Adam Savage Tours National Air and Space's Conservation Lab!

NOTE: At the time of filming, there was a mask mandate in effect at Smithsonian Institution.
One of Adam's FAVORITE places is the National Air and Space Museum, and during his recent visit, he had the honor of touring its conservation lab with none other than the Chief Conservator himself, Malcom Collum! Here's what the lab does, some of the specialized tools they use, and a few of their current projects, including the Wright Brothers' 1909 military flyer!
Shot and edited by Joey Fameli
Produced by Kristen Lomasney
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Intro bumper by Abe Dieckman
Thanks for watching!
#AdamSavage #Smithsonian

[@nativelycan1884]

The Smithsonian should put out a restoration and preservation series! I'd find it incredibly interesting.

[@csimet]

Agree, but all the "science" channels on cable cater to low-brow reality programming now. So sad.

[@shadow7037932]

Totally agree. I quite enjoy watching the Tank Restoration videos from the Bovington Tank Museum that's on their KZbin channel.

[@Syberz]

Would be nice if there were a walkway just outside so that you could walk past these folks and see what they're working on, they could have signs above their heads identifying the pieces they're working on or some of the equipment and stuff like that.

[@murphsmodels8853]

I know who could host it. I have a friend who works as a conservator at Udvar Hazy. When my hobby group gets together once a year, she gave us a behind the scenes tours pre-pandemic. Her sense of humor, and the way she tells the story of everything there is phenomenal..

[@christophersmaby8485]

From your keyboard to the Smithsonian's "ears"!

[@JohnFoley1701]

Adam, you should do an entire series of behind the scenes at the Smithsonian, like Brady’s objectivity. It is needed.

[@Hidsert]

1:29 the people who designed the portable XRF definitely had some fun making it look like a sci fi ray gun

[@alanholck7995]

XRF is very useful to detect if there lead-based paint in older buildings

[@AGryphonTamer]

@@alanholck7995 Why not just use a lead tester? Is the paintwork considered that vital to historical buildings?

[@alanholck7995]

@@AGryphonTamer The XRF could detect lead paint below many layers of other paint, & it was quick. If the lead paint was applied in, say, 1920, there could easily be 10 layers of paint on top of it. And yes, dealing with historical properties can be tough (I ran historic properties for a US Gov't agency - we literally had thousands of them) depending where they are located (& thus the regulatory agency involved).

[@willfreund3315]

That's fascinating that so many of the conservators come from an art conservation background. Also, the absolutely immense history in just one room is hard to imagine.

[@jl-mg]

I've learned to find happiness by living vicariously through Adam. Watching him tick off my bucket list items one by one...

[@gilbertjtube]

Kept trying to make sense of the NCC-1701 diagrams above the cabinet while they were looking at part of the Wright Military Flyer.

[@Jager-er4vc]

OMG A WRIGHT PLANE! I would cry to see that!! His watch!! Are you kidding me!?!? 😃 This is FASCINATING! This was an hour long video from all of my rewinding to soak it in.

[@alanholck7995]

Irony is that Wrights had major issues with Smithsonian maintaining that Langley Aerodrome was first aircraft capable of flight.

[@RiDankulous]

The Air and Space museum is superb, the best! I wanted to mention another museum that many aviation buffs really should think about seeing and that's the US Air Force Museum near Dayton, Ohio. It's free and has an enormous collection of air force and spacecraft vehicles. I believe it's free but not sure about restrictions due to the pandemic. I doubt most people would regret going to learn about the long and storied history of the air force technology progress.

[@mikeparker3865]

David McCullough wrote an excellent book on the Wright Brothers. A fascinating story. A piece of fabric from their plane was brought to the moon by Neil Armstrong. I also heard that another piece was in the drone that just flew on Mars. Very cool if true.

[@RufftaMan]

One of my favorite things I did on my US-roadtrip was visiting the Udvar Hazy center and the National Air and Space museum. Amazing artifacts in every corner!

[@Swogfish]

Malcom is actually a good friend of my moms, got to take our own little tour into the conservation wing on 1 occasion. Really cool guy and the behind the scenes stuff is amazing.

[@JohnFoley1701]

First thing this guy shows Adam: an MFing tricorder.

[@annwagner5779]

I love conservation so much! Conservators see and understand things at a level of detail no one can match. Often they have spent more time with things than even the original makers did. I hope to soon be back working with art conservators.

[@christinemcgoveran2368]

I love this video so much. I have an archaeology background, and also studied conservation during my museum studies program. I worked in the education departments of museums before the pandemic, but I also love conservation. I love how interested Adam is in this video. It warms my heart.

[@ambsquared]

I love the Udvar Hazy Center. You can see some of the larger restoration projects from an observation area. Basically the hangar with the planes and helicopters in it for restoration. Several years ago I was able to go to a company holiday party that was inside the museum. We had the museum to ourselves from 6PM to 10PM. Our dining area was setup in the Space Shuttle hangar, and a bar near the SR 71. Best holiday party I ever attended.

[@karlwilliams6626]

This is right up Adam’s alley. Looks like a lot of fun.

