but
that would
The same deviation from the program,
you have a printed program,
that's my idea, that's Jane Gilmore.
Because our government has to work
because of her sister's feeling of horror,
and we talked about her sister through a copy of it.
Let me ask you to howl,
let me ask you to howl, play the nightingale.
Oh, say can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Company B, 167th.
Our response, Greensboro, Alabama.
Company B, 167th.
Clyde W. Osbrough, Linetta, Alabama.
William E. Mathis, Valley, Alabama.
W.F. Murphy, Deechville, Alabama.
Charles W. Simpson, Montgomery, Alabama.
Lawrence Leverett.
I do not have this place of reliving Congress' death.
Roger Davis, LaPine, Alabama.
Clarence P. Hammond, Aniston, Alabama.
Nolan Hammond, Talladega, Alabama.
William H. Mitchell, Bolivar, Missouri.
And I have the herald, a last name, of Orlando, Florida.
I do not have the first name.
Paul Morrow, Prattville, Alabama.
Chalmers K. Lane, Jackson, Mississippi.
Roger B. Smith, Amazonia, Missouri.
James B. Gibbons, Jr., Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Ben Bailey, Quentin McIntosh, from Mississippi.
Arthur J. Comber Smith, Faroe, Alabama.
Billy J. Hines, Billy Z. Hines, West Point, Tennessee.
Courtwright William C. Schist, Canadian, Pennsylvania.
Peloton, P-E-L-T-O-N.
Marvin C. Waco, Texas.
K.I. N. O. R. A. D. Henry Kinnerad.
Maggie Bradley, North Carolina.
And James L. Wall.
Thank you.
I would like to add that Arthur Mitchell, as we've come and played this,
we won't have him take the oath of program as captain.
It's just a quiet moment for our captain.
He has made a great effort to be here with any of us.
He did why Sarah, or here, if I may have.
And he has asked Reverend Judge Berry to stand in for him and give the invocation.
Let's pray together.
Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for this occasion we've graced us together.
We thank you for the camaraderie and closeness we feel having served our country.
And served having served you.
Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for those who have given the last measure to those who have given their lives.
We thank you for the freedom of this country now, and joy for those who have gone to battle,
those who are active in the military at this time.
Now we pray your blessings upon this knee.
We thank you for the food.
We bless it to nourish our bodies, that we may be better able to serve you,
our land in which we live.
Your name be praised. Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Just a place, Bill, mandolin, and just about anything.
She won in 1991 and in 1992 the Junior title of the National Fiddling Championship in Smithville, Tennessee,
which is a big event that occurs annually up there.
And because she won two years in a row, she was then eligible to participate in the competition the third year before the event in 1993.
In 1994 she comes back and wins the Junior title, and they have a fiddle off between the Junior winner and the linear winner,
and she won that.
She, in 1995, was winner of the Key Club Southeast District First Place competition.
Just this year, just now, she won third place nationally in the scholarship competition funded by Discovery Card.
There is tonight with her video team that is videoing her life of a few days.
It will be presented at the time the awards were made in Chicago later this year.
And this is the video team.
Jennifer has performed with Charlie Daniels Band.
She has the great privilege of meeting Roy Aikov, the player for the M-49.
She played the ransom. She now has the sit-down and CDs made, and has a great future in the industry.
Jennifer is 16 or 17? 17 already.
Jonathan is 13. Jonathan's father plays the guitar and some day woodrass music.
And Jonathan grew up enjoying the day. The tambourine competition he wanted to play.
In 1989, he had asked for a band for Christmas.
Dan was a member of the Tennessee Night's North and got called over to Debra Stoner.
And Jonathan didn't get his band.
He got his band in 1990.
And in 1992, he played third in the Juke Bowl competition at Smithville, Tennessee.
In 1993, he won it. In 1994, he won it.
And was the band's champion for the tambourine or I don't know what it was, for the Smithville competition.
In 1994, he won the National Juke Bowl guitar competition at Smithville, along with the band.
And the Doe Crow national competition for the Doe Crow, all three in 1994 at Smithville competition.
In 1994, he goes to Winnville, Kansas, which is the largest competition for band playing in this county.
And won the Grand National Championship, the youngest person to ever win the Grand National Band Campionship.
And only the second to ever win it on his first try.
So you can see just from that what kind of talent we have.
They both live in McMendal, Tennessee.
They are great students, great young people, courteous, respectful, good families.
You know, we've been told that the fierce lawyers that the Auburn students have for the University of Auburn
is called by something they put the water down to.
And I'm just wondering if they don't put something in the water in McMendal, Tennessee,
to the outstanding young talents out of the community side of McMendal.
I'd like to commend the band to have Jennifer and John.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you so much for that song.
Next one I'm going to do for you is a very interesting tune.
In this tune, Jonathan and I actually do play together.
and you'll see what I mean in just a moment.
So if you'll excuse me for just a second,
we're gonna switch over into the rest.
