Office of Wernher von Braun

At the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama features the desk and items from German-born rocket scientist and former director of the Marshall Space Flight Center, Wernher von Braun.

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Rocket City Legacy

Huntsville, Alabama played an important role in the Nation’s space program in the 1950s. One of the exhibits at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville detailed the events and milestones including the first American satellite, the Hubble Space Telescope, the Space Shuttle, and the International Space Station. Here is part one of the exhibit from February 2010.


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Reach for the stars

This picture of several space rockets was taken in the Rocket Garden at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

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Launch Complex 39 Pad B

Launch Complex 39 Pad B at the Kennedy Space Center was built in 1966 for the Apollo program and later modified for the Space Shuttle Program. It was deactivated on January 1, 2007 and converted to accomodate Project Constellation, including three new 600 foot tall lighting mast towers. On October 28, 2009, the Ares I-X test flight successfully launched. With the cancellation of Project Constellation, NASA removed the rotating service structure and offered the pad and facilities to private space flight companies.

Here are pictures taken in April 2011.

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Apollo 11 in the news

Apollo 11, launched on July 16th, 1969 from Launch Complex 39A on a Saturn V rocket, was the spaceflight which landed the first humans on the moon. It was commanded by Neil Armstrong and piloted by Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, Jr. The lunar module landed on the moon July 20th, 1969. The first steps on the moon took place six and a half hours after the landing.

The Apollo/Saturn V Center at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida has on display a number of newspaper front pages announcing this historical moment in the United States Space program.

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Rocket Garden

The Rocket Garden at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida features eight rockets including: Juno I, Juno II, Delta, Mercury Redstone, Atlas-Agena, Mercury Atlas, Gemini – Titan, and Saturn IB.

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STS-134

This picture of Space Shuttle Endeavour waiting on launchpad 39A to for her scheduled liftoff on April 29th, 2011 was the closest I have ever been to a Space Shuttle. Unfortunately, her liftoff was scrubbed for two weeks.

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Space Shuttle Endeavour

A year ago this week, Space Shuttle Endeavour was on launchpad 39A waiting for her final mission. The first launch attempt of STS-134 scheduled for April 29th at 3:47pm was scrubbed at 12:20pm due to problems with two heaters on one of the orbiter’s auxiliary power units. Two weeks later, she launched on May 16th at 8:56 am.

Commander Mark Kelly, Pilot Gregory H. Johnson, and Mission Specialists Michael Fincke, Roberto Vittori, Andrew Feustel, and Gregory Chamitoff delivered the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer and an ExPRESS Logistics Carrier to the International Space Station.

She landed for the final time on June 1st at 2:35am completing a mission lasting 15 days, 17 hours, 38 minutes, and 51 seconds and traveling 6,510,221 miles.

Here are pictures of her on the launchpad taken April 28th.

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Holiday in Gettysburg

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, was the center of the famous battle sharing its name, The Battle of Gettysburg. The battle fought from July 1st – 3rd, 1863 had the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War. A quiet, peaceful town today, it is full of historical places to visit. Here are some pictures taken in late November with the holiday decorations.

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Ground Zero

Standing anywhere close to the Ground Zero waterfalls, you can hear the massive amount  of water cascading 30 feet down from street level.  It puts into perspective the scale and amount of pain this tragedy had.  Here is a video of clips around the fountains.

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