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U.S. Space & Rocket Center facts for kids
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| Established | 1965 |
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| Location | Huntsville, Alabama |
| Type | Science museum |
| Owner | State of Alabama |
| Association of Science-Technology Centers | |
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The U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama is a super cool museum! It's run by the government of Alabama and shows off amazing rockets, space achievements, and items from the U.S. space program. Some people call it "Earth's largest space museum." Astronaut Owen Garriott said it's "a great way to learn about space."
The center first opened in 1970, right after the Apollo 12 mission landed on the Moon. It has real Apollo Program parts, like the Apollo 16 capsule. You can also find fun, hands-on science exhibits, Space Shuttle displays, and even Army rockets and aircraft. The museum has over 1,500 space items and often brings in new exhibits. It's located next to the Huntsville Botanical Garden. You can even take bus tours to nearby NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center from here.
The center offers two awesome camp programs where visitors can stay and learn about spaceflight and aviation. U.S. Space Camp lets you dive deep into the space program. You get to use simulators, listen to talks, and do training exercises. Aviation Challenge gives you a taste of military fighter pilot training. This includes simulations, lessons, and even survival exercises! Both camps have programs for kids and adults, whether you stay overnight or just visit for the day.
Contents
Exploring the Exhibits
Some of the rockets at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center. From left to right: Saturn I, Jupiter IRBM, Juno II, Mercury-Redstone, Redstone, and Jupiter-C.
The U.S. Space & Rocket Center has one of the biggest collections of space items. It shows more than 1,500 pieces! You can see rockets, engines, spacecraft, simulators, and lots of hands-on displays.
The center takes you on a journey through rocket history. You'll see early German rockets like the V-1 flying bomb and V-2 rocket. Then, you'll see U.S. military rockets like the Redstone and Jupiter IRBM. There are also civilian rockets like the Mercury-Redstone and the Juno II. You can even see the huge Saturn rocket family, including a tall Saturn I rocket that's a famous landmark.
The Saturn V Dynamic Test Vehicle, called SA-500D, is displayed inside a special building called the Davidson Center for Space Exploration. This is the only Saturn V rocket of its kind that was put together outside a museum! There was also a Space Shuttle model, Space Shuttle Pathfinder, used for testing. It used to sit on top of an external tank with solid rocket boosters, but it was removed for updates in 2021. The tank and boosters are still there.
The museum also shows important military rockets. These include the Project Nike series, which were the first missiles for defense. You can also see the MIM-23 Hawk missile, the Hermes, and the Patriot missile, first used in the Gulf War of 1991.
The rocket collection also includes many engines. Besides the engines on the rockets, you can see separate ones. There are two F-1s, which are giant engines that pushed Saturn V rockets off the launch pad. You can also see the J-2 engine, which powered the second and third parts of the Saturn V. There are even engines for the Lunar Module! Engines from the V-2 to the Space Shuttle Main Engine are also on display.
The Apollo program has a big section in the Davidson Center for Space Exploration. It shows items from the Apollo missions. Astronauts walked on a red walkway to get into the Command Module. This module was their cabin for the trip to the Moon and back. The Apollo 16 command module, which orbited the Moon 64 times in 1972, is on display. The Saturn V Instrument Unit controlled the first stage of the rocket as it lifted off. Many exhibits explain how complex this part of the journey was.
Astronauts took a Lunar Module (a model is on display) to the Moon's surface. There, they collected Moon rocks, like the Apollo 12 sample at the museum. Later Moon trips used a Lunar Roving Vehicle (displayed next to the Lunar Module). The first few Moon trips ended at a Mobile Quarantine Facility (Apollo 12's is on display). Astronauts stayed there to make sure no Moon germs came back to Earth.
The Apollo 16 capsule, which orbited the Moon 64 times in 1972, is displayed with its recovery parachute.
You can also see a restored model of Skylab. This was a space station that was part of the Apollo project after the Moon landings.
Many simulators help you feel what spaceflight is like. The Space Shot ride makes you feel like you're launching, with 4 times Earth's gravity (4 gs) and then a few seconds of weightlessness. The G-Force Accelerator gives you 3 gs of acceleration for a longer time, using a spinning machine. Other simulators are fun and teach you about space.
Other exhibits let you get hands-on with rocket and space travel ideas. A bell jar shows why rockets work in the vacuum of space, unlike propellers. A wind tunnel lets you move a model to see how air forces change. The Mind of Saturn exhibit shows how gyroscopic force works, which is important for rocket navigation. You can even climb into an Apollo trainer!
Some simulators on display were actually used by astronauts for training! A Project Mercury simulator shows how small the space was for the first Americans in space. A Gemini simulator shows what it was like when two people flew together. These were the first U.S. missions with spacewalks and space meetings.