I don't know how you do that.
I was supposed to dance this time, but...
The next tune we're gonna do for y'all's time is a really popular fiddle tune,
and John was gonna play it in this routine.
It's called Out Under Body.
Out Under Body
Out Under Body
Out Under Body
Out Under Body
Out Under Body
Out Under Body
Out Under Body
Out Under Body
Out Under Body
Thank you, Mr. President.
We're just giving a little report on Thursday.
We had a practice round on Friday morning to play the tournament.
We just had a big time, and we didn't have a lot of folks,
but we had a great time.
We played at the Great Stone Arsenal,
and we're sure we're gonna have one for next year.
I wanted to invite you folks that played.
If you'd come out and watch us, then it wouldn't matter.
You're doing what next year ain't having.
You saw how we played.
You can't ever play in your life.
But we got some awards, and I was trying to decide just what to do about it.
And I decided that the Booby Prize was probably the most important one that I could award.
And it was a big race between Colonel Charles Stale and myself on who was gonna get this prize,
this Booby Prize.
And I thought about it a little bit, and I've always looked up to my leaders,
and I looked over at Jim Coyette and Robinson over here.
I said, just what would he do if he was me?
So I had decided to use at least half the money that we had for prizes for this Booby Prize.
So I awarded it to myself.
When I got the racing forms in for the Gov Tournament, I saw one down there for John and Keith and myself.
I put all those things down, and the names down, put them up on the record,
sent them out of the letter back, giving them redstone information to the group that was on the Gov Tournament.
A few days later, I looked at that thing again, and it had that John T. over here,
had his handicapped, was 12, and the other side over here had a net.
And I showed that thing to my wife, and I said, what is that word there, what's that got to do with the Gov Tournament?
The net, I couldn't figure that out.
So finally I did, and I had already sent out some letters without her name on them.
I called her up, and I said, lady, I apologize to you, whatever she is,
and I hear her and put her name on the thing.
The first lady we've had played a Gov Tournament.
Well, this good friend of mine, and how we got tens, and we took the best halves,
and then we put the worst halves' name in the pot, and the best halves threw out the carton on the two-man scrimmage.
So this good buddy of mine, Herman Cook back here, down in the valley, he threw out this thing.
He came over to the thing, and he says, you couldn't be playing with a woman.
I said, I didn't throw a name on that thing.
The first award I want to give tonight is the Long Drive Award.
And that Sullivan will come up out of it.
She has a couple of comments, but I want him to present this to her.
This is two women riding a golf cart.
She says, let's go another round. This exercise is good for us.
You have a little thing to play with this guy.
All right, our third place winner, we gave three places.
By the way, by the way, don't eat the dog.
This coach here, we had 13 players in the golf tournament. We won three teams, winners, third, first place, second place, third place.
Over half the people got their stuff here. Our third place winners that are here.
You know this year has been a gustful since our organization in 1985.
We've awarded several max controllers, all members of the media, two persons or certain acts.
We'd like to recognize that individual who has traveled the farthest distance to attend this reunion.
Oregon, we know is here. As to anyone any far, how far is it Doug?
2,500 miles.
Anybody beat 2,500 miles?
We do, by the way, have a one member in Hawaii. If we can ever get the rest of him, Dick will not get it.
I try every year and I haven't got him here yet, but he will with him one day.
So, Dick, you come forward now. Unlike Carl, I did have something for an old man.
I'll tell you a little more. I'm in appreciation of the comrade who has traveled the farthest distance to attend the 31st and prediction division.
I was in the 11th annual reunion on July the 29th. He's one of our strongest supporters.
He gave me a lift. Let me tell you this real quick. In his library there are some deals.
Now you all may know this a little more than I am, but I realize it.
It has every telephone number in the United States on it. Did you know that?
A local little city thing like a spy in July, you type in the name, last name first, first name, and a little bit of a phone number.
My library is going to get one more workout coming next week, I promise you.
I've got 3900 lanes on the list and I'm going to be sure to tell them I'm on the ever one of them.
Because some of you don't even put on the application when we ask you for it.
Okay. I just try to pitch more members while I'm up here.
You're starting to pen, Dick.
It's been a long time since I've read my diary, but if memory serves me right,
50 years ago this week I joined the 106th engineers on Mendenal.
So it's really, really an anniversary for me.
And I just want to say that I appreciate the way the 31st division and the 106th engineers
welcomed me 50 years ago and I, to this day, I appreciate the way the 31st division society has welcomed me into their ranks.
Thank you all.
This is not, I have a real hand going, I'm going to say it, I'm going to look here.
Some of the distinguished gentlemen on the podium who are off to that, like to say convention.
I feel like shoe sales when in the insurance sales when the drummers have conventions.
This is a reunion for a family and that's the way it ought to be all the time.
We are going to have next year one of the largest family reunions in the history of this society was born in 1985.
