and especially the space program.

First up is this ancient airplane; it resembles several pre-World War I flyers, including the "Bleriot XI". Somebody out there will tell me what it really is!


There's a familiar sight; one of the old space capsules, either a Mercury craft or a Gemini; they were so similar that I can't tell them apart (even though the Gemini held two people, it was only 1.5 feet wider and 1 foot taller).


An early satellite, probably the one that beams those voices into my head. A tinfoil hat put a stop to it though, don't worry.


Of course this was about two years before we actually landed on the moon, but this scene is not too far from reality. This lander is much bulkier than the final examples, which were pared down to the bare essentials to minimize weight.


Here's an unmanned lunar lander, probably an example from the "Surveyor" program (1966-1968). There were seven Surveyor spacecraft, and five of them landed on the moon successfully. One other crashed, and the seventh lost contact (possibly exploding) just a few minutes before it was scheduled to land.


The Apollo space capsules were considerably larger than earlier models. This example must be from one of the unmanned missions, possibly "AS-202" (predating Apollo 1), which was a sub-orbital test.


How many of these kids wanted to be astronauts in those days?!


I hope you are enjoying our visits to the '67 Expo, because I have more slides to come!