Portions of the National Air and Space Museum will reopen to the public in mid-October, some six months after the entire building was closed as part of a seven-year, $1 billion facelift of the iconic and popular destination on the National Mall.

The museum announced today that eight renovated galleries in the west wing — America by Air, Destination Moon, Early Flight, Kenneth C. Griffin Exploring the Planets Gallery, Nation of Speed, One World Connected, Thomas W. Haas, We All Fly, Wright Brothers, and the Invention of the Aerial Age — will open on Oct. 14.

Given the likely “strong interest in visiting,” the museum will be requiring free timed entry passes, which will be available as of Sept. 14. Similar passes are required to access the National Zoo and National Museum of African American History and Culture.

“The eight exhibitions on display starting Oct. 14 are packed full with the aircraft and spacecraft you love, stories you’ve never heard before, and new artifacts on display in D.C. for the first time,” tweeted the museum this morning.

The National Air and Space Museum is one of the more popular destinations in D.C., with more than three million total visits in 2019. Only the National Museum of Natural History did better that year, with 4.2 million visits — though in 2018 the Air and Space Museum led all Smithsonian museums with 6.2 million visits.

Despite the reopening this fall, work on the museum will continue for a few more years. The entire east wing of the building was deconstructed earlier this year, and is expected to be completed by 2025. The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, the museum’s sister facility in Northern Virginia, remains open to the public.