The HabForum

I was looking at people's photos on facebook and I noticed that there appears at least some of the artifacts have been moved around. I am wondering what they have moved and what is in it's place.

I noticed Casper, the mock LEM, the apollo capsule trainer have moved, and Vadar.

All of the Apollo related items have been moved to the davidson center, which is getting more exhibits in the months to come. The main museum is not as crowded now with the LM, Command module etc moved. All of the exhibits on Von Braun and such are in the same place.

I know the old museum section will house the Star Wars exhibit next year so i'm guessing they qont fill it up to quickly though they have enough stuff to do so. Alot of the museum's collection is in storeage for lack of space in the past. I know the Star Wars exhibit is quite large. I plan on being down their opening weekend for the exhibit.

I think that it's a traveling exhibit that stays for a few months but I'm not sure. If it is then hopefully some of that collection will be put up once it leaves.

It is a travelig exhibit and will move on eventualy. I'm sure they will bring in more permanent exhibits at some point.

I've been talking with someone there right now and they say the davidson center is pretty empty. Maybe they're moving things in preparation for the new Apollo exhibits.

I'll be there this weekend and will post plenty of pics when I get back next week!

Well I am back from my Alumni weekend visit!

Unfortunately, my camera got fubared somehow so I did not get a single picture this weekend! I was so upset!

If you haven't been to USSRC since the Davidson Center opened, then you will be in for an entirely new experience the next time you visit. Here is a run-down of all of the changes:

The most drastic change is of course the addition of the Davidson Saturn V Center. The Davidson Center is now the main entrance to the USSRC. I was expecting the Davidson Center to be just an "add-on", instead, it is taking a starring role, with the old museum building demoted down as part of the supporting cast. The old entrance is now where you are supposed to exit, and lemmie tell ya, it's a weird feeling ending your visit where it used to begin. The new ticket counter is at the foot of the Saturn V outside of the Rocket Park. Once inside the Davidson Center, Guest Services are to your left, a small gift shop is to your right, and a new movie theater is directly ahead. A stairway takes you into the large room where the restored Saturn V hangs above you.

Inside the Davidson Center are most of the items that used to sit on the main floor in the old museum: The Apollo 16 Command Module, The Lunar Module, The Apollo Command Module and Lunar Module trainers, the Mobile Quarantine Facility, the Apollo spacesuits, the cut-away Saturn V scale model, and the Saturn engines. There is also a new exhibit that simulates an F-1 engine test firing on a Marshall Space Flight Center test stand. Other items of note were mockups of the Ares rockets and a really neat life-size Constellation crew module. I was disappointed to find the switches and gauges inside the Apollo Command Module trainer had been taken out and replaced with a lame, flat plexiglass blueprint of the cockpit control panels!

The Davidson Center exits into Space Shot area of the Rocket Park. I must say, the Park seems very empty without the old Saturn V laying out back. A gravel bed is all that remains, perhaps a great spot for a retired Shuttle orbiter in a few years =D The Saturn V is not the only Rocket Park artifact that needs restoring. Almost every one of the original standing rockets are showing their age, their markings having faded in the hot Alabama sun. For you old timers, the Moonwalker ride is long gone, and has been replaced with a playground for small children. The picnic area under the wooded area next to where the Moonwalker was - a favorite chill spot for Campers back in my day to escape the hot Alabama summer sun - is gone and fenced off.

After touring the Rocket Park, visitors continue to go backwards, into the SC Training Center and Cafeteria. The Lunch Pad has morphed into "Rocket City Grill", with the old booth seating swapped out for table seating and closed off completely from the Cafeteria area. A Sub Station has been added with sub sandwiches, coffee and bakery type foods. Those who have not visited the SC Training Center in awhile will be disappointed to find that the training center floor has been completely closed off from public view.

The gift shop that used to be at the entrance to the Training Center is gone. I was pleasantly surprised to find a Space Camp Hall Of Fame taking its place! There was a nicely produced video and display case devoted to our very own Hall of Famer, Vincent, which was nice to see.

From the Training Center, we enter the main floor of the museum, which is now an empty shell with all of the Apollo stuff gone. Oddly enough, the Apollo moon rock was still in the same place, and I have no idea why it was not moved into Davidson as there seems to be plenty of room for it in the Davidson building. A flown Shuttle cargo bay instrument pallet sits where the Apollo 16 CM once sat, hinting that the main museum floor may be used to display Shuttle hardware in the future.

Exiting the museum into the main Gift Shop area, there seemed to be alot less merchandise than in years' past. I wanted to buy a replacement SC Alumni polo, but was surprised to find not one single Alumni item. In place of all of the alumni stuff, there were some nice Apollo 11 40th items.

Past the Gift Shop, you go into the old entrance/guest services area which is mostly empty and in need of a new assignment. Not really the way to end a visit. I think the USSRC has alot of work to do in re-organzing the exhibits in the old building. Two or three years from now I hope to return and find the old building re-worked and better than ever.

The space camp alumni polos were a special for the 25th.

So I just got back from Huntsville and I have a few new welcome changes to report!

First of all, and I don't know if this is really new, or if I've just never been around when this was turned on, but the Saturn 1 in the rocket park now sprays a cool water mist out of the engine bells! This is great for cooling off on these hot summer days! What a great idea. Also gives you the feeling that the rocket is about to take off!

