By the citizens of Alabama to those Americans who have made it possible for man to walk on the moon and to explore the universe, and to the youth of America who will use the technology of space for the benefit of mankind.

[ Museum Guides | Post Cards | Wire Fotos |
| Souvenir Books | Annual Reports | Misc ]

On March 17, 1970, the "Alabama Space & Rocket Center" opened its doors to the public showcasing the American Space Program. Since then millions of people have visited the Space Center, which remains the top destination for the state of Alabama. The Center is a hands on museum that has brought together the excitement of space travel within the grasp of countless adults and children from around the United States.

It has some 65 hands-on exhibits, more than 1,500 permanent rocketry and space exploration artifacts, and hourly presentations. A bus tour to nearby Marshall Space Flight Center can be taken, where you can see and learn about the early steps taken in America's Space Race. The museum also boasts the only full scale Space Shuttle model (Pathfinder) in the Space Shuttle Park, dedicated to the seven crew members who died on Challenger Mission 51-L, and its extensive Rocket Park.

Dr. Braun was the architect of America's space program and before his death in 1977, he directed the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. It was during his tenure when he approached the Alabama Legislature with the idea of creating a museum jointly with the US Army Missile Command and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. After the state's lawmakers and citizens voted in 1968 to finance construction, the US Army donated land on its Redstone Arsenal. Two years later, the U.S. Space & Rocket Center was dedicated.

Through the years the US Space & Rocket Center and the Space Camp Foundation have printed and made available post cards to the public for purchase. And over the years I have collected a number of them.

Some were given to me, others I purchased on-site, whilst the rest I rescued from obsurity on eBay. As such you'll find these cards represent an array of history - and change - beginning in the late 1960s through to today.

Ever wonder what the US Space and Rocket Center was like in the late 1970's and early 1980's? Here are a few classic Press Wire Photos from the USSRC featuring a number of exhibits no longer displayed from that era.

Over the years the USSRC has produced a number of souvenir books featuring text and pictures of the items on display. Since the USSRC is ever-changing, so are the books!

Those presented here are from my collection, stretching back to the very beginning of the center's exhibition in 1970. Ready take a trip down memory lane and see what the Rocket Center once had on display?

The United States Space & Rocket Center (and by extension the Space Camp Foundation) is more than just a space and science museum, it is also a business entity accountable for various sales and service metrics. These metrics then get reported to investors and other interested parties through an Annual Report.

Although most Annual Reports are dull and lifeless, those from the USSRC contain wonderful insights into museum changes, potential new exhibits and other notes that might pique the interest of a lounge-chair supporter of the Rocket Center, such as myself. The following are those I have in my digital collection!

The following items presented here are of a miscellaneous nature.

We've got a few patches to view: one is a style of patch found in the 1970's ("Older Patch"), the second is an "old" patch dating from the 1980's, and the third is a "new-style" patch dating from the late 1980's through to the 1990's. It is the current patch design of the USSRC.

You'll also find a Space Dome movie ticket from circa 1985. It somehow survived over the years and - yes - our movie was schedued for 3:00pm.

There's also an old-style sticker, a couple of advertisements found in magazines in the 1980's and 1990's, two Space Gear catalogs from 1988 and 1989, and three museum tourist brouchures: a really old one from the 1970's, and two newer ones - from 2005 and 2007 respectively. Enjoy!