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FOUNDATION, INC.
Fall 2015
Vol. 38 No.3
The Magazine of the Air Force Museum Foundation, Inc. • www.airforcemuseum.com
Featured Articles The New Space Gallery
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The Triumph of Gemini
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The Apollo 15 Space Mission
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In the Shadow of Mercury: The X-15, America’s First Spacecraft
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USAF
In the winter Friends Journal: 25 years since Operation Desert Storm
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AIR FORCE MUSEUM FOUNDATION, INC.
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EXPANDING THE LEGACY of the
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE U.S. AIR FORCE
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The Air Force Museum Foundation, Inc. is a Section 501(c)(3) private, non-profit organization. It is not part of the Department of Defense or any of its components, and it has no government status.
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THE AIR FORCE MUSEUM FOUNDATION, INC. BOARD OF TRUSTEES Ms. Frances A. Duntz - Chairman Mr. Philip L. Soucy - President Col (Ret) James B. Schepley - Vice President Col (Ret) Susan E. Richardson - Secretary Mr. Robert J. Suttman II, CFA - Treasurer Dr. Deborah E. Barnhart, CAPT (Ret), USN Col (Ret) Mark N. Brown Dr. Thomas J. Burns, PhD Brig Gen (Ret) Paul R. Cooper Dr. Pamela A. Drew Mr. Roger D. Duke Mr. David C. Evans Col (Ret) Frederick D. Gregory Sr. Mr. Benjamin T. Guthrie Maj Gen (Ret) E. Ann Harrell CMSgt (Ret) Eric R. Jaren Mr. Gregory G. Lockhart Lt Gen (Ret) C.D. Moore II Lt Gen (Ret) Richard V. Reynolds Gen (Ret) Charles T. Robertson Jr. Mr. Scott J. Seymour Mr. Harry W. (Wes) Stowers Jr.
From the Executive Director
Earlier this year I was talking with a family member about the future of his business—a popular town pub. As he looked around, he said, “At one point, there were 25 or so men sitting here, true characters who were the heart and soul of the pub. They are mostly gone now and are not easily replaced.” As he spoke I realized that while he appreciated the past, and the friendly, profitable environment he had created, he recognized it was “a younger man’s game” now to reinvent the pub with a new cast of characters. Reading the articles in this Friends Journal, it seemed to me the same scenario has played out in our space programs. Truly we had our own “characters”—like the test pilots and astronauts who flew the X-15, the Gemini, and the Apollo 15—and others, like Neil Armstrong, who demonstrated just how “down to earth” the first man to walk on the moon was. These men who paved the way for our country’s success in aerospace are often thought of as unique, not easily replaced, for their extraordinary accomplishments
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE U.S. AIR FORCE Lt Gen (Ret) J. L. Hudson, Director Krista Strider, Deputy Director/Senior Curator
FOUNDATION Executive Director - Michael Imhoff Chief Development Officer - Col (Ret) Mona Vollmer Development Assistant - Olivia Dyson Membership Manager - Matt Lynch Membership Coordinator - Michele Giefer Membership Office: 1-877-258-3910 (toll free) or 937-656-9615
In my tenure, I have had the honor to talk with many who have ventured into space. And while each was unique, they all had one trait in common: their willingness to invest their unique skills and talents to build upon the accomplishments of those who had gone before . . . becoming the new cast of characters who would enable our nation to remain the global leader in developing and delivering successful aerospace ventures. As we look to the future, I know I can count on your continued support to ensure that the National Museum of the United States Air Force will always be here to tell the stories of the true characters whose investment in aviation and aerospace made the extraordinary look ordinary and inspired the next generation of space pioneers. With respect,
Mike Imhoff P.S. This Friends Journal is special for two additional reasons. It includes an expanded Museum Store “Wish Book,” to make holiday gift shopping a breeze, and an autographed X-15 centerfold from the last living X-15 test pilot, Maj Gen Joe Engle. Joe visited the Foundation office while he was at the Museum earlier this month and gave his stamp of approval to Art Director Mark Riley’s X-15 illustration by signing it. We hope you enjoy it, too!
