U.S. Space & Rocket Center, Huntsville, Alabama, USA
The U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama showcases rockets, achievements, and artifacts of the U.S. space program.
US Space & Rocket Center: 1 Tranquility Base, Huntsville, Alabama, USA
Inside the center. Inside is one of the three remaining real Saturn V rockets in the US.
The first stage engines. It has three stages of engines.
The history of the space center in Huntsville, Alabama. Why is it here?
Huntsville was a cotton town, but after the depression, the government put factories making arsenals.
After WWII, arsenals were no longer needed, so the government put rocket factories here.
The first country developed a rocket was Germany during WWII. After the war, scientists immigrated to the US and started to work on missiles here.
The German scientist who developed the V2 rocket, which was the world’s first, was Wernher von Braun. He became the lead scientist here in Huntsville.
The V2 rocket engine.
Wernher von Braun’s office
The first significant rocket engine, Radstone, developed here under the guidance of Braun.
The US needed a bigger rocket engine for satellites and going to the moon. The country was in a race with Russia to develop bigger rockets.
Saturn V engine was the one that sent astronomers to the moon.
The first stage engine of the Saturn V rocket. The rocket is lying in the center, separated by the engine stages.
The first stage engine, F1
The H-1 rocket engine powered the Saturn 1B rocket, which was smaller than Saturn V.
It took eight H-1 engines to power Saturn 1-B.
The moon rocket is more efficient if it is built with three stages.
The second stage engines. It used five J-2 engines that burned liquid hydrogen and oxygen, provided by the Rockwell International Corporation.
A new engine that uses liquid hydrogen instead of kerosene fuel. The first liquid hydrogen engine was RL10.
The Saturn V used the J2 engine for the second and third stages. It is also a liquid hydrogen engine.
The J-2 engine
The third stage. It uses one J-2 engine
The computer and the missile guidance system
The gyroscope. It measures the location and the direction of the rocket.
The computer system
The gyroscope is located in this ring.
The topmost module where the astronauts will be placed
Looking back
A model shows how things are placed inside the top of the rocket. It shows the astronauts and the moon lander.
This rocket engine put down the lander on the moon called the descent stage engine.
The ascent stage engine
The top part of the rocket that came back to the earth