Second, I was very pleased to see that the old picnic area in between the Rocket Park and the Shuttle Park has been re-opened! Campers from the 80s and 90s will remember hanging out in this area. Lots of good memories here, and I'm glad to see the fence taken down and this area being used for its intended purpose again.

Third, the Command Module Trainer in the Davidson Center has been restored! The flat panel with drawings of the switches is gone, and all of the lights, switches and buttons are back. Visitors can now sit inside the CM and flip switches like back in the day. I think I even heard the NASA comm sounds while sitting inside the thing. Just the way it used to be when it sat on the main museum floor.

Also of note, a new exhibit called "100 Years of Von Braun" is set to open this fall and will last until May. Tons of WVB stuff will be on display in the old museum after the dino stuff is gone.

Oh, the Mind Of Saturn exhibit opened in the Davidson Center this weekend. Included is a new sim from Binary Star where you drive the Saturn V through Trans-Lunar Injection towards the moon. It's alot like the Discovery landing sim from Binary Star that's in the museum, but you also get to control the throttle.

That's all for now. I'll post more about my visit later!

Oh, the picnic area brings back memories! As does the Apollo module. I'm so happy both are back.

Hotdog wrote:
Second, I was very pleased to see that the old picnic area in between the Rocket Park and the Shuttle Park has been re-opened! Campers from the 80s and 90s will remember hanging out in this area. Lots of good memories here, and I'm glad to see the fence taken down and this area being used for its intended purpose again.

The concrete pad was broken up in that area and the fence was put up because it was an unmarked cemetery. There was a very nice gentleman that used to come to the ticket desk from time to time that asked to visit the area. At one time I had seen a map that had the plots marked out. Not exactly sure that a picnic area is the true intended purpose of that land.

The misters underneath the Saturn I B were a new addition this summer! They were greatly enjoyed by the guests! The added bonus is it looks like the engines are venting.

street wrote:The misters underneath the Saturn I B were a new addition this summer! They were greatly enjoyed by the guests! The added bonus is it looks like the engines are venting. :D

That's pretty cool, anyone got picks?

Refreshing on a hot day, I'm sure!

I spent the day at Sprocket yesterday and saw quite a lot of changes going on during what is normally the "off season" when things are slow and there's more time to get things done. 2015 already looks like it's going to be an exciting year! Here I will post some photos I took to share with you guys.


It was a beautiful day, somewhat warm for February and perfect for photos of the outdoor space hardware!


I forgot to go inside the Hab to check out the progress of the renovations, but here's a shot showing the new porthole windows in the crew trainer rooms.




In the Astrotrek building, workers were busy getting Endeavour set up. I got these shots when the workers were on break.




In the old museum, there was a new exhibit about space telescopes next to the stairs going up to the old Shuttle exhibit. There was this life-size mockup of the James Webb Telescope and some smaller models. Appears to be a work-in-progress.


Here is what appears to be a new Binary Star sim where you fly a jetpack around Mars. Does that MMU look familiar? I believe it's the same one that used to be used for the Solar Max rescue sim from the 80s and 90's. This is set up next to the military exhibit.


In the training center, they've started on the space station exhibit. Not much to see yet, just a couple of modules being worked on, along with the Atlantis sim and the Bigelow station model that used to be over in the Davidson Center. I'm not sure about the module in the foreground, perhaps it is new? The one in the background appears to be new and still under construction.


There is also this, an interactive touchscreen where you design and build your own ISS. Looks like fun and I bet you could spend a lot of time here!


Meanwhile, over in the Davidson, the V2 rocket has been stood vertical in the front corner to the aft of the Saturn V. I think the V2 has been repainted, too. Notice she no longer has a checkered paint scheme. I'm not sure why they would do this, unless this is how this particular rocket was originally painted?


A 1/10 scale model of the SLS stack now stands in the Davidson. This thing is very detailed and very nicely done by the model makers at Marshall who also made the quality SLS stacks I saw being installed at the KSC visitor center when I was there for the Orion launch in December. I think this would look even better if the 1/10 Saturn V model already in the Davidson were standing next to it!


Speaking of Orion, here are the Space Camp awards that were flown on the Orion EFT-1 mission! I wonder if they still plan on giving these out to the lucky trainees who attend this year?


Work continues on the Skylab exhibit. Here you see Owen Garriott's Skylab spacesuit next to an empty case, which I would guess might one day hold either Lousma or Al Bean's suit?


I don't know if this was here before or not, maybe I'm just now noticing this, but over by the IMAX entrance there's some signage for the three Space Camp movies! Perhaps this area may one day hold artifacts and props used in the films? How cool would that be???


The old Teacher Resource Center by the Centrifuge has been repurposed again, this time as an art gallery! This is something I am certainly glad to see. Art and Space just seem to go together (at least, for me anyway)! Inside was photography relating to the development of the atom bomb at Oak Ridge.


Finally, here's a shot of some literature I saw with some juicy data from the Space Camp Alumni surveys. Since it pertains to us, I figured I'd pass it along.

Whew! As you can see, a lot has been going on since the summer. Looking forward to returning for Alumni Weekend later in the year!