Located in beautiful Huntsville, Alabama is the U. S. Space and Rocket Center, which houses one of the largest collections of space memorabilia in the world.  The exciting permanent displays  will take you on a  walk through the history of the U.S. space program. Among the permanent displays you will be viewing the original Mercury and Gemini capsule trainers, the Apollo 16 capsule and even a full size replica of the Apollo 11 and Saturn V.  Now is the time to be planning a trip to Alabama during the  summer where there is fine golf playing the world famous Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, great dining (it is the Year of Alabama Food through out the state), some of the finest bass and world-class crappie fishing in our nation, and plenty to see and do for the entire family.  Travel in Alabama is less expensive than many areas of our nation.  We are talking, “the largest Space Museum in the entire world,” located in Huntsville!

First a word about how Huntsville, Alabama – an unlikely place it seems for the development of a space program - became exactly the place for America’s “scientific brain tank!”  As the war was coming to a close in 1945 the German scientist under the direction of Dr. Wernher von Braun, surrendered to the Americans.  Had he chosen to go to the Russians the American space program would have been the “tail” and not the “head” of space exploration.  Over 100 scientists who had been instrumental in developing the dreaded German V-2 rocket during the war arrived in the United States in the last months of 1945. At a Fort Bliss, Texas research facility, the team began work on what would evolve into America's space program.

In 1949 the Army designated the Huntsville, Alabama, site of two World War II-era arsenals as the new home for the missile and rocket research effort. Redstone Arsenal was formally opened the next year, with the German scientific team headed by Dr. Wernher von Braun moving to its new quarters. Rocketry team, under U.S. Army supervision and headed by Dr. Wernher von Braun, moves to research facilities at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama in 1950. The next eight years were decisive in who would lead the way into space.  These years would also establish Huntsville as the “place where space travel was to be developed.”

"Space Race" was underway when Soviet Union launches first man-made orbital satellite (Sputnik) in October 1957; U.S. follows in January 1958 with Explorer I, put into orbit by the "Redstone" rocket developed at Huntsville.  The National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) opens the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville in 1960. Dr. von Braun's scientific team comes under this new nonmilitary government agency.

President John F. Kennedy's 1961 pledge to land men on the moon before the end of the decade is fulfilled when Apollo 11 crew makes the first lunar landing in July 1969. A "Saturn V" rocket, the culmination of a succession of ever-more powerful launch vehicles developed at the Huntsville facility, provides the thrust for the Apollo spacecraft.

Apollo moon program ends in the mid-1970s as NASA turns first to an orbiting space station project (Skylab was sent aloft in 1973), then to the development of a re-usable, plane-like space shuttle (first launched in 1981). Marshall Space Flight Center, now minus most of its original German scientists (von Braun took a NASA position in Washington, D.C. in 1970), continues to help develop launch delivery systems as well as scientific experiments conducted on board the new-generation spacecraft.*  

As the host of NASA's largest installation in the United States, Huntsville itself was profoundly affected both economically and socially. The U.S. space program and private ancillary businesses brought thousands of new higher-pay jobs and better-educated residents to the area. In addition, the city and state took advantage of the space program's popularity to create a booming tourist attraction in conjunction with the federal facilities. The U.S. Space & Rocket Center was opened in 1970 to offer exhibits and educational programs that attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors annually. *

* http://www.alabamamoments.state.al.us/sec63det.html

The Center is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. year round with the exceptions of some of the major holidays.  These can be checked out online at  http://www.spacecamp.com/ , as well as current entrance fees.  One of the exciting events is the IMAX Theater, where space travel “comes alive.”    

For the children, there is a Space Camp, http://datesandrates.spacecamp.com/AVL, that last from 3 – 5 days, with something for every age level.  This is a “full camp” where the children come to live on-campus and hopefully be motivated to consider a career in the nation’s space program some day.  There are full facilities to provide food, housing, etc. for the students for the entire camp.  The web site has information about the program and also contacts with the center for additional information, cost, and programs for each age group.  Information about the places to stay, formal graduation service, etc. can be found at

http://www.spacecamp.com/broadband/index.php.  

http://www.spacecamp.com/forms/04_museum_guide.pdf

Some quality information about the area can be found at:  http://huntsville.about.com/od/daytrips/ . 

Location:

U. S. Space & Rocket Center

One Tranquility Base

Huntsville, Alabama 35805

Phone 256 837-3400

Exit #15 off of I-565

Happy Traveling