Is anybody 100 years old in here?
Well I'm coming one year until I'm 100 and I'm going to get this rest for my family here, right?
This is in appreciation for the oldest comrade, 31st and rediction division society presented at the level down in the region,
Huntsville, Alabama, May, 1999.
Anybody 90 years old?
85?
86?
86, anybody 86?
Anybody older than Joe Biggs?
I don't blame you, I wasn't as bitter as he was.
Come on Joe.
Joe, come on up here.
General Lake is not here Joe, that's the only reason you got here.
General Lake wanted to come with you.
You know these families talked about the leadership provided by the elder statesman and his life as one of his leaders.
A lot of you I did not know before I joined the society.
I was in the Cormoran Wage in 1985 of course.
And after John Hooker stepped out as the executive secretary I had four years.
The greatest pleasure I think I have is not only seeing the people that I serve with,
there's people here, a lot of them,
but meeting you people from without the state of Alabama and Mississippi,
you know our division was square at one time in Florida and Louisiana.
And, but meeting you people I look forward to seeing you every year, you know.
And beyond me I cannot allow me to figure why when you're invited to something like this.
Realizing, and I'm getting over it too now, I told you,
we are aging.
How many more times are you going to get an opportunity to see these people,
to renew these acquaintances,
to make yourself available for your valuable information and wisdom and guidance to this society
which we hope will live many years after.
The potential membership of this society, you know our first meeting in 1985,
somebody was there,
we had members from World War I at that first two reunions.
Then we have one night who have served in World War II,
and in between the Korean War, I'm a Korean baby, is what they call me a lot of times.
I served in the Korean War.
This society has a possible membership of over 200,000 individuals in this nation.
If you stop and realize what our potential is, let me go to Joe.
If you have your six, if you have your six, that's one.
I'm going to go back.
I enjoy those two awards, and I've known Eddie Gilmore.
Eddie Gilmore served as the chairman of our board a good while back.
And being a statesman for several years in the state of Alabama,
and a born politician, I had no words to expect when he took me.
I was clever to supply.
One of the most orderly, calmest, unruhful, as he demonstrated last night,
those of you who were there and around, I know a few,
because that's a good situation to be in when you have good people to be playing for.
But unruhly, fair, honest, independable, and level-headed,
these qualities saw us through a kind of rough times,
and will continue to do so because he will remain, of course, for one more year in the picture,
as a past president.
And Eddie, all your work, believe me, during his time, he had some personal trials.
He loved to wife Elizabeth Paschier in the past years, shortly after the Guadalupe.
Through these things, and to a better man than I possibly would have been,
I would have probably thrown my hand for retirement.
But for this, we, the society, thank you very much.
I'm going to present Eddie Gilmore. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I told you about Lee, our daughter, that teaches in the school that he's done for a tent.
Her husband is a chambering secretary of mathematical chemistry,
and he found, somehow or another, a box of the song surfer's boots, hip and field,
just like that, in a warehouse still in the district. It's been there since the 40s.
And they acquired those boots.
And I have gotten three of those that we want to give as door prizes to men.
My friends will have them, and they will sell them, and anybody who wants one, they can get them.
I'm going to hand them to Steve, to our friend, to the floor of the chamber.
Steve?
The name is Roy McClendon.
Roy!
McManable had a World War II celebration each year.
They called it the event of the post or something like that.
And they gave all the World War II veterans one of these.
And I thought it was the most unusual gift.
Many folks have never seen it, but this is the one that was used by the chaplain in the field,
not the chaplain's service.
Donald Anderson.
Thank you, Donald. Earl Capela.
Thank you very much. That concludes my part of the service.
I have great pride.
The people are looking forward to this coming year.
And I think that the world faith field is going to lead us through.
Most of you know that it's a critical time in our society.
We've been through the trials, the tribulations of the organization,
the big foreign administrative committee that has drawn down from us.
We have great hopes that the George will leadership and the assistance of Roy,
the president of the administrative committee, that we'll be able to reconcile that situation
and become even stronger than we are.
And I have said a couple of times, Dick Barnes from Oregon,
I think that at the airport yesterday, he gets on and says,
I've been on both, because I'm 31st division, and I want to be part of the 31st division.
And I've been to the one in Mississippi, they had their meetings this last week.
He said, but this ought to be one organization, he has met in Oregon.
So this ought to be one organization.
We've had two organizations who need to be joining together as our membership plan.
That's an overwhelming feeling, I think, completely.
So we're very fortunate to have George Mayfield, who has some experience behind him.
He was the second president of the society when this organization was back early.
He did a nice, fancy job at Paulson and Wheeler College.
He was a good dear.
He had a great degree of study and career knowledge.
10, 9, 8, ignition sequence start, engine gone, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1,
start, engine running, line is in motion, lift off, yeah, lift off at 934, and they've been there all the time.
On this day, mankind began its most heroic adventure
and went on to complete the greatest achievement in the history of the human race, an adventure that began here.
