posted 04-07-2014 08:06 PM               

The state Tourism Department will fund the project.

"The rocket presents a great perception of our state to visitors," Space and Rocket Center spokesman Tim Hall said. "We want it to show the thrill and excitement of the state and the rocket program."

...the welcome center opened in 1977. NASA donated the rocket to the state in 1979 but still works with the state on its upkeep. A fence was added around the rocket recently to prevent graffiti, officials said.

posted 06-27-2014 08:42 AM               

The USSRC is working with the Alabama Tourism Department to get the money to pressure wash and paint the rocket, which will take more than 100 gallons to prime and paint.

[Pat Ammons, scholarship manager and media liaison for the U.S. Space & Rocket Center] said the USSRC is putting out bids to determine the cost of the project.

"After our grant request is approved, we would move forward with pressure washing the rocket," she said. "The project will require scaffolding, a special lift and multiple man hours to get the rocket cleaned and painted."

Shortly after the rocket was painted in 2006, Ammons said a chain-link fence was added around the landmark because of problems with graffiti.

Officials hope to replace the fence with benches and reader rails featuring information about the state's role in the space program.

"But that is a project that would also cost a good deal of money," Ammons said. "We would welcome any donors who would like to help us with the cost of maintaining the rocket or in placing benches and railings."

posted 01-16-2016 04:16 PM               

The center is taking bids to repair the rocket base immediately. According to [U.S. Space and Rocket Center Director of Communications Pat] Ammons, repairs to the base will cost upwards of $15,000. From there, the center will bring restoration experts to the Ardmore location as well as the Space and Rocket Center to create an extensive long term restoration process.

...in addition to ticket contributions, the center is reaching out to the community to help the effort. The center is welcoming people to donate to the cause. Soon, they will unveil an Adopt an Artifact program where people can truly have a hand in the restoration process for their community. The center is also asking for assistance from anyone who has an industrial crane to help in the restoration process.

posted 04-02-2017 08:35 AM               

The center says they're working towards a larger restoration project, but in the meantime, they plan to give it a well-deserved washing in early March.

posted 01-17-2023 01:09 PM               

"The fact that it's been up there (so many) years is pretty amazing," said Lee Sentell, director of the Alabama Tourism Department.

The rocket has been in place about 44 years. The Welcome Center opened in 1977. In 1979, the U.S. Space and Rocket Center donated the Saturn 1B rocket, 168 feet high and 22 feet in diameter, to stand as a symbol of Huntsville's role in the space program. The rocket was painted in 2006 and more maintenance was done in starting in 2014, but it has steadily deteriorated since then.

"It was starting to fall apart," Sentell said. "We've gotten complaints for years about it." ...

Restoring the rocket may be too expensive and impractical, Sentell said.

"Just to take it down, clean it up and put it back up, that's a million dollars," he said.

It also might not be the best idea, he said.

"It's time for it to go," Sentell said. "That was never intended to be anywhere that long."

He's hoping Huntsville can offer up a new icon for the future, illustrating NASA's plan to return to the moon and eventually go to Mars.

posted 01-17-2023 02:35 PM               

The command and service module are mockups.

posted 01-18-2023 07:43 PM               

"To my knowledge, there has not been any decision made as to either what happens to the existing rocket or if there are firm plans of what will succeed it. Alabama Tourism Department Director Lee Sentell said.

As questions swirled Tuesday in regards to the iconic Saturn V 1B rocket that has welcomed visitors to Alabama, as well as locals home, for more than 40 years, The News Courier reached out to Sentell about the rocket's uncertain future. He said the decision about what will happen to the rocket is ultimately up to the Marshall Space Flight Center and U.S. Space and Rocket Center. ...

Sentell said that he believes the rocket should either be replaced or repaired. He is not aware of any estimates as to how much repairs to the rocket would cost. If the decision is made to replace the rocket, Sentell would like to see something symbolic of the area's future.

"I just think it needs to be something dramatic and exciting and something that makes people say, 'Oh my gosh! Look at that! We gotta stop and visit to see what's going on with that,'" Sentell said.

There is currently no timeline on when that decision may be made.

posted 01-20-2023 03:41 PM               

NASA and Marshall Space Flight Center recognize the significant interest in NASA artifacts as a way to acknowledge and remember accomplishments in space exploration. NASA, with community partners, works to honor and preserve NASA's history to the maximum extent possible.

The Saturn 1B located at the Ardmore Welcome Center in Elkmont, Alabama is on loan to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center and has been a beacon to travelers along I-65 for many years. This rocket was not built to withstand more than 40 years of continuous exposure to the elements of nature. The support structure has deteriorated over the years, the damage is too significant to repair, and could potentially pose a structural safety issue if left in place.

In partnership with the state of Alabama and the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, we are supporting the safe removal of the Saturn 1B rocket and looking toward what may take its place in the future.

posted 01-23-2023 12:32 AM               

Saturn IB rocket no longer safe to keep standing at Alabama rest stop

A roadside rocket display that for more than 40 years has stood as a welcome sign for drivers entering the state of Alabama is no longer safe to be left standing and should now be replaced, according to NASA and the museum charged with its care.

