U.S. Space and Rocket Center, Alabama, United States

5Mike H 5:00 PM Jul 10, 2022

Worth the Visit
Arrived at 2:00 pm and was not enough time to do everything. Many interesting artifacts and much history to take it. We only purchased the general admission pass and then discovered only two items were included with that purchase. Every time you looked at another display it was either $10 or $20 to complete it. We easily could have spent hundreds of dollars to do everything else on the complex. Be prepared for plenty of walking and wear comfortable shoes. Parking is free however, it is not close to the museum. A great piece of American history preserved for generations.

4SdsByrne 5:00 PM Feb 26, 2020

Plenty for a full day
My favorite part of the day was the guided morning tour through the Davidson Center. My husband's favorite part was the afternoon tour through the Marshall Space Flight Center. Our 10-year-old son's favorite part was climbing the rock wall. I HIGHLY suggest calling the phone number for the center and reserving your bus tour tickets in advance. I wouldn't want to do this stop without including the bus tour, and they sold out within 1 hour of opening on the Saturday in February when we visited (not exactly peak visiting time!) I paid by credit card over the phone and had zero problem picking up those reserved tickets. A lot of places say there is something for everyone, but that's really true, here. You have the amazing history, one of 3 places in the United States you can see a Saturn V rocket, one of a dozen places to see an Apollo command module, plus unique features such as the Apollo 13 Lunar Module trainer, the Apollo 12 crew quarantine trailer and a nicely sized moon rock. The bus tour had an extremely knowledgeable guide who has been taking tourists through for years. We visited the historic Redstone test site and went inside the Payload Operations Integration Center, where we saw people monitoring the science experiments on board the International Space Station. We even got to talk to one of the managers. We also went into an area where the Environmental Control and Life Support Systems are being developed. There were simulators/rides both inside and outside, and the food at the on-site restaurant was surprisingly good, hot and fresh, although priced as one would expect. The only real downside is the cost to visit this site. It's significant, especially when you add on the bus tour. I would highly suggest seeing if a children's museum or science center near your home has a reciprocal membership. Ours did, and that made it a ton more affordable for us. (Our membership covered one adult and up to 2 children's general admission. Bus tour was still full price, as was our second adult.) Although there is no actual space shuttle that was used in space to see here, I would compare this stop very favorably with Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, which we have also visited.