The U.S. Space and Rocket Center is the focal point for the past, present, and future of man's journey into space.
Here, both the space science novice and enthusiast will discover or renew the enduring dream of life in space.
The visitor will discover and explore an enormous diversity of artifacts, hands-on exhibits, and theatrical presentations,
as well as tours of astronauts' training facilities at Marshall Space Flight Center and exciting space camp.
Each will leave with a new awareness of man's future in space and a better understanding of his past.
America's first Earth satellite, Explorer 1, was placed into orbit by an Alabama rocket.
The center is the world's largest space experience.
It's located on 450 acres along the northern perimeter of the Redstone Arsenal,
a government reservation consisting of over 38,000 acres of land.
Both NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, U.S. Army Missile Command,
and the U.S. Space and Strategic Defense Command are located here.
The U.S. Space and Rocket Center serves as the visitor's information center for both NASA and the Marshall Space Flight Center.
There are also many important artifacts on exhibit that are on loan from the Marshall Space Flight Center,
the Smithsonian Institution's Air and Space Museum, and other sources.
The story of Huntsville and the U.S. Space and Rocket Center really began in 1945
with the arrival of Dr. Werner von Braun and his rocket team at Fort Bliss, Texas.
Beginning in 1946, they and their American colleagues refurbished and launched 73 of Germany's infamous V-2 rockets,
one boosting an American WAC corporal 244 miles above the Earth.
Man was already probing the frontiers of space.
In 1950, von Braun and his teammates left for the Redstone Arsenal,
where he served as director of the Army's Ballistic Missile Program.
In 1960, his division was transferred to NASA,
forming the nucleus of the newly created NASA George C. Marshall Space Flight Center.
From that point, the dream of America's manned space program was on its way to reality.
During the period from 1945 to 1970, von Braun and his team would write the most important new chapters
in the history of rocketry and space travel.
From Alan Shepard's first flight to the current shuttle program,
and then into the future with the space station,
Huntsville has proudly built a legacy of dreams come true.
The rocket center is the showplace of America's space program,
exemplified by the impressive sight of the shuttle Pathfinder,
the only complete shuttle on exhibit in the U.S.
Located in Shuttle Park, this 25-ton behemoth is complete with external tank
and two solid-fuel booster rockets.
This shuttle was used to test equipment and procedures in the assembly of space shuttles
both at Marshall Space Flight Center and Kennedy Space Center.
It is dedicated to the brave astronauts aboard the ill-fated Challenger mission of 1986.
Just outside the museum, an A-12 SR-71, the Blackbird,
is a major attraction for the hundreds of thousands of visitors that come here each year.
This incredible aircraft flies at more than three times the speed of sound
and has served its country with distinction for over 30 years.
The fleet of Blackbirds was retired by the Air Force in 1990.
Upon entering the museum lobby, you may be greeted by a Space Center astronaut.
Here, information, schedules and tickets can be purchased for the adventures that await you within.
The NASA exhibit graphically presents a decade-by-decade history of the U.S. space program,
and a joining visitor information center can answer your questions.
There are a number of exciting exhibits devoted to space hardware before you enter the main exhibit hall.
In addition, adjacent to the lobby is the Dimensions of Space exhibit,
where the visitor can see and hear graphic presentations on the frontiers of our universe.
Technology, materials, medicine,
the dreams and skills that lift us toward the stars give us a new vision.
Just three years after von Braun's team produced the rocket that successfully put America's first satellite,
the Explorer I, in orbit, President Kennedy, acting through NASA,
gave von Braun and the Marshall Space Flight Center full responsibility
for developing and producing the Mammoth Saturn V moon rocket.
In 1962, von Braun approached the Alabama legislature with a proposal for the construction of a space and science museum.
In 1965, the project was approved and funded with the Army donating the land from its vast redstone arsenal.
Von Braun loaned a young man, Ed Buckby, from his public affairs office to the Project Commission
to help develop and open the new center.
He was to become its first director and continued in that position until 1993.
Groundbreaking soon followed, and the museum opened its doors in 1970.
Today's U.S. Space and Rocket Center has been expanded to become the world's largest space experience,
exhibiting thousands of artifacts and rocket and space hardware.
People-oriented exhibits have been introduced with dozens of hands-on demonstrations,
like the vacuum space test, where the push of a button creates a vacuum with fascinating results.
Others allow you to test a rocket nose cone,
practice landing on the moon, stack cubes using a remote manipulator arm.
The center often displays traveling exhibits, such as these from Blueprint for Space.
But whatever the subject, the youngsters and oldsters are spellbound by their touch and feel nature.
One of the major attractions of the hands-on exhibits is the MMU, short for Manned Maneuvering Unit.
Here, the visitor can dock with a crippled satellite.
One of the main objectives of the Rocket Center is to provide exciting, educational, recreational,
science-related and computer-age learning facilities for students, teachers and visitors.
