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Stafford Air & Space Museum facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Stafford Museum Entrance F-104 Starfighter
The entrance to the Stafford Air & Space Museum

The Stafford Air & Space Museum is a cool place to visit in Weatherford, Oklahoma, United States. It's named after a famous astronaut from Weatherford, Thomas P. Stafford. In 2010, it became a special partner with the Smithsonian Museum.

At the museum, you can see amazing things. These include Stafford's Apollo 10 spacesuit and the actual Gemini 6A spacecraft. There are also items from the Space Shuttle program and the Hubble Space Telescope. You can even see a real Moon rock! The museum also has a huge Titan II missile and over 20 historic airplanes. It's right at the Thomas P. Stafford Airport.

Who is Thomas P. Stafford?

Stafford Museum F4 Phantom
An F-4 Phantom jet at the museum entrance
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Stafford and Alexei Leonov shaking hands in space during the 1975 Apollo–Soyuz mission

The museum is named after a true hero, Lt. Gen. Thomas P. Stafford. He was born in Weatherford and is one of only 24 people to ever travel to the Moon! He went to the United States Naval Academy and later received the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

Stafford flew into space four times. He was the pilot for Gemini 6A. He also commanded Gemini 9A, the Apollo 10 mission that orbited the Moon in 1969, and the 1975 Apollo–Soyuz Test Project. This last mission was a special meeting in space between American and Russian astronauts.

Museum History

The Stafford Air & Space Museum first opened its doors in 1983. Back then, it was just two rooms at the Weatherford airport. Over the years, it grew bigger and bigger. By 2006, it had expanded to four buildings!

Awesome Exhibits

The museum has many exciting things to see. One of the biggest is a real Titan II rocket. This huge rocket stretches across a whole display room!

You can also see many items from the Smithsonian. These include a Gemini flight suit and special space food. There are even survival items that flew to the Moon on Apollo 11. You can also see the actual pressure suit Stafford wore on Apollo 10. This was the first flight of the Apollo Lunar Module around the Moon.

Space Handshake Display

A very special exhibit is the hatch from the 1975 Apollo–Soyuz mission. This is the part where U.S. astronauts and Russian cosmonauts connected their spacecraft. They greeted each other through this hatch! A picture shows Stafford shaking hands with Russian cosmonaut Alexei Leonov through it. The actual uniforms they wore are also on display.

Cool Airplanes and Simulators

The museum also has many retired aircraft. You can see a Russian MiG-21R jet and an F-16. There are also full-size copies of famous planes like the Wright Flyer and the Spirit of St. Louis. You can also see replicas of the Apollo Command Module and Gemini spacecraft.

The Rose & Tom Luczo Educational Center is a fun place. It has a flight simulation computer lab and a kids' library. There's even a Talon A3 Motion-Based Flight Simulator that lets you feel like you're flying! Astronaut Leonov also gave Stafford a special TP-82 Cosmonaut survival pistol, which is on display.

In 2018, the museum got an Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, also known as the "Warthog." You can see it outside the museum. The actual Gemini 6A spacecraft was also moved to the museum in July 2018.

Early Flight and Space

Stafford Air & Space Museum, Weatherford, OK, US (106)
The Gemini 6A spacecraft, flown in 1965 by Stafford and Wally Schirra
Stafford Air & Space Museum, Weatherford, OK, US (04)
Thomas Stafford's Apollo 10 spacesuit
Stafford Air & Space Museum, Weatherford, OK, US (42)
A V-2 rocket engine

Here are some other cool things you can find:

  • Wright Flyer (a full-size, flying copy)
  • Blèriot XI (a full-size copy)
  • Curtiss Pusher (a full-size, flying copy)
  • Sopwith Pup (a full-size copy)
  • Spirit of St. Louis (a full-size copy)
  • Goddard rocket (a full-size copy)
  • V-2 rocket engine (a real part)
  • Sputnik 1 (a full-size copy)
  • Explorer 1 (a full-size copy)

Space Race and Beyond

  • Moon rock collected by Gene Cernan on Apollo 17 (a real piece!)
  • Space Medal of Honor given to Thomas P. Stafford in 1993 (a real medal)
  • Gemini 6A spacecraft (the actual one that flew!)
  • Gen. Stafford's Gemini space suit (his actual suit)
  • Apollo 10 Space Suit (the actual suit flown in space)
  • Lunar Module Checklist (a real checklist used in space)
  • Apollo–Soyuz Docking Ring (the actual part that connected the spacecraft)
  • Mission Control Console from Johnson Space Center (a real control panel)
  • F-1 Rocket Engine (a real engine)
  • J-2 Rocket Engine (a real engine)
  • Titan II Rocket (a real, ready-to-fly rocket)
  • 1/2 Scale Lunar Module
  • Apollo Command and Service Module (a full-size copy)
  • Gemini Spacecraft (a full-size copy)
  • Small models of all the rockets used by humans in the "Space Race"
  • Astronaut Maneuvering Unit model

Modern Aircraft and Space Items

  • Space Shuttle main engine (a real engine that flew)
  • Shuttle solid rocket booster segment (a real part that flew)
  • Mark 6 nuclear warhead (a real, but safe, item)
  • 1/15th scale Hubble Space Telescope
  • Rocket "Crawler Shoe" (a real part from the huge vehicle that moves rockets)
  • Bell X-1 (a full-size copy)
  • F-86 "Sabre" fighter (a real plane)
  • MIG-21R "Fishbed" fighter (a real plane)
  • T-38 "Talon" trainer (a real plane)
  • T-33 Trainer (a real plane)
  • B-61 Thermonuclear bomb (a real, but safe, item)
  • F-16 "Fighting Falcon" (a real plane)
  • F-104 "Starfighter" (a real plane)
  • F-4 Phantom (a real plane)
  • A-10 Thunderbolt II "Warthog" (a real plane)