Talk:U.S. Space & Rocket Center

Another Exhibit not on Display
The USSRC also had an X-15 on display, at one point in time. It is currently in storage. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 199.209.144.16 (talk) 21:00, 1 June 2010 (UTC)


 * Whichever X-15 the Space & Rocket Center had on display isn't in storage. Only three X-15s were ever built. One was destroyed during a test flight. The other two have been at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and the National Museum of the United States Air Force for quite some time. The one at the Smithsonian has been there since at least the mid-1970s. The one at the Air Force Museum has been there since at least the late 1990s (that's when I first visited the Museum and saw its X-15). The two museums' websites verify that they still have their X-15 aircraft. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.223.130.32 (talk) 01:01, 20 January 2015 (UTC)


 * Might you be thinking of the Lockheed_A-12, article 06930, on display outside the gift shop on the side facing the highway? -- ke4roh (talk) 21:19, 20 January 2015 (UTC)


 * I recall the X-15 on display. It was set up on a popsicle stick (similar to how the T-38 is in Shuttle Park).  I know it was there in 1991 but do not recall if it was there in 1996 when I worked there.  All (or most) of the hardware at the center is "on loan" from a respective owning museum like NASM, NMUSAF, and NMNA.  Some of the exhibits are permanent, though they can be recalled or are part of a traveling exhibit. Crkey (talk) 02:54, 6 December 2017 (UTC)


 * It seems that X-15 66671 was on display in Huntsville at some time in the past.  It is now at the National Museum of the United States Air Force near Dayton. -- ke4roh (talk) 14:22, 6 December 2017 (UTC)
 * Here's a relatively clear picture of 66671 (at least that's what the paint indicates) on display in Huntsville in 1982, on the "popsicle stick," out by the moon bounce and the base of the Redstone rockets.  -- ke4roh (talk) 17:14, 6 December 2017 (UTC)

Sequencing of sections
I went over to WikiProject_Museums/Guideline to get some more ideas about things to do with this article because it still seems to omit large sections of information about the museum. While I was there, I rearranged the suggested sections and gave my reasoning on the talk page. I could be entirely wrong, but my thought is that the typical reader will want to know:
 * What (in general) is this museum?
 * Why should I go there?
 * Who else goes there?
 * Who runs the place?
 * Why and how did this place come to be?

And with that sequence, I set about rearranging the sections here, rewriting the lede, and beginning to fill in the rest of the article. I see that National Air and Space Museum starts off talking about architecture and doesn't get to the contents until near the end. Perhaps there is now enough in the lede to begin to answer those questions. At any rate, I'm not satisfied with our list of exhibits - it's visually jarring, impossible to complete, and lends itself to unsourced claims (like the "not on exhibit" section). I would prefer something different, but haven't figured out how to fix it yet. Help is much appreciated. -- ke4roh (talk) 02:46, 19 April 2012 (UTC)


 * Looks like you made up a layout at WP:WikiProject_Museums/Guideline without getting consensus or feedback from members of that project. The current layout here makes more sense to me. However, the info on the buildings and facilities could be combined and presented later in the article. I'll go with the consensus reached here. Galleries should be near the bottom of the page.  That may be a Wikipedia guideline, possibly WP:Galleries. -Fnlayson (talk) 13:27, 19 April 2012 (UTC)
 * Yes, and since there were exactly three participants at WP:WikiProject_Museums/Guideline in the years 2009-2010 and no activity for the two years since, I figured WP:BOLD was a suitable guideline for making the changes. I'll hail those users to see if they want to chime in on their guidelines. -- ke4roh (talk) 03:06, 20 April 2012 (UTC)
 * While I understand that the "History" section frequently comes first, I think that in this case, it should come after the collection because the history of this museum has little to do with the purpose of the museum (other than its fulfillment). Kenilworth Castle is a "museum" where the "collection" consists of the buildings - and the architecture is detailed first, before the several centuries of history, which gives even more information on how the architecture came to be.  USSRC's history doesn't much play into the collection, except perhaps through the movement of artifacts in and out of the museum, and perhaps the influence of directors on that flux.  (The Apollo 11 MQF used to be there, and there were manned capsules from spaceflights in Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs at one time - but no more.)  Contrast with Manzanar which would not be notable but for its history. That said, I figure we should improve the section on the collection to convert it to prose before moving it up. -- ke4roh (talk) 03:16, 22 April 2012 (UTC)


 * Not sure what you mean by ""used to be there" and "at one time". The Apollo 16 capsule, Apollo MQF and others are there.  The Mercury and Gemini capsules that have been there were part of a traveling exhibit (most recently was Gus Grissom's Liberty Bell Mercury capsule.  There are still Gemini and Apollo training capsules.  Where did your exhibit draft go? Crkey (talk) 03:01, 6 December 2017 (UTC)

Writing prose for the museum's collection
Based on my survey of Good Article museum write-ups, I am attempting to re-write the list of items on display as prose. This is challenging on two fronts: 1. I don't know diddly about the military items on display, and 2. I don't have great references for most items. Your help is appreciated with those matters and with writing. Please contribute to the working draft. -- ke4roh (talk) 21:31, 22 April 2012 (UTC)

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External links modified (January 2018)
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SR-71 Blackbird?
I'm almost sure that there's a retired record-setting SR-71 Blackbird at the main entrance to the museum. Correct me if i'm wrong, though. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sleepiiii (talk • contribs) 14:43, 30 April 2018 (UTC)


 * No, it is a Lockheed A-12 (mainly single-seat), the precursor to the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird (twin-seater). -Fnlayson (talk) 14:48, 30 April 2018 (UTC)
 * Right. We talked about fast planes earlier - see the section Another Exhibit not on Display -- ke4roh (talk) 15:09, 30 April 2018 (UTC)
 * What is a SR-71 Blackbird? Amber colleen bridges (talk) 14:04, 6 May 2023 (UTC)

"U.S. Space & Rocket Center®" listed at Redirects for discussion
An editor has identified a potential problem with the redirect U.S. Space & and has thus listed it for discussion. This discussion will occur at Redirects for discussion/Log/2022 April 15 until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion. BD2412 T 05:20, 15 April 2022 (UTC)

Space Shot renamed
The ride formerly known as Space Shot is now known as Moon Shot. I know because I took my kids on it a few weeks ago. There are some web pages making mention of the new name, but I have not yet found an especially compelling source for the new name. ke4roh (talk) 03:02, 12 January 2023 (UTC)