An entire section of the museum is devoted to the history of modern rocketry,
featuring models of a large array of American and international space rockets.
Another visitor participation demonstration allows the firing of a live rocket engine.
Most of America's important space flights and accomplishments are well documented in the museum
with elaborate and interactive exhibits.
Explorer 1 produced our nation's first successful satellite.
The visitor can see the actual control board that initiated this famous launch.
Von Braun's rocket propelled the satellite that was created by Dr. William H. Pickering and James Van Allen.
This 1-15th scale shuttle model explains in simple terms the workings of our only functioning manned space vehicle.
A running narrative matches the areas highlighted by moving lights.
Area space exhibits are frequently on display here, and Red Star in Orbit was a major exhibition of Soviet spacecraft and art.
Red Star explores the history of the Russian space program from a Yuri Gagarin vintage Vostok capsule
to a scale maka of the Mir space station.
Several of these artifacts remain on exhibit.
There is always something new at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center.
The space center offers a complete history of American space flights,
including a Mercury procedure trainer that was instrumental in the early training of astronauts.
Accommodating just one man, the Mercury capsule was America's first manned spacecraft.
The astronauts who flew in them deserved the highest accolades for their bravery and skills.
A total of six manned Mercury flights were flown.
A few steps away is an exact copy of the Gemini spacecraft that carried two manned teams into space.
This cold black model was used for training Gemini crews.
There was a total of ten manned Gemini flights.
They proved that docking and working in space were possible and paved the way for the moon landings.
Visitors may be startled by the 1-15th scale model of the gigantic Saturn V rocket that hangs overhead.
Saturn V launched ten Apollo spacecraft to the moon, with six missions landing there.
Incredible as it may seem, this comparatively slender ring, known as the instrument unit,
was the controlling brain of this enormously complex 363-foot tall rocket.
Its immense first stage engines developed 7,600,000 pounds of thrust at liftoff,
while the second stage, driven by five engines, developed 1,600,000 pounds of thrust.
A single variable thrust engine propelled the third and final stage of 50 tons,
which carried the command module and its three astronauts to the moon.
Thirty stories high when vertical, visitors are awed as they walk the football field length of this enormous space carrier,
one of only three in existence and now a national historic site.
It is located in the center's rocket park.
Weighing as much as a World War II destroyer, as tall as the Statue of Liberty,
this great rocket was the high watermark of American rocketry.
The Saturn V is the largest rocket ever made, the one that took me and 11 other astronauts to the moon.
For me, my trip to the moon was the culmination of a great career in space,
walking on the lunar surface and even hitting a golf ball up there.
The experience was almost indescribable and it would never have happened without the Saturn V,
the most complex machine ever built.
Alan Shepard alone opened America's first decade in space and then closed it
with Apollo 14's Voyage to the Moon, accompanied by Stuart Russo and Edgar Mitchell.
Music
We have commit, we have liftoff, liftoff at 7.51 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.
We have cleared the tar clear, 13 seconds.
In all, there were 10 Apollo flights to the moon.
For Americans and millions of others worldwide, those were some of the most exciting days of their lives,
a time never to be forgotten.
We got them all.
Forty-two degrees, thirty-seven degrees, two fifty-five hundred.
Fifty-three degrees.
Okay, I've got, or hey, I've got Poppy, I've got the triangle.
Twenty-three percent, twenty-five.
Contact.
Stop.
Boom.
Wow, Poppy!
Tony, how about an extension, you guys?
We feeling good?
Is that all we're going to do tonight? We're sitting around and talking.
Man, you are really bouncing.
Is he on the ground at all?
See, that's ten kilometers.
Huh?
He's got about two wheels on the ground.
Okay, turn sharp.
I have no desire to turn sharp.
In the rocket center today, you'll see an actual lunar rover.
Over twenty years later, three of these unique vehicles remain on the Moon, awaiting our return.
Nearby, a giant gold foil-covered moon landing craft dominates the main hall.
The Apollo 16 command module, which carried three astronauts to the Moon, was recovered after splashdown.
The exterior is charred from temperatures up to 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit encountered during reentry.
A close-up view of the Apollo command module helps the visitor to appreciate the craft quarters that three astronauts had to endure during each long flight.
Immediately after the Apollo 11 mission, the astronauts were quarantined for 18 days in this specially designed van to protect against possible contamination by moon microbes.
Few who watch the triumphant return of the Apollo 11 crew will ever forget the scene of President Nixon standing outside the van to congratulate the crew.
I've been welcoming you back to Earth.
As a result of what you've done, the world's never been closer together before.
On the mezzanine, the Living in Space exhibit explains the evolution of spacesuits from the early days of the space program up to the present time, including the Apollo suits.
The earlier Gemini suits, although they permitted astronauts to function in space, were far less sophisticated than the Apollo suits.
