International Space Hall of Fame
Encyclopedia
The New Mexico Museum of Space History is a museum and planetarium
complex in Alamogordo, New Mexico
, dedicated to artifacts and displays related to space flight and the space age
. It includes the International Space Hall of Fame. The Museum of Space History highlights the role that New Mexico has had in the U. S. space program, and is one of eight museums administered by the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs
. The museum has been accredited by American Association of Museums
since 1993.
, space flight and the primates that were used in early space flight experiments conducted by the United States
. The museum holds mock-ups and training units of many important space artifacts such as satellite
s, the Space Shuttle
, and the lunar lander
(the originals are still in space or on the moon).
has a projection dome that doubles as an IMAX screen and as a planetarium. IMAX-format films are screened daily.
The Hubbard Space Science Education Building was dedicated in Spring 1991. It holds classrooms and laboratories and is the site of the annual Shuttle Camps.
The Museum Support Center is an offsite warehouse and workshop that prepares items for display.
The John P. Stapp Air and Space Park is an outdoor exhibit area holding large artifacts, including the Solar Wind No. 1 rocket sled
ridden by Stapp.
Ham
, who in 1961 became the first chimp in space, is buried at the museum in front of the flagpoles.
The Astronaut Memorial Garden was created and dedicated to the memory of the astronauts who died in the Challenger explosion. After the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster
, the names of Columbias astronauts were added to the memorial.
The Daisy Track (named after the Daisy air rifle
) was an air-powered sled track used to test safety devices, including the ancestor of the automobile seat belt
. The museum rescued the pieces of the Daisy Track in 1986 and reassembled them as an outdoor exhibit in 2004.
The Daisy Track exhibit is partly outside and partly inside a building that has some other exhibits. A full-sized replica of Spaceship One is also in this building.
honors persons who have made great contributions to the advancement of space fight and technology. One of the museum exhibits is a collection of photos and biographies of inductees.
is a summer program started in 1986 to interest children in science and engineering. The program emphasizes rocketry, space science, space history, and astronomy. There are different classes for different ages groups. In 2008 there were so many applicants that the camp was extended for another two weeks and enrollment was expected to break past records, with over 700 children participating.
, a commercial spaceport being constructed near Upham, New Mexico
.
.
Ohlinger rallied support among elected officials at local, state, and national levels, and New Mexico Governor Bruce King
adopted the idea into the Office of Cultural Affairs
. The early plans called for displays of space-related artifacts and the inclusion of a planetarium
.
Charles E. Nolan and Associates were hired as the architects. The main building was designed and constructed as a "golden cube" (a cube with a gold-tinted glass exterior) and dedicated on October 5, 1976, opening to the public on November 23, 1976. At the dedication ceremony the initial fifteen Hall of Fame members were inducted.
The planetarium was constructed in combination with an IMAX theater and opened in 1981. The combined facility was named after Clyde W. Tombaugh, New Mexico resident and discoverer of Pluto
.
In 1987 the name of the facility was changed to Space Center, reflecting the growing role of the exhibits. In 2001 the name changed again to its present name of New Mexico Museum of Space History.
Planetarium
A planetarium is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation...
complex in Alamogordo, New Mexico
Alamogordo, New Mexico
Alamogordo is the county seat of Otero County and a city in south-central New Mexico, United States. A desert community lying in the Tularosa Basin, it is bordered on the east by the Sacramento Mountains. It is the nearest city to Holloman Air Force Base. The population was 35,582 as of the 2000...
, dedicated to artifacts and displays related to space flight and the space age
Space Age
The Space Age is a time period encompassing the activities related to the Space Race, space exploration, space technology, and the cultural developments influenced by these events. The Space Age is generally considered to have begun with Sputnik...
. It includes the International Space Hall of Fame. The Museum of Space History highlights the role that New Mexico has had in the U. S. space program, and is one of eight museums administered by the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs
New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs
The New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs is an executive branch agency of the New Mexico state government. Created in 1978 by the New Mexico Legislature, the department oversees the state museum, monument, arts, library, heritage preservation, and archaeology programs. Some 550 employees,...
. The museum has been accredited by American Association of Museums
American Association of Museums
The American Association of Museums is a non-profit association that has brought museums together since its founding in 1906, helping develop standards and best practices, gathering and sharing knowledge, and advocating on issues of concern to the museum community...
since 1993.
Main building
The museum includes exhibits about the planets of the Solar SystemSolar System
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
, space flight and the primates that were used in early space flight experiments conducted by the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The museum holds mock-ups and training units of many important space artifacts such as satellite
Satellite
In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
s, the Space Shuttle
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
, and the lunar lander
Apollo Lunar Module
The Apollo Lunar Module was the lander portion of the Apollo spacecraft built for the US Apollo program by Grumman to carry a crew of two from lunar orbit to the surface and back...
(the originals are still in space or on the moon).
Outlying buildings
The Clyde W. Tombaugh IMAX Theater and PlanetariumPlanetarium
A planetarium is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation...
has a projection dome that doubles as an IMAX screen and as a planetarium. IMAX-format films are screened daily.
The Hubbard Space Science Education Building was dedicated in Spring 1991. It holds classrooms and laboratories and is the site of the annual Shuttle Camps.
The Museum Support Center is an offsite warehouse and workshop that prepares items for display.