[@br88dy]

I am absolutely blown away. I can’t believe they have the pocket watch worn on the first ever flight

[@petermerz2704]

Amazing what goes on behind the scenes! I love the piece of Wright Bros. Plane. Keep up the historic videos, love them! Thanks for sharing!

[@Vickie-Bligh]

Thanks, Adam, for sharing this. It's fascinating, very interesting, exciting, and wonderful. I appreciate that you use your power for good! That you can get behind the scenes and let us all peek behind the curtain is great. Thank you and Tested again.

[@artbk]

For every museum out there, they have a whole lot of amazing stuff waiting for care or receiving care behind the stage. Would love to see the Tested crew visiting these laboratories and spaces.

[@kaviter77]

All this museum stuff is briliant.

[@mittensfastpaw]

I like seeing history preserved for others to see.

[@CJC_95]

I could watch Adam go through their entire collection for days haha!

[@glennshaffer75]

I could watch hours of this and never get bored.

[@danielwendt3927]

Thank you Adam for this peek into such an amazing facility. These conservators do fascinating work!

[@kabel9357]

At the 8:12mark, Noting the NCC-1701 diagram/poster on the wall behind them!

[@garycheevers2671]

I could die a happy man if I got to tour behind the scenes there.

[@fasfan]

I like how over their shoulder while talking about the Wright Brother's plane is an overhead layout of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701. There's a historical lineage there that spans real life and science fiction.

[@bazil7330]

the Smithsonian man that place should be in a museum!

[@gamera1962]

Love the Air & Space museum and the Udvar Hazy Center. I have visited them several times. If I lived down there I would go every month.

[@jamesbarisitz4794]

A start to finish project at this facility would be epic.👍

[@joshua.snyder]

I have a XRF, it is such a fascinating tool. Bruker's are excellent.

[@scotth4760]

The Smithsonian is such is such an amazing place but this brief behind the scenes look shows how much more there is thanks Adam for sharing and I would so much love to see more

[@NoClassic]

Wow that Wright brothers aircraft component is amazing to have in that condition

[@digitaIgorilla]

2:32 Captain America's first hero suit snuck in there.

[@fader2701]

Every video you make behind the scenes at the Smithsonian, I will watch, like, and comment.

[@MrChief101]

As much as i like their Enterprise restoration (8:16) I would have really enjoyed watching the disassembly of this Flyer piece.

[@tractorsold1]

They had an open house a few years ago, and at the time they were restoring the Hercules model of the Enterprise. I have pictures of the disasemmbled Enterprise, including shots looking inside. As Scotty said "NCC-1701, no A, B, C, or D."

[@TeslaTales59]

Very cool. More visits please.

[@TreeCutterDoug]

I'm completely awestruck. I've visited the Udvar Hazy center once before, and it's high on my list of places to check out a second time, especially with the different perspective that Adam has given us.

[@JoviusAquariums]

Another great video! Thanks for posting! If you ever come to Huntsville you should check out the Space and Rocket Center.

[@86fifty]

This is so cool!! The tiny screws on the pocket watch!? I know more about it than I used to, due to this channel and Adam's love of Clickspring. The more you know about it, the more impressive this all is!

[@Cwjespersen]

Kinda funny seeing the NCC-1701 blueprint on the wall of their lab while they’re discussing the Wright brothers rudder.

[@videoartduo]

i could watch this for hours thank you so much

[@Michael-nf1ej]

Just great stuff Adam!!

[@DamianDeEu]

Bruv! This tour was savage!

[@msbrickkitten6882]

I adore the Udvar-Hazy Smithsonian over the one on the mall. It feels like you're just walking around the hangar and getting to be close to the objects, and they're placed with care, but, they don't feel as staged as the Air and Space museum on the Mall. I think I spent an hour on one visit just watching restoration work on an old seaplane...

[@theenginehousegarage1485]

That was awesome!

[@kentbarnes1955]

Would love to see you visit the Garber Facility someday. They have some one of a kind aircraft awaiting restoration...someday hopefully

[@Epickirby64]

Have a good day everyone

[@gavindean]

wow we need to see more vids like this so interesting

[@jfirebaugh]

The Wright military flyer was demonstrated to the Army at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, TX.

[@thomasives7560]

You should check out the Pima Aircraft Museum in Tucson - they have an amazing collection and a great restoration shop full of experienced folks. Their "Hangar 5" restoration shop has a little golf cart with a very practical motto/sign: "Trim to suit, pound to fit, then Bondo." I've heard from many old auto restorers that their job is 70% perspiration, 20% inspiration, and 10% lead-fill (old school Bondo).

[@grahamrankin4725]

Conservators are artists and scientists.

[@alwayscensored6871]

That XRF would be handy to analyses the Paradise fires debris. Those were strange fires.

[@LIamaLlama554]

Udvar-Hazy is one of the coolest things to see in the DC area. Check it out if you never have.

[@mutantryeff]

The 100 year old pilot of 'Old Crow' had a celebration in Auburn, CA on Saturday - 1/17/2022.

