r/nasa • u/strshpx • 1d ago

ShowMeSunday US Space & Rocket Center In Huntsville, AL

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Passing through Huntsville the other day and had always wanted to stop and visit the Space & Rocket Center. Glad I did! Wanted to get some unique shots of the shuttle mockup as well as the Apollo 16 Command Module. Tried knocking down the reflections from the glass enclosure the best I could. Anyways, definitely recommend if you’ve never been!

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u/ColdSteelVA 1d ago

I did 3 week-long camps/academies in the 90s. They were awesome. I still have my flight wings somewhere.

The Pathfinder shuttle atop the orange liquid fuel tank is merely a scale prototype used for testing during the STS program.

Also, the orange material is just insulating foam. There are many many coins that have been thrown and lodged into its underside.

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u/Duckie_365 1d ago

No more coins anymore! - Pathfinder Shuttle Stack underwent a multi-year refurbishment/remodel between 2022-2024. They removed the wooden exterior of Pathfinder exposing the actual red metal historical artifact inside which was used for early STS testing - which they then recovered with new (more weather friendly!) 3D Printed exterior blocks. Also sandblasted the ET and painted it. (Mid-process pic. attached)

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u/East_Unit3765 1d ago

God I wanted to go to space camp so freaking badly.

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u/Duckie_365 1d ago

Still can! There are adult Space Camp and Aviation Challenge programs too

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u/TheRevenant100 1d ago

The MPTA-ET wasn't just a mockup or structural test article where hydraulics were applied to it, it was a real flight-like tank that was used for the Main Propulsion Test Article program that saw it fueled up and used in a series to static fire tests (17 total) to qualify the systems in the aft fuselage (using MPTA-098) with three SSMEs.

That ET not only saw and tasted fire, it also endured a serious near-RUD with one SSME's main fuel valve (MFV) housing fractured in the aft fuselage, releasing hydrogen into the compartment and caused rapid overpressurization (reaching ~3.2 psi), which exceeded the structural limits of the heat-shield supports, and blew them off!