Moffett Field Museum

The Moffett Field Museum is one of the best kept secrets in the entire Bay Area! It's an amazing museum located just off Moffett Field inside of NASA Ames Research Center. As a former NASA intern (at NASA Langley Research Center in Virginia), I really love visiting NASA facilities and field centers. This museum allows you to enter the NASA Ames Research Center and drive to a museum that has exhibits both inside and outside of its building. The interior of the museum is amazing! It includes quite a few historical pieces that cover the history of Moffett Field (it was a base prior to primarily shifting as a part of NASA). This museum covers the history of the military presence at Moffett Field as well as its vital mission over the last century. You'll find exhibits that cover everything from history to air to ground to even clothing and furniture used at Moffett Field. There are even references to air pioneer Amelia Earhart found here (she landed at Moffett Field during the 1930s). There is also an absolutely amazing (and very large) train room! It features a wonderful working train system that encompasses the entirety of the room. This alone is worth the price of admission!Outside, you'll find some very unique aircraft. This includes fighters and even a U2 spy plane! This is amazing as it is located in the shadow of Hanger 1 -- the massive aircraft hanger that is currently being restored and renovated just a few yards from the museum. I suppose that my only caveat is the lack of bicycle parking. We have biked over from our home into NASA Ames Research Center and then to the museum. Unfortunately, we had to lock our bikes up to a nearby pipe. It worked...but I was afraid that I might have been doing something wrong. Overall, this is a wonderful place to visit. Whether you're young or old, you'll very much enjoy this museum! The cost of admission is surprisingly low and it will totally exceed your expectations! *It is imperative that you BRING A DRIVER'S LICENSE or PHOTO ID when entering NASA Ames Research Center. You might need one for each adult passenger too. If you're biking into the base, you'll need a state or federal license or identification too.

We drove up from Monterey to see the museum and it was well worth the trip. If you like reading about military aviation history, then this is the place for you! There is even a small h.o. gage model train setup in the back that replicates local train stations. During our stay, there was an Iwo Jima exhibit to commemorate the GI experience. Take the time to talk with the docents, they are filled with knowledge and humorous stories!

This is a fantastic museum with a great narrative of aviation and space flight history. One of the gals who works at the museum gave me a special tour of the tanks. Ask for Amelia if you want to she's very knowledgeable. The museum shows the evolution of the base in a very dramatic way. Artifacts, dioramas, and photographs weave you through the story of how it all started, wheres its been and how it wound up as it has. Like any travel through time I'm always amazed at how that generation did "it" compared to how we would do "it" today. Progress...on down to the museum and have a look for yourselves and take the kids so can learn how it was done too.Foodguy-martin

Do you have a little who loves trains ? Then this is a super cute place to visit. It's a small place , with an amazing village of working model trains. They have steps tools for littles to help them view all these awesome things. Outside is also very nice, if you wait a few minutes you might see a real train in action. We will be back , my little guy loved it.

What a gem! Packed with aviation history and so informative. The docents are so knowledgeable and friendly.

This was a interesting museum to visit with all sorts of memorabilia from Moffett Field's history. It was great to be able to drive up to the big airship hangars which I've seen for years from the 101.

Visit date: 9/2/2021This place is a must-see for someone who has a penchant for military history. The hangar area was closed (presumably for COVID?), so only the indoors section of the museum was available -- despite not being very large -- there is a lot of cool photographs and artifacts on display.Besides the main museum area, there is:1. A train room - modelled after the San Jose railroad area2. A small library room - featuring books about Navy/aviation history3. A gift shop - fairly small selection depending on when you go, but still some cool memorabilia. (Wouldn't recommend buying the DVDs though, they're on YouTube)The employees (I only met Lori and Al) were very helpful and eager to answer questions, and the place felt very welcoming. Not the kind of museum you'd expect to get shushed at.The tickets are only $8 for adults which means visiting the place is absolutely a no-brainer, though if you're not in a rush, I recommend waiting until the hangar area is open to visit.

Fantastic exhibit! The volunteers were awesome and so knowledgeable! A MUST visit for any P3 fanatic. Had a great visit!

Loved it. Highly recommend to anyone that loves airplanes and WWII memorabilia. Took my kids (8, 5, and 3) and they all loved it and enjoyed the free tour. It was informational and there were a lot the little kid-friendly activites they can enjoy. Our docent, Jimmy, was a sweet youngin' but knows his stuff!

Small museum with lots of artifacts and information on Moffett Field and naval aviation history. The people that work here are wonderful- so knowledgeable and will make sure you get the most out of your visit!