I live in Huntsville, nice to see someone highlight the Space and Rocket center. The Davison Center (the "new" building) was built a few years back mainly from donations from the Davison family (hence the name). The Saturn V contained within used to sit on static display out in the rocket park and it was deteriorating badly, which is why they decided to create the center and protect it from the elements. The surrounding displays are amazing and continue to evolve and improve. As for Pathfinder: Pathfinder was the "proof of concept" for the shuttle parts. It was made from normal materials, mainly steel, and was never intended to fly, but they used her to make sure all of the parts would fit together properly. Then, once she was assembled, they used her as a dummy to make sure the shuttle could fit along any roads, around curves, under overpasses, etc. Anywhere the shuttle might need to be transported they first took Pathfinder. Hence the name. She was on static display for years in the park atop the fuel tank and booster rockets you see in the video, but about 4-5 years ago they took her (and the tank and boosters) down for restoration work. They are finally finishing that up and we're expecting to get the full display back by the end of the year. So, not a "real" shuttle, but a very real and important part of the shuttle program. There are also many STS mission artifacts in the main display halls in the visitor's center. The Space and Rocket Center is just outside Redstone Arsenal, which is home to the Marshall Spaceflight Center, which has a full Mission Control center as well as a runway that was an alternate landing strip for the shuttle. Marshall is also currently engaged in testing rocket engines for both Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance (ULA), which has their main assembly plant in Decatur, AL. Decatur is about 30 minutes away down I-565 / US-72(alt), which is the highway the Rocket Center faces in Huntsville. 🙂
I live in Huntsville, nice to see someone highlight the Space and Rocket center. The Davison Center (the "new" building) was built a few years back mainly from donations from the Davison family (hence the name). The Saturn V contained within used to sit on static display out in the rocket park and it was deteriorating badly, which is why they decided to create the center and protect it from the elements. The surrounding displays are amazing and continue to evolve and improve. As for Pathfinder: Pathfinder was the "proof of concept" for the shuttle parts. It was made from normal materials, mainly steel, and was never intended to fly, but they used her to make sure all of the parts would fit together properly. Then, once she was assembled, they used her as a dummy to make sure the shuttle could fit along any roads, around curves, under overpasses, etc. Anywhere the shuttle might need to be transported they first took Pathfinder. Hence the name. She was on static display for years in the park atop the fuel tank and booster rockets you see in the video, but about 4-5 years ago they took her (and the tank and boosters) down for restoration work. They are finally finishing that up and we're expecting to get the full display back by the end of the year. So, not a "real" shuttle, but a very real and important part of the shuttle program. There are also many STS mission artifacts in the main display halls in the visitor's center. The Space and Rocket Center is just outside Redstone Arsenal, which is home to the Marshall Spaceflight Center, which has a full Mission Control center as well as a runway that was an alternate landing strip for the shuttle. Marshall is also currently engaged in testing rocket engines for both Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance (ULA), which has their main assembly plant in Decatur, AL. Decatur is about 30 minutes away down I-565 / US-72(alt), which is the highway the Rocket Center faces in Huntsville. 🙂
The MQF at 5:00 was for quarantine after they returned from space (not before). To prevent spreading contagions from the moon.
I can see you guys being in Space Camp saying that this ain't no good airtime and these G's are weak
I don’t believe we ever went to the Moon. 🤓
Well, we did...