Today, I would like to discuss my thoughts and experience about visiting the Intrepid Sea, Air, & Space Museum here in New York City at Pier 86 on last Friday, September 14, 2018, during a free College Night event hosted by the museum. The College Night event was a free event for only college students to visit and explore select parts and aspects of the Intrepid Museum in the evening for three hours from 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM. The only requirement was to bring your college ID and subject to a metal detector scan upon entrance to the museum to ensure no one is carrying a weapon or explosive material into the National Historic Landmark. I learned about this opportunity a week before the event via an email I received from the Baruch Student Life weekly Newsletter. Since I my schedule was free that evening, I decided to take advantage of this beautiful opportunity since I have wanted to visit the museum for many years, and I figured there might be exciting exhibits and activities I could see that I otherwise wouldn’t be able to see on a regular museum admission.
After going through the metal detectors and providing my name and college information, I was directed to walk outside to staircase three to head up into the Intrepid. Walking alongside the monstrous aircraft carrier dwarfed my existence and made me marvel at the thought of the number of material resources, labor, and engineering genius invested to produce this American piece of military beauty and history. Following the steps to the top of staircase three led me into the hangar deck of the aircraft carrier, and immediately I saw a Navy fighter jet, older model airplanes, small helicopters, and other interesting pieces on display. The hangar deck includes exhibits detailing the daily tasks and responsibilities of the various crew members, another exhibit highlights the joys and significance of port of calls for the sailors, and an astonishing World War II scoreboard displaying the battle record of the Intrepid during its service in the Pacific Ocean theater which included: 301 energy aircraft shot down, 298 enemy aircraft destroyed on the ground, 122 enemy ships sunk, and 126 enemy ships damaged. Additional items on display include an Aurora 7 Mercury spacecraft capsule replica from when the Intrepid recovered the Aurora 7 and NASA astronaut Scott Carpenter off the coast of Puerto Rico following a reentry targeting error, a memorial wall commemorating the names of those aboard the Intrepid who died as a result of Japanese kamikaze attacks, another memorial wall commemorating the names of all those who died aboard the ship from 1943 to 1974, and a slew of artifacts ranging from decorative war medals to flight deck crew member outfits to a manned ball turret fitted for use on aircraft.
The museum also had an interactive science hall called the Exploreum which contains a space shuttle landing simulator, a brief 4D movie experience about the history of the Intrepid, a NASA Gemini 3 space capsule replica which you can sit in, and various other STEM-related attractions. The best part, however, was going on a guided tour to the flight deck to see and hear about the details of the different aircraft that are part of the museum’s collection. Some of the most interestingly fantastic aircraft I saw include the Grumman F-14 Tomcat fighter jet popularized in the movie Top Gun, the Grumman E-1 Tracer used as airborne early warning system radar, and Lockheed A-12 recon aircraft which was the predecessor to the famous Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird. Some exciting information my docent told my group about the Lockheed A-12 was it was made mostly of titanium due to high-temperature and high-altitudes the aircraft would be facing, an incredible feat and challenge for engineers since building an aircraft out of mostly titanium was never successfully attempted before. The biggest issue was the largest supplier of titanium was the Soviet Union, the country which was primarily responsible for prompting the United States to fund the creation of this aircraft to spy on the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The U.S. government overcame this issue by establishing shell companies that appeared to be ordinary businesses selling consumer goods like golf clubs. Therefore, the Soviet Union unknowingly sold their titanium to these shell companies to assist in the construction of U.S. aircraft to spy on them. Now that is a spectacular secret government Cold War military operation!
The only disappointing part of the entire College Night event was some parts of the ship and other exhibits were unavailable for students to see. These unavailable exhibits included the Space Shuttle Enterprise housed in Space Shuttle Pavilion on the flight deck and the British Airways Concorde G-BOAD supersonic jet which set the world speed record for traveling from New York to London in 2 hours, 52 minutes and 59 seconds. I extremely wanted to see these two exhibits, but my docent told me I would have to return another day and pay for special admission to see these exhibits. However, I was still able to get some beautiful photos of the Concorde jet from the flight deck of the Intrepid. Overall, the experience was excellent, entertaining, and very educational. Because of my keen interest in U.S. military operations and history, particularly World War II history, this College Night was well worth it, and another example of one of the many benefits CUNY students can take advantage of any time. I was told before I left that CUNY students can get free regular admission anytime during the week and only have to pay to see special exhibits like the Space Shuttle Pavilion. I definitely know I will one day go back to the museum to take advantage of this opportunity once again, and I strongly recommend anyone else interested in visiting the museum take advantage of this opportunity as well!
—Patrick Perrigo
