By Aaron Tanner
“Other cities have a skyline, but Huntsville has a space-line,” is how the U.S. Space & Rocket Center (USSRC) describes the numerous spacecraft displayed at one of Alabama’s top attractions. Since opening in 1970, visitors from all 50 states and around the world have learned about the state’s role in space exploration at the Smithsonian-affiliated museum through various exhibits and educational programs.
The USSRC recently reopened its renovated Rocket Park, giving visitors a fresh look at the Huntsville-based programs that led to putting man on the moon and an exciting vision of NASA’s role in returning to the moon for new explorations and discoveries in the field of space.
The Redstone family of rockets created at nearby Redstone Arsenal is proudly displayed at the Rocket Park. The Redstone rockets include the U.S. Army Redstone, used as a ballistic missile, and the rockets of Jupiter, Jupiter-C, Juno II, and the Mercury Redstone. The family of rockets eventually evolved into the Saturn I rocket for low earth-orbit missions and the Saturn V rocket that traveled to the moon.
“(The rockets) chronicle the transition from missiles designed for the military to rockets designed for space exploration,” says Patricia Ammons, the Rocket Center’s spokesperson. The Saturn I rocket is on display at the Rocket Park, while an original Saturn V rocket used for dynamic testing can be viewed at the Davidson Center for Space Exploration nearby.
The Rocket Center also has a full-scale vertical model of the Saturn V, which creates a dramatic visual for people traveling on Interstate 565, the main road into Huntsville.
The future of space travel is also on display at the Rocket Park with a mock-up of the SLS (Space Launch System) Core Stage Pathfinder. NASA provided the base portion of the SLS Pathfinder to the USSRC. The Pathfinder was used to practice lifting and transporting a flight-ready SLS that will soon take astronauts back to the moon for the first time since the Apollo program over half a century ago.
Each rocket at the park was erected before the USSRC opened. Despite frequent paint and repair jobs, Alabama’s cold, wet winters and hot and humid summers led to the need for a full restoration of the rockets. In 2018, the museum dismounted the rockets and transported them to Cosmos Aerospace in Cullman, where the company made extensive repairs and worked with the Rocket Center’s curatorial team to add new paint schemes to the rockets before they were transported back to the park and remounted in 2024. The Rocket Park fully reopened in September 2024.
Educational opportunities abound at Rocket Park, with a sign at each rocket explaining its development and how it was used in America’s space program. “It is one thing to read about space exploration and another altogether to stand in front of the rockets that made space exploration possible,” Ammons says. “Rocket Row is an important part of the vast number of displays at the Rocket Center and tells the story of how imagination, knowledge, and skill can come together for an extraordinary purpose.”
Ammons also describes having the SLS Pathfinder on display as “illustrating the massive size of the SLS launch vehicle and helping tell the story of the Rocket City’s current and ongoing role in space exploration.”
Other unique features
There are other features at the Rocket Park to enhance the guest experience. The Marshall Retirees Association spearheaded a Wall of Honor, which will include more than 21,000 names of employees at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville when completed. “This project honors all the NASA employees who contributed to space exploration and establishing Huntsville as the Rocket City,” Ammons says.
A kiosk at the wall allows visitors to search for names and learn more about their specific jobs, as well as an opportunity to submit names of those who worked for corporations that worked on missions for NASA. In addition, the Rocket Park includes a new amphitheater that will be used for educational programs, community and special events, as well as providing an area for visitors a place to take a break from the park’s substantial grounds. Expanded green space gives the park better visual landscaping with sunshades and trees for shade during the warmer months.
The Rocket Park is part of the extensive renovations and expansions at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center. The Space Camp Operations Center opened in 2023 and features a large auditorium and added classroom space equipped with the latest state-of-the-art technology.
Another critical piece in the “Return of the space-line” is the renovation of the Pathfinder space shuttle. Like the SLS Pathfinder, this vehicle was used for critical lift and fit testing. It is an iconic display and one of only two full shuttle stacks in the world. The Rocket Center completed the restoration of the shuttle stack in October 2024.
And in December, a new exhibit, “Discovering Mars: Robot Explorers” opened, with full-scale models of the Mars Sojourner, Mars Exploration and Curiosity Rovers, along with the InSight Mars Lander and the Ingenuity helicopter. Each of these vehicles in the interactive exhibit represents the kinds of robotic technologies that have explored the Martian surface, providing valuable insight on our solar system neighbor.
Generous donations made both the Rocket Park and Pathfinder shuttle projects possible, including a $2 million donation for Rocket Row from Fred Luddy, a California businessman whose son attended Space Camp. The Marshall Retirees Association raised the money for the Wall of Honor while other donors adopted rockets to additionally cover funds for the renovation. Additional funds are still being raised to ensure the long-term duration of the Rocket Park and Shuttle Park.
Space exploration continues to evolve. The new Rocket Park and the Pathfinder shuttle display perfectly balance where space exploration has been and sets the stage for where it is headed. It is an out-of-this-world sight that is not to be missed, along with other features at Huntsville’s most popular attraction.ν
