Last December, I had the opportunity to travel to Huntsville, Alabama with work. When a meeting ended early one day, my travel partner and I found the opportunity to get to the Space and Rocket Center. Right off the highway, it was easy to find and get to (but maybe the rocket off the highway made it a little easier to find).
Walking into the museum there is an atrium that has a remodel of an early plane a la the Wright Brothers. It effectively ties history into what aeronautical scientists do today. The museum is laid out in a unique way, separated into two buildings. The first one (the one where we bought the tickets) houses a Saturn V rocket that was fully restored (to save you the trip to Wikipedia, it was the rocket for several Apollo missions, including Apollo 11 and was decommissioned in 1973). The rocket is larger than life. When seeing rocket take offs and landings, you know they're big, but seeing it laid on it's side just showed me how big it was. Along the sides of Saturn V, there are items from space history, such as a decontamination trailer, different modules for landing, and interstages. There was a lot around this part and it was overwhelming, however it all followed the common purpose of explaining the breakdown of a rocket. There were also places to listen to oral histories by astronauts.
Between the two buildings, there is an area best described as a rocket garden. It was a walking path and on every side there was some kind of rocket or space vehicle. In a very Cold War-era building with a rounded entry way and darkly tinted glass, which was just overall looming to walk into. Inside is just a myriad of old space equipment. The first floor has just everything not really organized into theme or anything, but just out there. There is a larger interstage that serves as a barrier for a couple of sections. There is even a decommissioned Soviet rocket to walk through. Some of the items are complete sets, shown as they would be used, which is very interesting. Others are more out to show off the circuits of years past, which basically makes a large portion of this museum an engineer's dream come true. To one side of the exhibit, there are a few hands-on activities, whose hours shut down well before I go there. Also over there are some examples of defense items being developed at Redstone Arsenel (where the Rocket Center is actually located) such as Future Combat Systems.
Along the other side of the building is a more friendly side to those who like a timeline process in understanding. They address the phases of development of a rocket and address how certain equipments were arrived at. Some parts are more juvinelle, but I think the epitomological standpoint of the curators was that kids would really only understand this part, and just think the other stuff before was cool, whereas adults would understand the entire museum. The part about being in orbit refers to children "putting away their toys." Also addressed in this portion of the museum are the dangers of space travel with a section paying tribute to those lost in flight. Finally there is a landing simulator that I lost control of three or four times.
The United States Space and Rocket Center is a great place to go, is family friendly, and is available at a moderately inexpensive price. There are a lot of decommissioned items in the two buildings and it is a very interesting visit. The only other real thing to do in Huntsville is to shop, so I feel the majority of visitors to the area are people in Defense, so if you get out of a meeting early, check out this gem in the deep south city.
Thanks for the support!!
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