Kid in a Candy Store!

My wife and our kids are from Pensacola, FL and I just moved them up here with me this past August. They've never had the opportunity to visit some of the fine locales of Alabama. Yesterday I began work on correcting that. Took a little trip, roughly 1 hour, north of where we live in Gardendale, AL. They had no clue where we were going. At least not until the massive visage of the Apollo Saturn V came into view. The U.S. Space and Rocket Center, Huntsville, AL.

Turns out that we chose a great weekend to try this. This past weekend was their Space Camp Alumni celebration weekend. Former Space camp members, Astronauts, and NASA personnel, were all in attendance. And, after all, our hobby IS rocket science. So what could make a rocketeer's trip to the center more incredible than such an event? How about over an hour of one on one conversation with a NASA engineer! Mike Pessin freely spent all that time engaged in conversation about the construction materials and methods used for the Saturn V. This led to the conversation about the variations of materials used for the construction of the Shuttle external fuel tank. And the welding methods, repair methods, stress issues, and so on and so forth. I learned the alloys used. We discussed the engines and drives. Future methods for long range space exploration. And I even got an in depth lesson on the upcoming Orion SLS.

This was one day that will live in my memory for ever.

Guess in my excitement I should have uploaded my precious pictures.



And the rare opportunity to stand in the presence of history. The actual Apollo XVI capsule.


I also learned that only one of the rockets and missiles in the rocket garden was ever actually launched. The Mercury Redstone on display was actually launched. It was fired, blasted off to a massive altitude of 2 feet. Then landed perfectly back on the pad from which it's flight began.

All in all one of the top 10 best days of my life.

You should smile more... Just Kidding!

We love the US Space and Rocket Center, it is one of the many places that has turned my son into wanting to study Aerospace Engineering.

What a find!

Been there twice and one time it was free (the hotel I was at comp'd me)! It really is a cool place to visit if anyone has the opportunity.

Last time I was there, there was an SR-71 parked in the parking lot, smack in front of the front doors. Sweet. But I imagine they've found an indoor home for it by now.

Last time I was there (the only time!) the SR 71 was still parked outside..

Yeah, a bit of a drool factory! Love Werner's brief case on display!

I'm amazed at how many people don't realize that the little iddy-biddy capsule at the top of the Saturn was the only place they crew lived.. And the LEM was jammed in just behind it.. the rest was fuel.. Seeing it really brings it into perspective..

It was still outside the last I was there, which was 2006ish.

Wow,,
That sounds just fantastic,,
Good for you..
It's super cool to be able to enjoy that with your kids..
After all,, seeing that could be a "Y" in the road for them...

Very cool,,,

Teddy

I was driving down the highway at night there when the Saturn V came into view (They have lights on it). One day I will get back that way for a visit.

Peartree said:

Last time I was there, there was an SR-71 parked in the parking lot, smack in front of the front doors. Sweet. But I imagine they've found an indoor home for it by now.

Click to expand...

No, Still in parking lot. Is not a SR=71, but a A-12

Peartree said:

Last time I was there, there was an SR-71 parked in the parking lot, smack in front of the front doors. Sweet. But I imagine they've found an indoor home for it by now.

Click to expand...

I found out its actually an AX-12 not an SR-71. It's the predecessor.

I really wasn't going to be Topper from Dilbert, but then this thread showed up...

I was in Huntsville last week too, attending the teacher workshop for high school and middle school Student Launch teams. Not only did we get to build a Madcow Arcas with NASA personnel, plus a presentation on SLS from one of the head honchos, we got a very special tour of the Marshall Space Flight Center. First stop was the ISS payload control center (well, the room with windows looking into the control center). Did you know there's a desk there for a "Timeline Change Officer?" Sounds like a job for the Doctor. Next we went over to another building where they were working on nozzle steering systems and flight computer integration. Finally, we went to the test stands. The firs tone was the T test stand where they ran Saturn 2 stages. There was a S2 first stage lying on its side next to the stand. The last stop before lunch was West Test, where they did the Saturn V first stage tests. In our amazing luck, the elevator had been repaired a few minutes before, and we were able to go to very near the top.

I am extremely grateful for NASA's hospitality!

Kruegon said:

I found out its actually an AX-12 not an SR-71. It's the predecessor.

Click to expand...

Cool! Thanks for the correction. As I recall, when I was there the SR-71's were just being retired, that plane was there but I did not see any descriptive data around it. I assumed that I was a newer addition.

Peartree said:

Cool! Thanks for the correction. As I recall, when I was there the SR-71's were just being retired, that plane was there but I did not see any descriptive data around it. I assumed that I was a newer addition.

Click to expand...

So did I. Who would expect such a rare plane to be there like that? We have an actual SR-71 on display at our airport. A little questioning led to some interesting info on this. The SR-71 was a recon aircraft. The AX-12 was being tested as a strike aircraft. Apparently there is a physics issue with launching missiles at high mach. Sooooo, that idea was scrapped.