Exhibits also look at the future of space flight. Two Orion spacecraft exhibits show NASA's next spacecraft. A Bigelow Aerospace model shows a commercial habitat, which is part of an effort for space tourism.
Bus Tours and Traveling Exhibits
The Space & Rocket Center used to offer bus tours of Marshall Space Flight Center. These tours showed you four National Historic Landmarks, including the Redstone Test Stand. This is where Alan Shepard's Redstone Rocket was tested before launch. Another stop was the Payload Operations and Integration Center, which controls many experiments. These tours stopped after the September 11 attacks in 2001. They started again in 2012 but were only for U.S. citizens due to security. As of 2023, these tours are no longer offered. However, you can still take bus tours of Space Camp's Aviation Challenge!
The Space and Rocket Center also hosts special traveling exhibits. In 2010, they had "Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination." They even had a Jedi Experience camp with it! Other traveling exhibits have included "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Exhibition" and "CSI: The Experience."
Miss Baker's Resting Place
The U.S. Space & Rocket Center is the final resting place of Miss Baker. She was a squirrel monkey who flew on a test flight of the PGM-19 Jupiter rocket on May 28, 1959. Miss Baker lived at the center from 1971 until she passed away in 1984.
History of the Center
Visitors to the new museum saw Mercury and Apollo 6 capsules, lunar rovers, and more.
The idea for this museum came from Dr. Wernher von Braun. He led the U.S. efforts to land the first person on the Moon. Plans for the museum started in 1960.
Von Braun knew how much people in Alabama loved football. So, he convinced rival coaches Bear Bryant and Shug Jordan to appear in a TV ad! They asked people to vote for a $1.9 million bond to build the museum. The vote passed in 1965. The Army also donated land from Redstone Arsenal for the museum.
To attract visitors, the center needed something amazing. The director, Edward O. Buckbee, worked with von Braun to get the Saturn V Dynamic Test Vehicle to the site. This huge rocket arrived on June 28, 1969. The Saturn I rocket, which stands tall at the museum, arrived the same day. The center officially opened on March 17, 1970.
The Space & Rocket Center was a big supporter of the U.S. pavilion at the 1982 World's Fair. They provided space and energy exhibits. The Spacedome IMAX theater at the museum opened on December 19, 1982. This theater was updated in 2019 and is now the Intuitive Planetarium, with cool digital projectors.
The 1986 movie SpaceCamp helped make the camp even more popular. The number of campers more than doubled after the movie came out! This meant the facilities had to grow.
A new building, the Davidson Center for Space Exploration, opened on January 31, 2008. It's named after Dr. Julian Davidson. This building was made to hold the Saturn V Dynamic Test Vehicle. The rocket is lifted above the floor, and you can walk underneath it! The Davidson Center also has a 3D movie theater.
Museum Buildings
The SA-500D Saturn V is the main attraction in the Davidson Center for Space Exploration.
Huntsville architect David Crowe designed the first museum building. It had about 22,000 square feet (2,044 square meters) of exhibit space.
Since 1969, people in Huntsville could see the tall Saturn I rocket at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center from far away. In 1999, a full-size model of the Saturn V rocket was put up. It's almost twice as tall as the Saturn I!
From 1979 to 2023, a Saturn IB rocket was displayed at the Alabama Welcome Center in Ardmore. It reminded visitors of Alabama's role in the space program. It was removed in 2023 because it needed too much repair.
The dome theater opened in 1982 and was updated in 2019 to become the INTUITIVE Planetarium.
A $3 million NASA Educator Resource Center was built and opened in 2005.
The newest building is the Davidson Center for Space Exploration. It opened in 2008 and is 68,000 square feet (6,317 square meters). It was designed to house the Saturn V Dynamic Test Vehicle. This rocket is lifted up, so visitors can walk underneath it and see its parts. The Davidson Center also has a 3D movie theater.
Who Runs the Center?
The U.S. Space & Rocket Center is owned by the State of Alabama. It's run by the Alabama Space Science Exhibit Commission (ASSEC). This group has 18 members chosen by the Governor.
There's also a group called the U.S. Space & Rocket Center Foundation. This is a non-profit group that helps raise money for the center.
Visitors and Events
Lots of people visit the Space & Rocket Center! In 2017, more than 786,820 people came to the center. This made it the most visited paid attraction in Alabama that year.
The NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge is held at the Space & Rocket Center almost every year since 1994. It used to be called the Great Moonbuggy Race. In this challenge, high school and college students design and build a small moonbuggy. They then put it together at the site and drive it across a pretend lunar landscape.