Officials at the agency's Marshall Space Flight Center and the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville have decided that the Saturn IB rocket erected in 1979 at the Ardmore Welcome Center in Elkmont needs to be replaced. More than just a matter of moving it elsewhere, the Apollo-era artifact may be destroyed due to its failing condition after nearly four-and-a-half decades on outdoor, vertical display.

posted 02-03-2023 04:57 PM               

The process will begin, NASA said in an email to AL.com, with the grounding of the rocket at the under-renovation southbound welcome center on I-65 near the Tennessee state line. That process will be the responsibility of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, to whom the rocket is on loan from NASA.

That process does not figure to be simple. The rocket, in fragile condition, stands 168 feet tall with a diameter of 22 feet. While it has cut an imposing figure on the north Alabama landscape since the 1970s, it will be a task to safely bring it down and require a clearing of land to make room for it. That process is already underway with ALDOT's renovation at the welcome center that has included the recent razing of the welcome center building at the rest stop.

Once the rocket is on the ground, NASA takes over.

"The USSRC will take the rocket down at the welcome center," the NASA email said. "NASA will then deconstruct it into small pieces for safe removal from the site and the metal will be reutilized. It will not go to a landfill. The rocket is beyond repair and restoration. Efforts going forward will focus on future plans for the rest stop, which will be led by state leadership."

NASA did not elaborate on how the metal will be reutilized.

There have also been inquiries into taking ownership of the rocket, including by the small Ohio town of New Concord – the hometown of legendary astronaut and former U.S. Sen. John Glenn. A museum at the former home of Glenn and his wife, Annie, would be the new home of the rocket as envisioned by town officials.

NASA officials indicated the poor condition of the rocket makes shifting ownership essentially a moot point.

posted 04-26-2023 11:08 PM               

The bill states that the Alabama State Council on the Arts would be in charge of designing, constructing, and installing the replica. And that the council would be allowed to take private and public gifts or donations to help raise funds for the project...

This bill was on Wednesday's [April 26] agenda for the State Government Affairs Committee. More information on that bill will come after the committee meeting, and there will be a better understanding of what chance this bill has of making it to a vote by the full Senate.

posted 05-25-2023 01:46 PM               

The bill, SB313 by Sen. Tom Butler, a Republican from Madison County, directs the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs to commission the design, construction, and installation of a replica if the original rocket is beyond restoration or repair. The bill says ADECA may contract with any other state or private entity to develop the replica. It says ADECA may accept public or private gifts, grants, and donations, including in-kind services, for the project and may use funds appropriated by the Legislature. The bill does not provide ADECA any funding for the project.

Butler's bill replaced one he had introduced earlier that called for development of a replica to the rocket. The original bill included provisions to strengthen the penalties for removing monuments under the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act, which was passed in 2017 to protect Confederate monuments. That bill did not advance.

SB313 moves to the House of Representatives.

posted 06-08-2023 07:19 PM               

The bill, as referenced above, requires that the Saturn IB be restored or, if beyond repair, replaced with a replica.

posted 08-04-2023 03:29 PM               

Thursday, a representative with the U.S. Space & Rocket Center told News 19 that work was already being done to remove the engines from the iconic rocket.

News 19 first learned that work might be going on on Wednesday when several viewers reach out to us. When News 19 arrived at the welcome center area, we were able to see a blue electric scissor lift sitting under the base of the rocket.

The U.S. Space & Rocket Center told News 19 that the Alabama Department of Construction Management (ADCM) is handling the full removal of the rocket. The spokesperson told News 19 that the plans for that are still being finalized.

Once the removal plans are finalized, the rocket could come down as soon as two weeks after.

posted 10-19-2023 01:00 AM               

Apollo artifacts: NASA salvages parts from Alabama's rest stop Saturn IB rocket

At the very end, it was the rocket that took itself down.

A local landmark that drew national attention as politicians and the public debated its fate, the Apollo-era Saturn IB rocket was in the final minutes of being laid down when its corroded metal skin gave way and it fell the last 15 feet (4.5 meters) to the ground.

posted 05-01-2024 06:34 PM               

Gateway STEM Center founder Robert Dillard said several months ago, he applied to NASA’s artifacts program to bring part of the rocket home to Springfield. To his surprise, they said yes, and allowed him to pick up one of the eight engines. ...

Although the engine is home in Middle Tennessee, it’s not ready for display quite yet. Dillard is working to clean the engine and hopes to have it on public display in about six months.

posted 07-12-2024 11:30 AM               

Real good day at the museum today. Special thanks to Earl and Suzanne of the Space Museum & Grissom Center in Bonne Terre, Missouri. They made the trip out to Huntsville, Alabama. and picked up this H-1 rocket engine from the Apollo era. More specifically from the Saturn 1B rocket.

Then brought it all the way out here to Colorado to deliver it to our museum. It's going to be a great addition to the display in front of the museum.

posted 07-13-2024 06:22 AM               

The Space Museum and Grissom Center is the new home of an Apollo H-1 rocket engine!

Our museum is uniquely positioned to tell the H-1 engine's history. Rocketdyne built the H-1 engine in Neosho, Missouri just a few hours from Bonne Terre. The plant employed more than 1,000 people in a 250,000 square foot facility that produced rocket engines for the Saturn, Thor, Jupiter, and Atlas boosters. The H-1 is also the type of engine used on the Saturn 1B rocket for Gus Grissom's Apollo 1 mission. We are excited that this H-1 rocket engine will help augment our ability to share Gus Grissom's and the state of Missouri’s story during the Apollo Program!

Seen here is our team's recent visit to Marshall Space Flight Center to transport the engine back to our museum.