Huntsville: have a blast at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, Alabama's top tourist attraction - If you only have a day in … - Alabama - Brief Article

Travel America, Nov-Dec, 2001 by John Handley

Gazing up at the Saturn V rocket, you are awed by its size and potential power, enough thrust to propel men to the moon. The astronauts called it "a living beast."

Imagining it coming to life, you can almost hear it roar, starting to rise, slowly at first and then faster, spewing flames and smoke. But this rocket has a permanent place on earth. The mighty 363-foot-high giant is the newest exhibit at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

Located in the northern part of the state, Huntsville is known as "Rocket City" and "America's Space Capital." The blastoff of this once sleepy cotton town began in 1950, when German rocket expert Werner von Braun brought 118 of his fellow German rocket scientists to the U.S. Army's Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville. During the 1960s, they worked to put America's first satellite into orbit, send the first astronaut (Alan Shepard) into space, and develop the mammoth Saturn V, the world's most powerful rocket.

Now, the U.S. Space & Rocket Center is the No. 1 tourist attraction in Alabama, drawing nearly 500,000 visitors a year.

So, with just one day in Huntsville, head for the space center, which is located on Interstate Highway 565, 15 miles east of Interstate Highway 65. Like a time machine of space travel, the center showcases the world's most comprehensive collection of rockets, missiles, and space hardware. You'll see everything from a full-scale Space Shuttle to the SR-71 Blackbird spy plane, which flew coast to coast in just over an hour.

If you want to know what it feels like to lift off in a rocket or shuttle, ride the Space Shot, which pulls four G's and includes two seconds of weightlessness at the top. Inside the museum, you can take the controls of a simulator and land the shuttle, or embark on the Mars Mission, which explores the hazards of traveling on the Red Planet. Even farther into space is the Journey to Jupiter. Back on earth, you can see a moon rock from the Apollo 12 mission, touch a 180-pound meteorite, and walk through a full-scale mockup of Mir, Russia's space station. Among the many fascinating exhibits is the actual Apollo 16 command module, which completed a moon mission in April, 1972.

A theater presentation shows how future astronauts will live and work in the International Space Station. Plus, the Spacedome Theater shows IMAX films.

A guided bus tour will take you to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, where the Hubble Space Telescope is managed and where modules of the International Space Station are being assembled for a launch, possibly in 2004.

Those who have dreamed of being an astronaut can experience realistic training, including a simulated space shuttle mission, at the Space Camp and Space Academy at the center. Though mostly aimed at school-age children, the programs also are for adults.

After checking out the rocket center, which can take a half day or more, head into downtown Huntsville, where a number of interesting attractions are located. One of them is Alabama's Constitution Village, a historic re-creation. This walk back in time is made more authentic by the "villagers," guides in period costumes who perform such tasks as baking and spinning in the old ways. Eight reconstructed Federal-style buildings stand on the site where delegates gathered in 1819 to forge Alabama's statehood.

While Huntsville is synonymous with space and speed, it also commemorates a much slower mode of transportation at the Historic Huntsville Depot. Dating from 1860, the brick structure is one of the nation's oldest remaining train stations, with an antique steam locomotive outside. A ticket agent (an animated robot) tells Alabama's railway history, while upstairs you can see graffiti written on the walls by soldiers who were held captive during the Civil War.

Shoppers should make a special effort to stop at Harrison Brothers Hardware, which has operated on the town square since 1879. It is stocked with old-fashioned and modern-day goods.

Especially popular with children is EarlyWorks, a hands-on museum that presents history in a lively fashion. Visitors can hear stories from a talking tree, play a tune on giant-size instruments, and walk aboard a 46-foot keelboat.

The birthplace of Tallulah Bankhead, one of Huntsville's most colorful characters, is on the courthouse square. The sultry-voiced actress--Broadway, movies, radio, and television--was known for calling everyone "Dahling" because she couldn't remember names.

Also downtown is the Twickenham Historic District, one of the largest concentrations of antebellum houses in the South, with more than 65 structures.

If you can spend more than one day in the Huntsville area, there is much more to see and do. Other notable attractions include the Alabama Music Hall of Fame and the birthplace of Helen Keller in Tuscumbia, the Jesse Owens Memorial in Oakville, and the W. C. Handy Home in Florence.

For more information on northern Alabama, contact: Huntsville/Madison County Convention and Visitors Bureau, 700 Monroe St., Huntsville, AL 35801-5570, (800) 772-2348; and Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association, P.O. Box 1075, Mooresville, AL 35649-1075, (800) 648-5381.