United States Space & Rocket Center
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U.S. Space and Rocket Center, 1 Tranquility Base, Huntsville, Alabama.
The U.S. Space and Rocket Center® is a museum designed to showcase the hardware of the U.S. space program. The idea was first proposed by Dr. Wernher von Braun, while serving as director of the Marshall Space Flight Center. It is located in Huntsville, Alabama. It opened in 1970 after the U.S. Army donated land on its Redstone Arsenal. It houses more than 1,500 pieces of rocket and space hardware.
Exhibits include:
- Saturn V rocket
- Skylab simulator
- A-12 Oxcart (incorrectly referred to as an SR-71 in promotional literature, though it is actually an A-12)
- Pathfinder orbiter
- Centaur G-Prime upper stage
- Apollo 16 command module "Casper"
The museum also features temporary rocketry- and space-related exhibits, interactive science exhibits, space-themed rides (such as Space Shot and G-Force Accelerator), and one of the original IMAX theatres, the "Spacedome."
United States Space Camp is located on the grounds of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, and Aviation Challenge is located nearby.
For years, residents of Huntsville could point to the Saturn I in the center of the Space and Rocket Center as a distant landmark (the museum is located a few miles from the city center). In 1999, a model of the Saturn V was erected near the Saturn I, extending the reach of this unique form of landmark (the moon rocket is nearly twice as tall). The museum also features a Saturn V, which consists of various test stages used during the Apollo program. This rocket lies on the ground, separated into its individual stages. A fundraising campaign is currently underway to repair this valuable space artifact, which has endured unforgiving southern weather for many years.
The Center is also the final resting place of Miss Baker, a squirrel monkey who flew on a suborbital test flight of the Jupiter rocket on May 28, 1959. Miss Baker died of kidney failure at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center on November 20, 1984.
[edit] Current Construction
The center has begun construction on a new facility to house the authentic Saturn V rocket it has on display. The new building will house the rocket (currently outside lying on its side, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places) and a new visitors center.
The Spacedome® IMAX Theater has recently undergone renovations.
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