posted 10-11-2012 05:33 AM               

America's infatuation with the Space Age was apparent at the Fair. A might array of rockets were on exhibit in the two-acre United States Space Park that was sponsored by NASA, the Defense Department and the Fair itself. The Park's exhibits included a full-scale model of the first stage (bottom stage) of the colossal Saturn V "moon rocket," a Titan II booster with its two-man Gemini capsule, and an Atlas with its Mercury capsule. At ground level, ready for the visitor's inspection, were the Mercury capsule flown on the second American manned orbital flight, and full scale models of the three-man Apollo Command and Service modules, and the Lunar Excursion Model. Unmanned spacecraft shown were replica lunar Rangers and Surveyors, a Mariner II Venus probe, Syncom, Telstar, Relay and Echo communications satellites, Explorer and Discoverer research satellites, and Tiros and Nimbus weather satellites.

Visitors get a rare chance to explore some of the rockets and spacecraft that helped initiate the space race. These vehicles were state-of-the-art space exploring machines at the time of the 1964-65 New York World's Fair, which was held on the site of NYSCI.