Visiting the US for Space Stuff - where to go?

[MrKlaw]

Maybe not this year, but soonish, I'd like to visit the US again. Previously I've only ever been over for work so NY/LA mainly - and foolishly Las Vegas for CES where I didn't realise the Grand Canyon was in the backyard so I missed it. Twice :P

Anyway, I'd like to do a bit of space tourism - see a Saturn V, Space Shuttle, any other good stuff related to apollo and space flight generally. Where are the must visit locations, and are there some options for flexibilty? Eg I think you have a few shuttles on display so that might help keep things closer together? If possible I'd like to combine that into a road trip and not too long, so if they are geographically relatively close that would be a bonus - but if not maybe I can fly, not a dealbreaker.

Anyone else done a trip like this or simply visited individual sites and can add any impressions or recommendations - do/don't etc?

 

[Wrexis]

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum is the best choice right?

 

[SteveMeister]

Aside from Cape Canaveral in Florida, there are two Smithsonian Air and Space museums in DC and Virginia, also in that area you can arrange a tour of the Goddard Space Center in Maryland, and about a 5 hour drive away there's a visitor center at NASA's Wallops Island facility in Virginia where they also do launches.

 

[Massive Nights]

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum is the best choice right?

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Think the one in DC is still closed for refurbishment, but the one out by Dulles is still open.

 

[Cation]

DC (if it's open now) & Virginia. They are close together. Mostly planes, but youll def see space stuff scattered throughout.

Later you can maybe fly to Cape Canaveral but that might be like a 3 hr flight

 

[rudeboyoslo]

NY has the Enterprise test shuttle and DC has the Discovery shuttle (and obviously incredible amounts of other space stuff). So that's two shuttles fairly close to each other.

 

[UnluckyKate]

Washington's aerospace museum is unskippable

 

[PianoBlack]

Maybe not this year, but soonish, I'd like to visit the US again. Previously I've only ever been over for work so NY/LA mainly - and foolishly Las Vegas for CES where I didn't realise the Grand Canyon was in the backyard so I missed it. Twice :P

Anyway, I'd like to do a bit of space tourism - see a Saturn V, Space Shuttle, any other good stuff related to apollo and space flight generally. Where are the must visit locations, and are there some options for flexibilty? Eg I think you have a few shuttles on display so that might help keep things closer together? If possible I'd like to combine that into a road trip and not too long, so if they are geographically relatively close that would be a bonus - but if not maybe I can fly, not a dealbreaker.

Anyone else done a trip like this or simply visited individual sites and can add any impressions or recommendations - do/don't etc?

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The obvious ones are Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Johnson Space Center / mission control in Houston, and then the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum and the Udvar-Hazy Center in downtown DC and suburban Virginia.

The DC/Virginia museums are fantastic and have a shuttle, plus stuff like Mercury capsules, space suits, etc... But if you can swing it I highly recommend working either Kennedy or Johnson into the trip. There's magic to being in the places where it happened, so to speak. Also it's cool to see a Saturn V :)

 

[Strings]

My Australian high school randomly gave us the option to go to space camp, so I did that. Was cool.

U.S. Space & Rocket Center - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

EDIT: The bananas there were exceptional.

 

[Spork4000]

If you don't mind heading to the south there's Huntsville, Alabama's space and rocket center, you could even do space camp!

 

[jkanownik]

I've never been to Houston, but between Los Angeles (Endeavor Shuttle + Booster, Apollo Capsule, JPL, Vandenburg launches), Cape Canaveral (launches, Saturn V & Crawler) & DC Area (Air & Space/Goddard) I would recommend Cape Canaveral. The Crawler is the most awe-inspiring in my opinion. Others prefer the Saturn V. Backlit nighttime launches from Vandenburg are really cool but rare and can get pushed as much as a week. I've never heard anyone in the DC area talk about the Virginia Beach launches. I assume that is a combination of distance and visibility.

 

[SteveMeister]

SpaceX is doing launches so often, odds are decent you can witness a launch at Canaveral. There's one today, another in four days, another in 11, and a fourth in 27 days. You can look at https://everydayastronaut.com/upcoming-launches/ for scheduled launches.

 

[MrKlaw]

ok for me Saturn V is a must so that sounds like a flight. Maybe DC/Virginia as the other site. so a week with a couple of days in both areas, perhaps trying to time Caneveral around a spaceX launch but only as a bonus?

 

[Grexeno]

Just a note that the Air & Space Museum in CD is scheduled to re-open on March 11.