The still earlier Mercury suits were primitive in comparison and were not designed for extravehicular activity, or EVA.
On May 14, 1973, America began an important new adventure in space, Skylab, a two-story laboratory workshop.
It was designed to test man's ability to live in space and to study the sun.
The rocket center displays a full-scale model of this huge, pioneering space station.
The 12-ton solar observatory is attached to its side at the upper left.
Most visitors are surprised by the enormous complexity and size of the station, considering that it was launched over 20 years ago.
The multiple docking adapter is 17 feet in length and 10 feet in diameter.
The upper floor contained most experiments and an exercise area. Over 20,000 pieces of equipment were on board.
Skylab was seriously damaged during injection into orbit. Its protective heat shield broke away and tore off one of its two solar panels.
Only the first crew's heroic deeds, supported by NASA's all-out efforts, saved Skylab.
The lower floor contained the astronauts' living quarters.
In the kitchen, they took turns cooking while dining from individually heated trays.
Numerous pieces of medical equipment were used to monitor the physical condition of the astronauts.
Skylab contained a cleverly designed collapsible shower that used a vacuum cleaner to remove the water.
In 1979, Skylab entered the Earth's atmosphere and was destroyed. This fibrous oxygen tank was the largest piece found.
In 1988, all of the Skylab crews met here to remember one of man's most successful space accomplishments.
With an unobstructed view of the universe from its orbit, some 350 miles above the Earth,
the Hubble Space Telescope is proving to be the fulfillment of the astronomer's dream.
It is seeing objects some 25 times fainter than can be seen from Earth's largest telescopes
and can distinguish details 10 to 30 times more clearly.
Designed by the Marshall Space Flight Center, this model of the Hubble Telescope gives visitors the opportunity to see firsthand the Earth's new eye on the universe.
Its novel concept embodies a series of neon tubes to illustrate the interaction of light rays with its various complex instruments.
Despite problems, it has produced a large amount of valuable astronomical data.
Visitors get to experience real astronaut training on simulators located throughout the museum complex.
In this Apollo flight simulator, kids and adults delight in pretending they're on their way to the moon.
Or you can get in shape for that moon trip on a stress tester.
Visitors can also enjoy regularly scheduled demonstrations at the stage area.
Guides will explain a wide range of subjects, including the use of this MMU, or manned maneuvering unit.
And you certainly don't want to miss the impressive moon rock.
Our last stop within the museum includes the Patriot missile, famed for its important role in the Gulf War.
The Missile in MyCom exhibit familiarizes visitors with the current and future weapons systems of the Redstone Arsenal
and those of the U.S. Space and Strategic Defense Command, located a few miles from the U.S. Space and Rocket Center.
The world's largest space museum maximizes the involvement of its visitors.
It gives them the opportunity to be astronauts for the time they're here, through the creation of unique, one-of-a-kind equipment.
It successfully bridges the gap between the hardware of space missions and the average citizen,
and also provides an exciting look into man's future in space.
Just outside the museum is Rocket Park.
The Redstone rocket is just one of the many launch vehicles you will see here in the U.S. Space and Rocket Center.
It's the largest collection of rockets and space hardware in the world.
A walk through Rocket Park is to take a trip through America's space history.
Of course, the rockets you see here aren't used anymore, but without them, the American space program would not be what it is today.
The construction of Rocket Park took place in 1968.
It's a task of epic proportions. Transporting and erecting rockets such as the Giant Saturn V proved to be a formidable task.
Over 25 years later, the park, as well as the museum, has expanded and grown at a rapid pace.
This unrivaled collection includes both NASA rockets and military missiles.
Surrounding the taller Saturn I rocket are such early Huntsville rockets as Redstone, Jupiter, and Mercury Redstone.
Adults and children alike are dwarfed by these giants.
It seems that most of your time is spent looking up, and it's no small wonder why.
When you remember that man rode on top of these powerful early rockets,
it's easy to appreciate the kind of courage and dedication required of those early astronauts.
The 100-foot wide Tranquility Base, with its faithful reproduction of the Apollo 11 lunar module, is a popular attraction.
No matter where you go in this huge complex, there is always something for the youngsters.
The unusual space walker provides an exciting ride, excellent view of the rockets,
and simulates what it might feel like to float in space and hop on the moon.
The centrifuge takes 46 passengers on a space flight, simulating three times the pull of gravity.
The space probe places the visitor above a strong flow of air that lifts him and his vehicle high into the air.
Hi, I'm astronaut Mike Malane, and I'm standing in front of one of North Alabama's most recognizable landmarks,
the Space Shuttle Pathfinder at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center.
And believe me, this is truly an awesome exhibit.
The Shuttle Pathfinder is one of the most popular exhibits in the rocket center tour.
The first shuttle to be launched was the Columbia in 1981.
The current shuttle fleet of four vehicles will continue to service America's needs in space well into the 21st century.
