The U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama is a museum operated by the government of Alabama, showcasing rockets, achievements, and artifacts of the U.S. space program. Sometimes billed as "Earth's largest space museum", astronaut Owen Garriott described the place as, "a great way to learn about space in a town that has embraced the space program from the very beginning."
Opened in 1970, just after the second manned mission to the lunar surface, the center not only showcases Apollo Program hardware but also houses interactive science exhibits, Space Shuttle and Army rocketry and aircraft. With more than 1,500 permanent rocketry and space exploration artifacts, as well as many rotating rocketry and space-related exhibits, the center occupies land carved out of Redstone Arsenal adjacent to Huntsville Botanical Garden at exit 15 on Interstate 565. (A link to the Botanical Garden is at the bottom of this page).
Two camp programs offer visitors the opportunity to stay on the grounds and learn more about their respective subject matter. |
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Inside the main building |
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Rocket Park: Some of the rockets in the U.S. Space and Rocket Center. |
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Below: The G-Force Accelerator was closed while the two RV Gypsies were here. But if open,
visitors can train like an astronaut and experience three times the force of gravity as you test your will in the G-Force Accelerator!
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Experience 3 Gs pushing on your body!
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Push against centripetal force to test your strength.
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You must be at least 48 inches tall to ride the G-Force Accelerator.
You should not ride this simulator if you have any heart problems, inner ear problems, asthma, seizures, pregnancy, back or neck pain, claustrophobia, motion sickness, detached retina or any other major medical condition. It was not open for riders when the two RV Gypsies were here, or Karen would liked to have tried it. |
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Below: 12 Honor plaques of space missions |
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Outdoor rocket exhibit |
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Below: Moon Landing Monument July 20, 1969 |
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 Below: Ilse, Karen and Lee each pushed down on the lever with all the thrust they could muster. The number shown means how many people with the same strength would equal the 7,500,00-pound thrust of the Saturn V rocket.
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Ilse would need 75,000 people. She wasn't thrilled with her score. |
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Karen would need a bit fewer people = 53,571 people. She was OK with her score. |
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And Lee was the strongest of the three - he would only need 41,666 people. Way to go Lee! (but nobody took his photo pushing on the lever- boo hoo!) |
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Gemini astronauts trained in this capsule. |
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Below: Karen and Ilse are dwarfed by the big rocket |
Below: Swing Arm |
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Actual Saturn 5 Rocket |
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Below: Shuttle Park
Explore the most complete chronology of launch vehicles in the country, including the world’s only fully-stacked Space Transportation System (STS) that includes two solid rocket boosters, genuine space shuttle main engine nozzles and a genuine external tank. This orbiter, Pathfinder, is on display in Shuttle Park and is flanked by a T-38, a twin-engine supersonic jet used in astronaut training.
Front view and side view of The Pathfinder- way too big to get the whole thing in a photo! |
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  A fun FLASHBACK 1978 - Renee and Brian Duquette
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Below: Saturn V Test Stand, also known as dynamic structural test facility, at the George C, Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama is the test stand used for testing the Saturn V rock and the Space Shuttle prior to the vehicles' first flights. it stands 363 feet tall and is 98 feet square. Its central bay has maximum dimensions of 74 feet 74 feet. An elevator gives access to 15 levels of the structure. |
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Continue on to the Huntsville Botanical Center and the Alice in Wonderland special theme presentation.