The Smithsonian is celebrating 50 years of spacewalks with a special exhibit that aims to educate the public more about space exploration and technology.

This new exhibition is called "Outside the Spacecraft: 50 Years of Extra-Vehicular Activity" and will is being held at Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C.

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It's open to the public and will run for six months. The exhibition presents the vast history of spacewalks including photos, personal accounts and even artifacts from NASA spacewalks, also called extra vehicular activities (EVAs).

Astronauts regularly perform EVAs, which are any type of activity performed by an astronaut outside a spacecraft in orbit where the astronaut is exposed to the harsh environment of space.

These days, the term spacewalk usually refers to astronauts conducting maintenance and repairs outside the International Space Station.

Spacewalks enabled mankind to venture into space and build the ISS, perform moonwalks and repair the Hubble Space Telescope.

According to Jennifer Levasseur, the exhibit's curator, this particular exhibit allows the public to further understand the significance of the EVA when it comes to mankind's ability to conduct space missions.

The first spacewalk was conducted in March 1965 by Russian cosmonaut Alexei Leonox ,who spent 12 minutes outside his spacecraft. Three months later, NASA astronaut Edward White followed suit by spending 20 minutes during a spacewalk.

The museum holds many of White's equipment such as his spacesuit and camera and even the Gemini 4 spacecraft he was flew in. The museum also got hold of Leonov's gear, including his training spacesuit and airlock since his spacesuit and spacecraft are still on display in Russia.

To date, 200 spacewalks have been conducted by 375 astronauts and cosmonauts in the last 50 years of space history.

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