Initially, the Federal Government tried to relocate them to the state of Texas, but the German rocket scientists who ended up in the United States at the end of WWII wanted something more bucolic and familiar than the Great Plains. So the U.S. Government relocated them to Redstone Arsenal and the City of Huntsville in the foothills of the Appalachia Mountains in north central Alabama. Here the U.S space program that revolved around the brilliance of rocket scientist Wherner Von Braun, would flourish and ultimately yield a space program that included and concluded with Apollo 17, the fourth and final trip the American Astronauts would take – circa 1974 – to the moon and back. Today, the propulsion components of the Space Shuttle program, as it has for the last 25 years, also calls Huntsville, Alabama home.

Hosting exhibits that cater to all ages, the U.S. Space & Rocket Center includes full-scale mock-ups of the past and current space programs such as a full-stack Space Shuttle and the SR71 Blackbird and a host of rockets, including the first liquid-fueled rocket ever fired (circa 1926). You’ll find the world’s only vertical full-scale Saturn Rocket – 363 feet tall as well as one of only three remaining actual Saturn V rockets – laid out in its various stages to demonstrate just how massive this rocket, a cornerstone in our space program, actually was.

For even the largest RV rigs, parking at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center is plentiful and easily accessible. When you arrive, plan on spending at least half if not an entire day playing in the training simulators, walking among all of the rockets, space modules and below the Space Shuttle, taking photographs and listening to the docents explain the history and the nuances of the American space program. This is a very important stop for anyone seeking to understand and appreciate the rich history that has and currently is making up our efforts to travel into deep space.

Among the films shown daily in the 288-seat Spacedome IMAX theater, “Magnificent Desolation, Walking on the Moon” is an excellent presentation, narrated by Tom Hanks (the star in the movie “Apollo 13”), lets you see through the eyes of the astronauts just how the launches of Apollos 12 through 17 occurred as they took off from the Kennedy Space Center and just how travel was for the several days it takes to reach the moon. You experience being aboard the lunar landing module as it touches down on the face of the moon. You tag along with the astronauts as they walk on the moon’s surface. Ride aboard the lunar rover and peer down into canyons that are several times deeper and larger than the Grand Canyon. You also get to experience a scenario where two astronauts get into a difficult situation while exploring the surface of the moon, but because of the months of intensive training these astronauts completed they are able to work their way out of the difficulty and reach the safety of the Lunar Lander. Be it before or after you roam through the acres of rockets and displays and stand adjacent to the actual lunar modules that have been to the moon and back, the 45 minutes spent watching the IMAX presentation will help summarize your space center experience and tie it all together.

Among the displays are both a V1 and a V2 rocket that were brought back from Germany at the same time that many German rocket scientists were brought to this country immediately following the end of the Second World War. At that time both the U.S. and the Soviet Union were in hot pursuit of the German rocket scientists, many of whom would hide in the Bavarian Alps for several days or weeks discussing who to surrender to, the Americans or the Soviets. The paperclip scientists that Wherner Von Braun was with decided they would surrender to the Allies and did so partially because they knew the United States had the deep pockets it would take to go into outer space. They also speculated that the United States would be willing to spend the money to do exactly that.

Many of the rocket modules and nose cones that launched one, two and ultimately three astronauts into space beginning all the way back to May of 1961, are here on display inside the 70,000 square foot museum. The nose cone that carried the first monkeys (Able and Baker) into space is here along with many photos of the rockets and components that were actually used in their construction. One display includes the spider they sent into space after a student in grade school – in the 1960s – asked the question, “Can a spider spin a web in a gravity free environment?” Both the spider that was sent into space and the giant web it successfully wove while in space are here on display. You can also see the effects the gravity free environment had on the spider that wove the web in zero gravity.

For those who witnessed the events of the late 1950s up until 1972 when the final Apollo mission to the moon was successfully completed, the U.S. Space & Rocket Center showcases and underscores how exciting those times were and how many pieces to this giant, cumulatively put-together puzzle there actually were. And for the youngsters of today who have no memory of these exciting and defining times, a day spent here is illuminating and triggers an inspiration among today’s youth to think about the future possibilities that remain in the venue of flight and space travel.

On the menu of possible experiences at the Space & Rocket Center is a program called Space Camp® where youngsters, teachers and adults can experience astronaut training. For those who elect to do so, a spin can be taken in a centrifuge where you experience three times the tug of gravity. While soaring 140 feet in the air, you can also experience the four Gs of force the astronauts experience during liftoff.

The rocket and space travel timeline presented at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center also features discussions and the plans that are being laid for future space travel. These plans include visiting Mars, an ambitious undertaking that is forecast for the year 2019. Yes, that’s right. Not only will we be going back to the moon again, but our astronauts will be traveling to Mars in the next dozen to fifteen years. Now that’s a Space Odyssey!

Website: www.spacecamp.com
Telephone: (256) 837-3400
Toll-free: (800) 63-SPACE
Location: I-565. Exit 15