Spaceport Alpha

Did you ever want to ride a rocket into orbit? You can do this and explore many other related exhibits at the International Spaceflight Museum, located at Spaceport Alpha.Sponsored by NASA and JPL, The International Spaceflight Museum reminds me greatly of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Unlike KSC though, which has a more-or-less clear route to follow through the exhibits, ISM goes off in several directions. I picked one at random and started to meander.

ISM has wonderful exhibits, like the solar system simulator (you can see Neptune and Uranus off to the far left—Pluto was off doing its own thing and had a pointer) and a map of Cape Canaveral.

Other interesting exhibits include a planetarium, a model of the shuttle robot arm (which you can maneuver yourself), and a rocket ride which will take you into low earth orbit where you can see models of the Space Shuttle Endeavor, the International Space Station, and the Hubble Telescope. (Warning on the rocket ride: Passengers will experience launch forces in excess of 7 Gs and reach an altitude of 400 km. Do not board this rocket if you have a fear of 1. Small spaces 2. Vacuums 3. Exploding. Heh. Particularly amused at the exploding part.)

You can teleport from the low earth orbit platform out to explore the planets in our solar system. Very, very shiny. If you do or see nothing else at ISM, I suggest seeing the planet exhibit.

At one point I’d found that I’d accidentally left ISM and meandered into Exploration Island to the south—hey, but there are some cool things there, too! In the Mars Mountain area I rode on the Mars Explorer Rover Sojourner as it poked around, flew with the glider, and rode the airbag display as it bounced down the mountain. (You have to be quick to sit on it.)

Watch out for dust devils here—they’re three times more powerful than tornadoes on Earth. According to the provided information, you and two friends can ride a dust devil around Mars Mountain.

After the dust devil passed I felt the need to rest a bit in the sitting area off to the right. Too bad I couldn’t pick up the coffee there—I really wanted a cuppa about then. (Below, Perry looks longingly at the steaming coffee in the very fashionable NASA mug.)

Then it was back to Spaceport Alpha and the ISM. One of the very cool things about ISM is that it can offer a live feed from NASA. There are several areas where you can just sit and watch, for instance, a shuttle launch.

Rockets from missions past and various countries are on display here in the Rocket Ring. Built to scale, they make a striking silhouette against the sky. Information placards are located at the base of each rocket.

What visit wouldn’t be complete without visiting the gift shop? (I wanted some freeze-dried ice cream.) I did visit, and I found a WORKING TELESCOPE!

Okay, so it cost me about as much as I would spend on a good skin… But it works! It’s scripted, and not only do you appear to look through the telescope, you can also see actual NASA photos. Very shiny. I immediately went home and tried it for myself.

So if you’ve ever wanted to be an astronaut, or just have an interest in things spacey, Spaceport Alpha is a great place to visit. If you have more time on your hands, consider checking out some of the adjacent sims: Science School, Spaceport Bravo, Explorer Island, and NASA CoLab.

The International Spaceflight Museum can be found at Spaceport Alpha 49/79/24
Telescope created by Jenika Connelly of Jenika’s Eyes and Optics (Neon 23/75/22)