 

[Ryuelli]

As a Houstonian, I would highly suggest not coming to Houston just to see the Johnson Space Center. Mission Control is cool and the tram tours are really interesting (one of them lets you get up and personal with one of the 3 Saturn V rockets left on the planet), but outside of food this city doesn't have a whole lot going for it tourism-wise. I'd much rather spend my money going somewhere else that had cool space things on top of other stuff to see and do.

I'm still salty that we didn't get a shuttle.

 

[thesoapster]

Just a note that the Air & Space Museum in CD is scheduled to re-open on March 11.

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Yep. The Dulles one I was just at. They have the space shuttle Discovery, which is cool, as well as some rockets and satellites. The DC one, when I last went, had a lunar lander. Not sure what they'll have upon reopening.

 

[Crispy75]

The way Atlantis is on display at Kennedy makes it the best way to see a shuttle. The cargo bay doors are open and the whole thing is tipped over at an angle so you can see down inside it from a raised walkway. That, plus the Saturn V display and the launchpad tour bus make KSC a must-see IMO.

 

[tycoonheart]

Go to DC, check out all the museums they offer. Stop by Udvar Hazy close to Dulles airport (about 45 mins out of DC), it is THE space museum to visit.

 

[winjet81]

Houston is the place to be if you want to stand beside a full scale Saturn V.

One of the most incredible vehicles ever made and to walk around it was something else.

 

[jchap]

Huntsville Alabama has some of the best space exhibits including a full scale Saturn 5. It's rocket city:

There is also a space shuttle

 

[teruterubozu]

Roswell, New Mexico

 

[FliX]

There is a surprisingly great Aero-Space museum in the middle of nowhere in Kansas.
Probably not worth going to Kansas just for that, but I was in the area for work and spent a great day there.

Home - Cosmosphere

Visit the Cosmosphere

cosmo.org

 

[tycoonheart]

Huntsville Alabama has some of the best space exhibits including a full scale Saturn 5. It's rocket city:

There is also a space shuttle

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Also NASA Marshall space flight center is there. Problem with Huntsville is that there is absolutely nothing else to do there other than look at space shuttles.

 

[DevilMayGuy]

Houston is a great food city with NASA. DC has the fantastic Smithsonian, and tons of other amazing things to do. Or you could go to spaceX's launch site and maybe actually see a live launch. Tons of options.

 

[androvsky]

Maybe not this year, but soonish, I'd like to visit the US again. Previously I've only ever been over for work so NY/LA mainly - and foolishly Las Vegas for CES where I didn't realise the Grand Canyon was in the backyard so I missed it. Twice :P

Anyway, I'd like to do a bit of space tourism - see a Saturn V, Space Shuttle, any other good stuff related to apollo and space flight generally. Where are the must visit locations, and are there some options for flexibilty? Eg I think you have a few shuttles on display so that might help keep things closer together? If possible I'd like to combine that into a road trip and not too long, so if they are geographically relatively close that would be a bonus - but if not maybe I can fly, not a dealbreaker.

Anyone else done a trip like this or simply visited individual sites and can add any impressions or recommendations - do/don't etc?

Click to shrink...

If you go to Texas, you can stop by Boca Chica and drive by the Starship facility. They're not doing tours and aren't likely to any time soon, but there's a small YouTube industry revolving around livestreaming there so you should be able to hang out at good photo spots. Maybe you can catch them transporting a stage up the highway to the launch site. There's a resort island just to the north that's close enough to watch a launch if you've got a good lens.

I'll also echo the Cosmosphere in Kansas. There's absolutely nothing else in the area that's interesting, but at least it puts you at like a mere 8 hour drive from the Strategic Air Museum in Nebraska if you're into Cold War bombers (yes, there's a B-36). I'm joking a bit, sometimes it's easy to lose track of how big the U S. is.

But the time I was at the Cosmosphere they had Gus Grissom's recovered Mercury 7 capsule on display. The barrier was surprisingly close so you could look in fairly well.

 

[Book One]

Space Center Houston | Bringing people & space closer together

Visit and immerse yourself in the past, present and future of space exploration.

spacecenter.org

Exhibits and Experiences

Permanent Exhibits MOST POPULAR NASA Tram Tours Go on site at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) and get a behind-the-scenes look at human space exploration. Three tours give you access to astronaut training facilities, Mission Control and more. Explore Included in general admission: George W.S...

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NASA Tram Tours

Please note: Our Astronaut Training Facility Tram Tour will be unavailable from Saturday, Jan. 13 to Monday, Jan. 15. The government facility the tour visits is undergoing a construction-related power outage. All Space Center Houston tours visit working government facilities at NASA which are...

spacecenter.org

A pretty good idea of the best things available at JSC

 

[machine]

There used to be a good space museum in Jackson, Michigan but it closed in 2004. The Apollo 9 capsule went to the San Diego Air & Space Museum and the rest of the collection went to the Kalamazoo Air Zoo. Both are good options although Kalamazoo is probably far removed from most other suggested locations. Michigan has some other nice air museums like the Yankee Air Museum and Wurtsmith Air Museum but not much space related stuff.

