Huntsville Rocket Day

2025-04-02
Huntsville, AL

It was a warm Alabama day today, getting up into the low 80's. I figured that was normal, but I'm told it's warmer than usual for this time of year. It's also breezy by the local standards.

Today I visited the US Space and Rocket Center here in Huntsville. They have a lot of exhibits, a number of simulators (aka rides), and a large presence for space camp. The latter is a chance for kids to explore science from the perspective of space exploration. I, of course, mainly focused on the exhibits, but I did catch the planetarium show on the Webb telescope that was a lot of fun too.

There is a large exhibit on the Saturn V (Saturn Five) rocket that put men on the moon in the late 1960's and early 1970's. They had engines going back to the V2 and Redstone programs all the way up to the huge engine that powered the first stage of the Saturn V.

They have the Apollo 16 command module too; it was pretty impressive to stand next to something that has been to lunar orbit. Unfortunately for picture quality, it is encased in glass.

The lunar rover was one that was used in training, so it never went to the moon. I thought the tires were cool. Sure, they aren't 60,000 mile Michelins, but for the few miles they had to travel they look efficient. They are also quite light.

In the exhibition hall, they had an actual Saturn V (unused) that was split open on the ceiling, stage by stage. Outside it was a model that was used for some early testing. Similarly the space shuttle they have is the "Pathfinder." If you're unfamiliar with that one, you're not alone. Apparently it's a properly shaped paperweight, weighing as much as the real thing so it can hold down all your papers. But it has no internals; no door to get in, nothing. It was used early on to test things like flying on a 747; stuff where you don't want to risk the real launch vehicle so you can use the cheap (well, cheaper) mock-up.

I got to the museum just when they opened at 9:00 and all but had it to myself until about 10:30 when hoards of small children arrived in bus after bus. The facility seems well-prepared to handle the kids, but I went off to watch some of the Space Camp activities. They had (older) kids in a tank of water practicing weightlessness with adults teaching them SCUBA gear. Other kids were working on building a truss by sliding up and down a frame where pulleys compensated for their weight so they moved freely. I also saw a room that was some sort of Mission Control where all the other activities (including several I didn't see) were on tv screens and several kids were talking into headsets. I think it would have been fun to try this as a kid.

After I had enough museum time, I decided to head over to the Madison County Nature Trail at Green Mountain. I really have no idea how this got on my radar at all; I think they must have a good online presence person. It was a easy 1.5 mile trail around a lake, with some various cabins and benches scattered about. I decided to slackpack this one, with no camera or pack. I did enjoy the covered bridge at the end. After walking around the lake, I sat on a bench and looked out over the lake for a while. Spring is just coming in and everything is coming alive.

I've driven in Huntsville enough that I'm starting to learn things. On the highways around here, lanes come and go more than other places. You'll be driving on a five-four-three-four-three lane road. Most places have short merging and exit lanes, but here the lanes typically run from entrance to the next exit. It makes it easy to get into the wrong lane and suddenly you're off the highway. They compensate here by using a different pattern for the lane lines when a lane is going to disappear in the next few miles. The "dashes" are about half as long and twice as frequent as the normal lane markings, so you know that you'd best get out of that lane toot-sweet if it's not your exit.