In addition to the extraordinary amount of space rockets on display here,
the rocket center exhibits one of the most complete collections of military rockets and related hardware in the world,
including the Army Spartan, a medium-range missile.
The Chaparral ground-to-air missile was a defensive missile deployed in forward areas.
Target drones have been popular with the services for many decades.
This submarine was used to recover missiles.
The Cobra helicopter has an illustrious history with our armed forces.
During World War II, the Germans developed the world's first winged missile, the V-1, or buzz bomb.
The German V-2 rocket rained death and destruction on England in 1944,
and it is considered the forerunner of all modern rockets.
A Patriot missile battery points skyward. This is perhaps the most successful missile of all time.
In 1963, the incredible X-15 reached altitudes of over 70 miles and attained speeds of nearly 5,000 miles per hour.
Its 199 flights had a crucial influence on the design of the later shuttle fleets.
In a wing of the museum, visitors can observe the center's fastest-growing and most exciting attraction,
U.S. Space Camp, a 70,000-square-foot training center that duplicates many of the astronauts' training facilities
used by NASA at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Space Camp is designed to encourage young people to pursue careers in science, technology, and aerospace industries
by giving them a firsthand introduction to the exciting work being done in today's space program.
Week-long training sessions are tailored for youngsters in grades 4 to 6,
while the U.S. Space Academy 1 and 2 programs offer advanced training in grades 7 to 9 and 10 to 12.
Adult, teacher, and parent-child training is also available.
The project's popularity has resulted in the opening of an additional space camp at Space Coast in Florida.
Students from all over the world come here for a week of educational fun and to learn about space and how it relates to their future.
It's a hands-on adventure using hardware similar to those used by NASA astronauts.
Space Camp provides the opportunity for the youngsters to see if they have the right stuff
and perhaps go on to become America's next generation of space travelers.
Two, one, booster ignition. Lift off. Roger, lift off.
Columbia, you have cleared the tower. Roger, starting roll program. APU is running normal. Roll program complete.
Columbia, now one mile high. Stand by for throttle down for max Q.
Roger, throttling down to 65 percent.
In addition to hands-on experiences, youngsters are given educational demonstrations and lectures, sometimes by NASA astronauts, such as
Alan Shepard, Alan Bean, and the Apollo 11 crew are just a few of the many space pioneers that talk with space camp trainees.
Museum visitors enjoy observing future young astronauts performing in the underwater astronaut trainer.
Here in a 122,000 gallon neutral buoyancy tank, young astronauts in underwater gear learn to construct large space structures
in simulated weightless conditions, much as astronauts do in their training.
The Mars Explorer provides a realistic rehearsal for that distant trip to Mars.
The trainees even conduct satellite retrieval and repair.
Trainees also build and launch model rockets with the mission of safely recovering their payload.
Trainees reside at night in the U.S. Space Camp Habitat, a facility designed to create the atmosphere of a space station.
It is located next to Shuttle Park.
Space Camp continues to create new adventures which challenge the minds of America's best and brightest young people.
The educational and social experiences which bond the trainees during their stay enable each one to think smarter,
reason sharper, and understand the new level of challenges which will face him or her in college and beyond.
Another stunning experience at the rocket center is the $4 million Space Dome Theater,
which features an Omnimax state-of-the-art motion picture projection system.
While waiting to enter, visitors may watch this remarkable 70-millimeter film process in operation.
Within the dome, a giant wraparound hemispherical screen provides the audience with breathtaking panoramas of space and spine-tingling sound.
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Shannon, come on up.
Ah
Oh
Aviation challenge is a program for youths and adults patterned after the skills and drills of high-performance jet pilot training
Students train at a facility constructed around the lake on the US space of Rocket Center grounds
Water survival facilities include a tower equipped for water recovery
Here a ditch and rescue operation climaxes with a simulated helicopter lift
These skills are developed through training, experience and in the classroom
A
Number of different military jet aircraft are available to the trainees
They're divided into flight squadrons and involved in inter squadron competition
The slides for life exercise down the 40-foot tower slide wire instructs trainees on the technique for water landings and parachute
disentanglement
Each session is topped off with an exciting mission based on the Navy's top gun jet pilot training
Roger
Roger looking did you get that hobby Roger let's get him come left 360
Roger right our contact three five zero fifteen angels in
Roger Juni
Should be ten left a little hot tally one can a rock process slicing heat
He's toast
Instructors consist of specially trained personnel top flight aviation experts and Air Force officers
System have to save the brake disc and help the brakes last note so that the camera
Fly in low-level high-speed low-level trainees are introduced to a form of basic training in short and long-term survival
An outdoor confidence course requires problem-solving skills and teamwork
Then the most exciting moment of all graduation
Located within the giant redstone arsenal the George C. Marshall space flight center was created by NASA in 1960
It's the nation's leading center for propulsion development, but its work includes many other important projects
NASA's guided bus tours of Marshall leave from the rocket center with stops at major points of interest on the base
Visitors will see where NASA scientists and support personnel work on the shuttle
Space station and related programs and gain an historical perspective of Marshall's role in the US manned spaceflight program
This is the birthplace of America's space program here
Von Braun and his team built and tested the first American rockets and then later developed and built the giant rockets that placed men
on the moon
Within this building NASA's giant million and a quarter gallon buoyancy tank is used for training and project development
Working in simulated weightlessness
Astronauts in space gear test procedures and designs which will be used in space
One of the highlights of any visit to the space center is an exciting guided tour of the space station complex
Here in a vast structure NASA has developed and assembled an incredible array of space station components
In order that the public may learn and better understand the planning of our most important venture in space to date
They must be adapted to the peculiarities of outer space. At the center of the space station are the pressurized modules where crews will work and live
Every attempt is being made to make their environment as comfortable as possible
The nation's current space station has evolved and changed over many years
and it will continue to do so for some time to come. It will eventually be assembled in orbit to provide this nation along with other countries a permanent outpost in space
that will make important contributions to our world and its peoples
Marshall Space Flight Center is responsible for the development of the space station
and its peoples. Marshall Space Flight Center is responsible for the development of the habitation, laboratory and logistic modules for America's space station
along with its environmental life support systems.