 

[Thordinson]

I really enjoyed my time at the Space Center in Houston. Lots of great stuff to see. I'm not sure it's worth a trip just to Houston to see as there's not a whole lot else in Houston to see but it's great if you decide to go.

Houston is the place to be if you want to stand beside a full scale Saturn V.

One of the most incredible vehicles ever made and to walk around it was something else.

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Definitely the highlight of the Space Center.

 

[Chaosblade]

Also NASA Marshall space flight center is there. Problem with Huntsville is that there is absolutely nothing else to do there other than look at space shuttles.

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Yep. I'm from the area and that's basically the one single attraction. It's great if you have a genuine interest in space stuff, especially the Saturn V since Huntsville was one of the most important cities in its development. That can take up most of a day, but then what do you do?

On the right day I guess you could check out a hockey or baseball game afterwards. Both are minor league teams and not major league though, and OP might not care about either of those. Can't really think of anything else at all.

 

[dots]

The way Atlantis is on display at Kennedy makes it the best way to see a shuttle. The cargo bay doors are open and the whole thing is tipped over at an angle so you can see down inside it from a raised walkway. That, plus the Saturn V display and the launchpad tour bus make KSC a must-see IMO.

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Can confirm. I haven't been in over 20 years, but I can't imagine it being any less good today than it was then. Walking under the Saturn V hanging above you is amazing. Best part for me was seeing the stupidly huge Vehicle Assembly Building.

 

[MrKlaw]

so Kennedy has a shuttle and a saturn V; Houston has both too? Are they the only two locations with both? Although the smithsonian sounds like a must-see anyway, if you did DC, which other single site woudl you pick?

People mentioned shuttles and boosters - how are the different ones displayed? I imagine a Saturn V laying down vs standing up is quite a different experience to see.

 

[kmfdmpig]

The best choices have already been covered, but one really good museum for space stuff is the USAF museum at Wright Patterson Air Base in Ohio. It's mostly focused on Air Force stuff but has a lot of space exhibits as well.

Museum Exhibits

If your interests in space extend to planes as well it's an absolute must-go location in my opinion. If not, then you may be able to get everything that it would offer related to space at the other places mentioned.

 

[MrKlaw]

The best choices have already been covered, but one really good museum for space stuff is the USAF museum at Wright Patterson Air Base in Ohio. It's mostly focused on Air Force stuff but has a lot of space exhibits as well.

Museum Exhibits

If your interests in space extend to planes as well it's an absolute must-go location in my opinion. If not, then you may be able to get everything that it would offer related to space at the other places mentioned.

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Extending to planes might get dangerous but yeah I love that stuff too. Maybe a whole other trip depending on locations. Cold war through to modern stuff - give me all of it

edit: ooooh I shouldn't have clicked that link. Thats an amazing place. I'd love to see a Blackbird

 

[kmfdmpig]

Extending to planes might get dangerous but yeah I love that stuff too. Maybe a whole other trip depending on locations. Cold war through to modern stuff - give me all of it

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The only challenge is that Ohio is kind of off the beaten track. DC and Florida seem like no brainers. Alabama is close enough to Florida. I guess you could say it's not too far from DC but it's fairly far for just a single location. The link I shared shows what it has, which is pretty impressive.

 

[WedgeX]

If you come to DC for the museums, try and plan it around the launch schedule for the Wallops Launch Facility down in Virginia. Looks like there is just one launch from Virginia scheduled for this year, in June. It's not super close (about 3 hours from DC) but you'd get to see a launch! Plus Chincoteague is pretty amazing with the wild ponies.

Wallops Launch Schedule - NASA

Mission: FOXSI-4Vehicle: Black Brant IX sounding rocketDate: April 5-19, 2024Time: 11:45 a.m.-4:15 p.m. local timeLocation: Poker

www.nasa.gov

 

[9wilds]

The way Atlantis is on display at Kennedy makes it the best way to see a shuttle. The cargo bay doors are open and the whole thing is tipped over at an angle so you can see down inside it from a raised walkway. That, plus the Saturn V display and the launchpad tour bus make KSC a must-see IMO.

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In Houston there's one you can actually walk through. It's pretty neat.

 

[Ryuelli]

In Houston there's one you can actually walk through. It's pretty neat.

