Seven Smithsonian museums in Washington, DC, were forced to temporarily close without notice on August 6 as their shared temperature-control system failed. All seven—the Smithsonian Castle, the Arts and Industries Building, the National Museum of the American Indian, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the National Museum of Asian Art, the National Museum of African Art, and the S. Dillon Ripley Center—occupy the south side of the National Mall. The Washington Post reported that the system that controls temperature and humidity in the institution suffered a mechanical failure and that the museums were no longer receiving the chilled water necessary to support cooling operations. “Hopefully the Air and Space Museum isn’t closed, so let’s go right now,” another visitor, who said he had traveled from Kansas with his family to see the museums, told the platform. NBC Washington reported that all seven sites have reopened as of August 7.