Outdoors
Rocket sled
A rocket sled is a test platform that slides along a set of rails, propelled by rockets.As its name implies, a rocket sled does not use wheels. Instead, it has sliding pads, called "slippers", which are curved around the head of the rails to prevent the sled from flying off the track...
ridden by Stapp.
Ham
Ham the Chimp
Ham , also known as Ham the Chimp and Ham the Astrochimp, was the first chimpanzee launched into outer space in the American space program...
, who in 1961 became the first chimp in space, is buried at the museum in front of the flagpoles.
The Astronaut Memorial Garden was created and dedicated to the memory of the astronauts who died in the Challenger explosion. After the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster
Space Shuttle Columbia disaster
The Space Shuttle Columbia disaster occurred on February 1, 2003, when shortly before it was scheduled to conclude its 28th mission, STS-107, the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas and Louisiana during re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, resulting in the death of all seven crew members...
, the names of Columbias astronauts were added to the memorial.
The Daisy Track (named after the Daisy air rifle
Daisy Outdoor Products
Daisy is a company that makes and sells inexpensive BB guns and other air guns.-History:Daisy was started in 1882 as Plymouth Iron Windmill Company in Plymouth, Michigan. In 1886 the company started to give BB guns with purchases of windmills. The gun was so popular the company started to sell guns...
) was an air-powered sled track used to test safety devices, including the ancestor of the automobile seat belt
Seat belt
A seat belt or seatbelt, sometimes called a safety belt, is a safety harness designed to secure the occupant of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result from a collision or a sudden stop...
. The museum rescued the pieces of the Daisy Track in 1986 and reassembled them as an outdoor exhibit in 2004.
The Daisy Track exhibit is partly outside and partly inside a building that has some other exhibits. A full-sized replica of Spaceship One is also in this building.
International Space Hall of Fame
The International Space Hall of FameInternational Space Hall of Fame
The New Mexico Museum of Space History is a museum and planetarium complex in Alamogordo, New Mexico, dedicated to artifacts and displays related to space flight and the space age. It includes the International Space Hall of Fame. The Museum of Space History highlights the role that New Mexico has...
honors persons who have made great contributions to the advancement of space fight and technology. One of the museum exhibits is a collection of photos and biographies of inductees.
Shuttle Camp
Shuttle Campis a summer program started in 1986 to interest children in science and engineering. The program emphasizes rocketry, space science, space history, and astronomy. There are different classes for different ages groups. In 2008 there were so many applicants that the camp was extended for another two weeks and enrollment was expected to break past records, with over 700 children participating.
Repository for Spaceport America
The New Mexico Spaceport Authority has declared the museum the repository for materials dealing with Spaceport AmericaSpaceport America
Spaceport America is a spaceport located in the Jornada del Muerto desert basin in New Mexico, United States. It lies north of El Paso, north of Las Cruces, east of Truth or Consequences...
, a commercial spaceport being constructed near Upham, New Mexico
Upham, New Mexico
Upham is an uninhabited, unincorporated town and place in Sierra County, New Mexico, United States. It has gained recognition for being near the site for the Spaceport America facility being developed by the New Mexico Spaceport Authority...
.
Annual fireworks extravaganza
The museum puts on a large fireworks show every July 4, funded partly by the museum and partly by City of Alamogordo. It is visible all over the city, and museum members get to view it from the museum grounds.History
The museum was originally created as the International Space Hall of Fame. In 1973 former Alamogordo mayor Dwight Ohlinger was inspired by the Baseball Hall of Fame to propose a Space Hall of Fame, and further to propose that it be built at Alamogordo because so much of the developmental work for the space program had been done in the Tularosa BasinTularosa Basin
The Tularosa Basin is a graben basin in the Basin and Range Province and within the Chihuahuan Desert, east of the Rio Grande in southern New Mexico, in the Southwestern United States.-Geography:...
.
Ohlinger rallied support among elected officials at local, state, and national levels, and New Mexico Governor Bruce King
Bruce King
Bruce King was an American politician who served three terms as the governor of the state of New Mexico. He was a Democrat.King was born in 1924 in Stanley, New Mexico. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II...
adopted the idea into the Office of Cultural Affairs
New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs
The New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs is an executive branch agency of the New Mexico state government. Created in 1978 by the New Mexico Legislature, the department oversees the state museum, monument, arts, library, heritage preservation, and archaeology programs. Some 550 employees,...
. The early plans called for displays of space-related artifacts and the inclusion of a planetarium
Planetarium
A planetarium is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation...
.
Charles E. Nolan and Associates were hired as the architects. The main building was designed and constructed as a "golden cube" (a cube with a gold-tinted glass exterior) and dedicated on October 5, 1976, opening to the public on November 23, 1976. At the dedication ceremony the initial fifteen Hall of Fame members were inducted.
The planetarium was constructed in combination with an IMAX theater and opened in 1981. The combined facility was named after Clyde W. Tombaugh, New Mexico resident and discoverer of Pluto
Pluto
Pluto, formal designation 134340 Pluto, is the second-most-massive known dwarf planet in the Solar System and the tenth-most-massive body observed directly orbiting the Sun...
.
In 1987 the name of the facility was changed to Space Center, reflecting the growing role of the exhibits. In 2001 the name changed again to its present name of New Mexico Museum of Space History.
External links
- New Mexico Museum of Space History official site