United States
Alamogordo, New Mexico: New Mexico Museum of Space History
By Ron Mears
Nov 22, 2005, 21:53

Almost anyone would enjoy spending a couple of hours at the New Mexico Museum of Space History located in Southern New Mexico in Alamogordo. You will find actual spacecraft, models, and countless other attractions, ranging from a sample astronaut food packs to a virtual simulator where you can try your hand at landing the space shuttle. But if you are serious space buff you should probably set aside as much as a full day, because it would take that long to even scratch the surface of all the history and insight into the space program available here.

The museum is a actually a complex of facilities: the space museum, a planetarium, an IMAX dome theater, the Hubbard Space Science Education Facility, and the International Space Hall of Fame.  The museum hours were 9-5 seven days a week as of November, 2005.  Cost of admission was $3 per adult, $2.75 for senior citizens, and $2.50 for children 4-12 with toddlers admitted free.  You can call 505-437-2840 for current information or visit the museum website at www.SpaceFame.org. 

John P. Stapp Space Park

Sonic Rocket Sled. This device propelled a man along a rail at sonic speeds in order to study the effects of acceleration and deceleration on human beings. The park was named after Air Force Colonel John P. Stapp, who was instrumental in the development of the sonic sled.  In 1954 he rode this machine to 632 miles an hour at nearby Holloman Air Force Base.  The sled is not an enclosed vehicle. He had been preceded only by chimpanzees. The 25gs Colonel Stapp endured on deceleration has been compared with that "an auto driver would experience were he to crash into a solid brick wall at 120 miles per hour."

V-2 Rocket. Of historical interest is a tail section from a German, WWII V-2 rocket, the word's first long range ballistic missile.  These rockets were not very accurate, but the "shock and awe" factor was huge. The world had never seen a guided rocket weapon before. After the war, the capture of the surviving German V-2s by both the United States and the Soviet Union was a top priority, as well as recruitment of the German scientists in the V-2 program. These resources gave both peaceful space programs a huge head start. As we all know, the military uses of this technology would proceed quickly, also.

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Museum

Your tour of the museum begins on the fourth floor and will lead you down to three more floors of exhibits.  Here are just a few items.

Satellites. A number of full-scale replicas of early and modern satellites are on display, including one of  only three replicas of the famous Sputnik satellite that sent tremors of fear throughout the entire Western world during the Cold War. Although very small by current standards, Sputnik began the space race when it launched by total surprise in October, 1957. A replica of the first US satellite, Explorer I  is also on display, as well as many others.

Russian Space Dogs. A month later, the Soviets launched a second Sputnik mission, this one with a dog named Laika. Dubbed a Muttnik by the US press, Laika unfortunately died from stress and overheating after a few hours in orbit. Most of her canine predecessors in space fared much better.  Otvazhnaya ("brave one") made 5 flights between 1959-60. Like all of the Russian space dogs, she was a mongrel stray from Moscow.

Other Exhibits. The museum offers a replica of a section of the International Space Station, displays of actual Mission patches, the shuttle landing simulator mentioned above, and models of famous mission vehicles such as Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo.  You can even see an actual moon rock. These comprise only a tiny handful of the hundreds of intriguing items you will see in the space museum.

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Clyde W. Tombaugh IMAX Dome Theater and Planetarium

For usually the same prices you paid for admission to the museum you can see incredible 3-D movies in the IMAX dome theater. Each film is about 30 minutes long. Some movies have a higher admission charge. Available movies on the day of my visit were "Fighter Pilot", "Volcanoes of the Deep Sea", and "Lewis and Clark: Great Journey West".  If you have never seen an IMAX movie you are going to be impressed.  The system uses 70mm film projected on a 40 feet screen. Named after the discoverer of the planet Pluto, the theater doubles as a planetarium. The planetarium projector can display up to 2,400 stars.

Hubbard Space Science Education Facility

Educators might take notice of the museum's education department, which offers workshops between teachers and astronomers, family related space events, a portable "Starlab" planetarium for rental to schools, and space camp programs for children. You can learn more about these programs by contacting the staff.

Space Museum Photo Gallery