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That's not a real shuttle though (it's a replica), but it's a neat exhibit.

 

[9wilds]

That's not a real shuttle though (it's a replica), but it's a neat exhibit.

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True. But it's neat to get a sense of the size and feel of it. Didn't mean to imply one was better than the other!

 

[Senator Toadstool]

LA has a actual space shuttle that's very cool to see

And I spent a lot of time in Kennedy space center as a kid (even did space camp when it was their, I think it's only in Alabama now) when I lived in central Florida. Time it with a launch and it's amazing:

Kennedy has a Saturn v too

 

[Teiresias]

If you want historical context than the Smithsonians are probably really good, though I don't have much recent experience with them.

If you want more actual NASA experiences, Johnson Space Center and Kennedy Space Center are the two centers to visit. KSC obviously has the launch facility, but their Shuttle display is by far the best out of all the shuttle displays.

Johnson Space Center gets you many facility tours via tram and upper walkway tours access, as well as Mission Control Tours and maybe the vintage, restored Apollo-era mission control (I'm not sure this is available for public tours or not). JSC also has the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory available to tour.

This makes an East Coast Smithsonian / Kennedy plan the most inclusive if you don't want to fly all the way to Houston (and frankly JSC is the only thing there to really visit).

 

[Senator Toadstool]

Also if you see a launch be prepared for loudness. People really don't get,even miles away how fucking loud rockets are.

 

[PanzerKraken]

Don't know if they opened yet back up, they were not doing them because of COVID but the bus tours you buy at Kennedy Space Center are pretty fantastic. They have multiple and several hours long each. You can spend a couple days at Kennedy doing the different tours they offer. The tours were closed down though for a while now but some were coming back. If you can wait and see, look for the tours to open back up and it's well worth it

 

[Senator Toadstool]

If you want historical context than the Smithsonians are probably really good, though I don't have much recent experience with them.

If you want more actual NASA experiences, Johnson Space Center and Kennedy Space Center are the two centers to visit. KSC obviously has the launch facility, but their Shuttle display is by far the best out of all the shuttle displays.

Johnson Space Center gets you many facility tours via tram and upper walkway tours access, as well as Mission Control Tours and maybe the vintage, restored Apollo-era mission control (I'm not sure this is available for public tours or not). JSC also has the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory available to tour.

This makes an East Coast Smithsonian / Kennedy plan the most inclusive if you don't want to fly all the way to Houston (and frankly JSC is the only thing there to really visit).

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Idk with covid but the Apollo mission control was open back in the early 2000s

 

[Distantmantra]

My Australian high school randomly gave us the option to go to space camp, so I did that. Was cool.

U.S. Space & Rocket Center - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

EDIT: The bananas there were exceptional.

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I went to Space Camp in Florida as a kid and got lucky and timed it with a shuttle launch. We got VIP treatment in a special zone to watch it. Was pretty amazing.

 

[Teiresias]

Idk with covid but the Apollo mission control was open back in the early 2000s

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I was there in 2016/17 and it was under renovation/restoration, so it was currently closed for public tours, but I'd imagine it's been long enough that they've finished that since it looked nearly finished when I was there.

 

[Senator Toadstool]

I went to Space Camp in Florida as a kid and got lucky and timed it with a shuttle launch. We got VIP treatment in a special zone to watch it. Was pretty amazing.

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Did you do the simulated launch where you had to press all the buttons and had a defined role?

Space camp ruled

 

[Distantmantra]

Did you do the simulated launch where you had to press all the buttons and had a defined role?

Space camp ruled

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Yep! I was the pilot on our mission. Our specialists forgot to close the payload bay doors before reentry. Whoops.

I've still got my Space Camp shirt and flight suit. My wife constantly teases me about it because for her as a kid the only kids who got to go there where either super rich (we weren't) or went on Double Dare.

 

[Senator Toadstool]

Yep! I was the pilot on our mission. Our specialists forgot to close the payload bay doors before reentry. Whoops.

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I think I was the engineer (this was like 20 years ago) also loved that gyroscope thing they spun you around in

 

[captive]

Kennedy and Houston have 2 of the only 3 Saturn V's left in the world.

We did houston last year with the kids, I hadn't been since i was a kid, its got a lot of really neat stuff.

if you came to houston there is also the lone star flight museum which isn't far from NASA as well.

 

[Distantmantra]

I think I was the engineer (this was like 20 years ago) also loved that gyroscope thing they spun you around in

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Yeah, I went around the same time. I was in 4th grade which would've been 1991. I wasn't tall enough to do that. Can't remember the height limit, but I was 10 when I went and I don't remember many kids being able to.