The U.S. Space and Rocket Center is a museum designed to showcase the hardware of the U.S. space program. The idea was first proposed by Dr.Wernher von Braun, while serving as director of the Marshall Space Flight Center. It is located in Huntsville, Alabama. It opened in 1970 after the U.S. Army donated land on its Redstone Arsenal. It houses more than 1,500 pieces of rocket and space hardware.

Exhibits include:

• Saturn V rocket
• Skylab simulator
• SR-71 Blackbird
• Pathfinder orbiter
• Centaur G-Prime upper stage
• Apollo 16 command module "Casper"

The museum also features temporary rocketry- and space-related exhibits, interactive science exhibits, space-themed rides, and one of the original IMAX theatres, the "Spacedome".

U.S. Space Camp is located on the grounds of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center.

For years, residents of Huntsville could point to the Saturn IB in the center of the Space and Rocket Center as a distant landmark (the museum is located a few miles from the city center). In recent years, a model of the Saturn V was erected beside the Saturn IB, extending the reach of this unique form of landmark (the moon rocket is nearly twice as tall). The museum also features a Saturn V, which consists of various test stage used during the Apollo program. This rocket lies on the ground, separated into its individual stages. A fundraising campaign is currently underway to repair this valuable space artifact, which has endured unforgiving southern weather for many years.

External links

• Official site