[@johnwatson3948]

A few years ago I was in these back rooms of the Smithsonian and asked about an excellent copy on the wall of one of Robert McCalls famous 2001 movie paintings - of course the reply was “that’s the original”.

[@bsanders9106]

AWWWESOOOOME!

[@kenenglish124]

John Glenn's 60th Anniversary is coming up on 2-20-2022. Are you planning anything for it? I saw the Friendship-7 capsule twice when I was a kid.

[@basile1286]

"fighting entropy" i like that statement

[@jonduke4472]

I'm kinda torn between seeing it get the attention it needs vs wondering why it's not in Dayton :). So cool to see, thanks!

[@tvs5862]

02:13 is that an Apollo issued Speedmaster 105.012? Last I heard, Buzz's original "Moonwatch" was lost in transit on the way to the Smithsonian! Imagine what it would be worth if it ever made ti to auction!!

[@deltatango5765]

I want to live in the Air & Space Museum

[@maxim0666]

Interesting stuff.

[@andyfirthbespoke]

I can fully understand the conservation on the Wright military flyer but I'd just give the air to ground missile a wipe with a damp cloth🤔

[@olekaarvaag9405]

8:46 Shocked me for half a second

[@rjnation5042]

Hey Adam have you ever seen the documentary film from Australia that shows the Wright brothers got the ideas from some guy in Australia? Smithsonian has a signed agreement with the Wright family saying if they admitted to flight before Wright brothers they loose the Wright flier, hummm, It's called Who Flew First, Challenging The Wright Brothers, the guy was Gustave Whitehead, Rj in Oz

[@Carter-dv4hz]

What time was the pocket watch stopped at?

[@Prifly70]

That scanner though. Hand held, can figure out what anything is made of? So very Star Trek. The future is here !

[@peterkelley6344]

The Wright Pocket Watch. Have they spoken to Marshall from KZbin's Wristwatch Revival?? Yes the jewel(s) might have to be replaced but I bet Marshall could get it running again! He would have the professional respect to do that kind of work!

[@DGunnellCRSTX]

Adam looks happy as a kid in a candy store that sells miniature functional candy stores! (I would be too!)

[@alanholck7995]

The Wrights had a major problem with the Smithsonian because the director was a protege of Langley (former Smithsonian director), & had labeled Langley’s Aerodrome as the first aircraft capable of flight. It actually only flew (barely) in 1914 after heavy modification by Glenn Curtis. Orville Wright sent the 1903 Flyer to the London Science Museum; it wasn’t transferred to Smithsonian until after Orville’s death in 1948.

[@andrewfischer8564]

2:00 that right out of star trek.

[@letsgocamping88]

1:52 there's an applied science video about those devices

[@GHILLIESARCADEANDMORE]

Cool

[@Random3716]

I don't know how else to put this but that x-ray scanner looks exactly like something that does the thing that it does would look.

[@treyreppe4348]

There is a company near my hometown that was founded to make a xray spectrogragh to measure anything from mining ore to radioactive elements

[@f1matt]

Wow

[@andrews8259]

How can I apply to work with them? I think I'm highly qualified.

[@The_Vanished]

The aviation shroud of Turin

[@christopherwilliambrooks3981]

🙏

[@joermnyc]

It makes sense that the early airplanes used sprockets, chains and cables… the Wright’s were bicycle makers after all.

[@bbb462cid]

For a second I thought the thumbnal was Adam playing drums

[@bar04z]

Agent Smith voice: "People exude... stuff"

[@harbl99]

1:30 -- "This is our x-ray cannon. We use it only for...legitimate scientific purposes." Oh, dis gon be gud.

[@youtert]

Everybody gangsta till the curator pulls out a ray gun

[@nicandknacksandseans]

Po' boys' ear about to fall off!

[@woof3598]

did not know some of the exhibits were hidden during WW II

[@TJRohyans]

Seems like there should have been a lot more people there working.

[@mog398]

Dude casually has a tricorder

[@Charok1]

ray guns of the future, haha

[@undefined40]

Who else discovered that Star Trek reference in the Lab?

[@MrSteelface96]

if that dude took op his mask, im convinced i'd see the doctor from treasure planet xD

[@Samlowry27B-6]

how do they both stop their glasses fogging? thats the real question

[@Demolishionist]

I was wondering the same thing through the whole video

[@eleanorstrong8315]

I believe Adam's don't because of the tight fit. He included information about his masks on a vid but I can't remember which one. I went to order some and they were sold out.

[@imbartman6622]

Hello

[@perry92964]

adam sounded like he was talking into a cup, the other guy was ok

[@johnwatson3948]

Maybe if these folks had done the replica Atomic bomb at the Air Force Museum it would be painted in the zinc chromate mustard color of the original and not Insignia Yellow.

[@umbraelegios4130]

Entropy; The game where if you are lucky you can break even for awhile. But you can never win.

[@esper86]

Wow I'm really Early :)

[@mikeuk666]

Wow ok kid

[@milsgarage]

Second by 16sec**

[@mikeuk666]

Ok kid go tell mommy