Boarding our NASA bus, we soon arrive at our next stop, Space Lab Mission Control
Music
Here the visitor will see scientists at work monitoring experiments that are on board Space Lab or the space shuttle
and if you are fortunate enough to be here at the right time you may experience a real shuttle launch
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Music
Music
Music
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This shuttle mission was to launch the Galileo spacecraft on its five year journey to Jupiter
but not before the IMAX camera was in position to capture its dramatic departure
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This enormous test stand is where the shuttle engines are tested in NASA's ongoing commitment to improve propulsion efficiency and safety
This same test stand later modified for shuttle testing is where the Great Saturn V was tested
Dubbed the window shaker by people in Huntsville, the most powerful rocket ever constructed was strapped in here for static test firing
causing a trembling of the earth for miles around. NASA's historical film provides us with a record of its awesome power
5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ignition
These giant pumps supply tremendous volumes of water to cool and protect the stands during firing
The Redstone test stand is now listed on the prestigious National Register of Historic Places
It was the site of 364 static firings between 1953 and 1961 for such systems as the Redstone, Jupiter C and Mercury Redstone rockets
This was before more sophisticated facilities were needed for more powerful rockets
The rugged bunkers where countless observers recorded the performance of these vital rockets have been preserved for our future generations
The dynamic test stand, known simply as the shaker, is a giant structure where the first shuttle, the Enterprise, was repeatedly stressed by letting it plunge from the top and brought to a jarring halt by attached cables
This tested the shuttle's reliability and strength. The additional structure is the support tower
This great complex is the showplace of America's space program, but it is also a learning place for youngsters and adults
At the Teacher Resource Center, located at the Space Center, educators are encouraged to take written and video materials for use back in their own classrooms
At first glance, the rocket center's vast array of space hardware and exciting simulators may seem overwhelming, but that feeling soon vanishes in a euphoria of high adventure, adventure that also touches on mankind's future in space
As a part of that future, the U.S. Space and Rocket Center's latest $1.5 million edition, Journey to Jupiter, enables the visitor to embark on a futuristic journey
Well, they will learn how space travel has evolved from science fiction to science fact
When the first shuttle was launched into space, the rest of us dreamed. We dreamed of the day when we could travel into space ourselves
Now visitors to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center and U.S. Space Camp can achieve this dream with an all-new experience, Journey to Jupiter
A specially designed computer software system controls the shuttle as it blasts off on its view trip to Jupiter and back
The pre-launch sequence begins the ultimate experience as the shuttle moves into its 90-degree launch position with unmatched realism. The excitement crescendos in a marriage of sight, sound, and for the very first time, motion
The intense quiet is only temporary as the shuttle begins to buck and sway from the energy pull of the helix catapult, which propels the shuttle and its passengers to the outer reaches of man's charted galaxy
Experience this interplanetary journey at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center
It's certainly possible that for our grandchildren, space travel will be as routine as today's space shuttle missions, but outer space still remains one of the most fascinating mysteries
Few people have been there. Not one of them has been farther than the moon. The U.S. Space and Rocket Center was built for Americans and dedicated to those who have made it possible for men to walk on the moon
Even more important, it is dedicated to the youth of America who in the future will explore the universe and use the technology of space for the benefit of all mankind
The U.S. Space and Rocket Center
The U.S. Space and Rocket Center is a space shuttle that has been built for the purpose of exploring the universe and the future of mankind
The U.S. Space and Rocket Center is a space shuttle that has been built for the purpose of exploring the future of mankind
The U.S. Space and Rocket Center is a space shuttle that has been built for the purpose of exploring the future of mankind
The U.S. Space and Rocket Center