“The Bell team is paving the way for future electric-powered vehicles and greener technology to flourish,” said Mitch Snyder, president and CEO of Bell. The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum also holds the Bell X-1 plane, the first aircraft to break the sound barrier, and the Bell 47B, the first helicopter to receive civil certification. The Nexus made its public debut at the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show and is one of the latest milestones in Bell’s history of innovation in vertical flight. “We’re thrilled to be able to debut the Nexus in the very building where Americans first encountered early automobiles, famous steam engines, the Apollo 11 lunar capsule and the Spirit of St. “Since opening in 1881, the Arts and Industries Building has introduced visitors to big ideas that have changed how we travel as a society,” said Rachel Goslins, director of AIB. Individual flight is one solution potentially on the cusp of becoming real sooner than we think.” ‘FUTURES’ invites us to imagine alternate worlds, in this case one in which our streets could become sustainable living or greenspace, radically altering not just the skies but the ground at our feet. “By 2050, two-thirds of the world’s population will be in cities. “As our population grows, we need alternatives to today’s fossil fuel cars and roads,” said AIB curator Ashley Molese. Nearby will be another iconic futuristic flying invention, a rare 1960s-era Bell Aerospace Company Rocket Belt, widely renowned as the world’s first jet pack. Interactive kiosks will lead a journey from early vertical flight to engineering feats that may impact the future landscape of transportation. Visitors will be able to encounter the Nexus in a 360-degree display within the exhibition’s Futures that Inspire hall, a space designed to explore leaps of imagination. It is designed to take off and land vertically, allowing the vehicle to maneuver over crowded cities faster than car speeds, while six tilting electric ducts provide lifting power for quick takeoff, and nimble flight.Įnvisioned to be accessible and affordable for families and commuters, the concept of the Nexus is a vehicle which becomes a seamless part of urban living, as easy to use and ubiquitous as hailing a cab or summoning a ride-share. The Bell Nexus is a five-seat, autonomous electric air taxi concept (known as an eVTOL, or electric vertical takeoff and landing), conceived to reduce traffic congestion, noise and environmental pollution while drastically cutting travel time. The part-exhibition, part-festival will celebrate the Smithsonian’s 175th anniversary with more than more than 150 objects, ideas, prototypes and installations that fuse art, technology, design and history to help imagine many possible futures on the horizon. On view through July 2022, “FUTURES” will be the first major building-wide exploration of the future on the National Mall and will temporarily reopen America’s oldest national museum for the first time in nearly two decades. Starting this November, the Bell Nexus ‘Air Taxi,’ a cutting-edge concept vehicle helping to make this vision a reality, will make its wider debut in the Smithsonian’s “FUTURES” exhibition at the historic Arts and Industries Building (AIB). Under Secretary for Science and Researchįrom world’s fairs to The Jetsons, the flying car has been a symbol of the future for more than 100 years.Under Secretary for Museums and Culture.Assistant Secretary for Communications and External Affairs.Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, African Art.