Friends Journal
Editor - Peggy Coale Art Director - Mark A. Riley Editorial Assistants - Michael Giefer, Joe King, Robert Pinizzotto, Art Powell Publications Office: 937-656-9622 Cover: Apollo 15 launch on July 26, 1971 (NASA Photo)
The Friends Journal is published quarterly by the Air Force Museum Foundation, Inc., a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the expansion and improvement of the National Museum of the United States Air Force and to the preservation of the history of the United States Air Force. Authors retain all rights to further publication or use. Author’s views expressed in the Friends Journal do not necessarily represent those of the Air Force Museum Foundation, Inc. or those of the United States Air Force. Printed in the USA. USPS Standard ”A” rate postage paid at Dayton, OH. Subscription to the Friends Journal is included in the annual membership of the Friends of the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. All materials are copyright 2015 and may not be reproduced without permission from the Air Force Museum Foundation, Inc. Submission of material for publication and correspondence concerning contents should be addressed to The Air Force Museum Foundation, Inc., 1100 Spaatz St., P.O. Box 1903, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433-1903, ATTN: Editor. Or email it to pcoale@ afmuseum.com.
Contents ARTICLES 5 The New Space Gallery NMUSAF Staff 8 The Triumph of Gemini Mark Carlson
14 The Apollo 15 Space Mission Jerry Rep 18 “Just Call Me Neil”
Lu Mays with W. Benton Kubicki
DEPARTMENTS 2 Editor’s Notes 3 Friends Feedback 43 Activities & Events 44 Restoration Update Aircraft move to begin this fall 46 Reunion Notices 48 Artifact Spotlight 49 The Museum Store
20 Dr. Harry C. Carver, a Man Among the Stars Col (Ret) Oscar Agre
23 In the Shadow of Mercury:
THANK YOU!
The X-15, America’s First Spacecraft
Mark Carlson
31 To Berlin and Back to the Bandstand TSgt Chester “Chet” Pardee 305th Bomb Group, Eighth AIr Force
35 A Sabre Pilot Visits the Front Line Howard Morton
37 An Aircraft Mechanic at a Radar Site Edward F. Young
39 The History, Decisions, and Consequences Behind the Use of the First Atomic Bomb Andy Rice
Let’s be social!
A Milestone Day: the X-15A-2 is the first aircraft moved to the Museum’s new building.
On Friday, October 2, the X-15A-2 was the first aircraft to move to its new home in the Museum’s fourth building. Your support made this happen! For up-to-date information on other aircraft moves, go online to nationalmuseum.af.mil/Expansion.aspx. Aircraft moves are visible to the public, but please note that the schedule is subject to change due to the many variables involved in moving these aircraft, such as weather, equipment, and staff availability.
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EDITOR’s
NOTES
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hen the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force opens its fourth building in June 2016, among the highlights will be an expanded new Space Gallery for exploring the rich space heritage of the U.S. Air Force. In this Friends Journal issue, we feature articles about some of the key aerospace artifacts which will go on display there—the X-15, Gemini, and Apollo 15. An overview of the Space Gallery written by the Museum’s Research Division will give you a glimpse of some of the other exciting artifacts you can expect to see when the Gallery opens next spring, such as the Space Shuttle Exhibit and the enormous Titan IVB space launch vehicle. The race to space which began in the late 1950s was a dramatic alternate venue for the Cold War conflict between the United States and the U.S.S.R. Although the Soviets scored early points with the first satellite launch of Sputnik I in 1957, and the first man to orbit Earth in 1961, by 1969 the Americans had won the biggest prize in the space race by safely landing astronauts on the moon. On July 20, 1969, U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong took his famous “one small step” on the moon’s surface, which proved to be a giant leap forward in technology achieved by the Americans. But long before NASA claimed success in space, the U.S. Air Force was making the first manned probes into its lower reaches in the X-15, and gaining valuable data on high-speed, high-altitude flight. Several X-15 pilots earned “astronaut” ratings by attaining altitudes above 50 miles, and their efforts contributed significantly to the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo projects.The no. 2 X-15 aircraft was retired to the Museum in October 1969 and will be on display in the new Space Gallery. The U.S. Air Force was an integral part of other early space programs. In Project Gemini, as with the earlier Mercury program, the USAF contributed boosters and launch crews, flight medicine, facilities, and tracking and recovery services. The Gemini Titan launch vehicle was a critical USAF contribution, a modified Titan II ballistic missile that was the only booster capable of lifting the Gemini spacecraft into orbit. More than half the crewmen—nine of sixteen—who flew Gemini missions were Air Force officers. In other articles we continue the space theme with a story about an Army helicopter pilot who connected with astronaut Neil Armstrong under rotary wings, and a math professor who developed important celestial navigation tools. Daring ventures closer to earth are chronicled in a firsthand account of a B-17 radio operator/gunner flying to Berlin during World War II, an F-86 Sabre pilot who spent three days helping tend a mobile howitzer on the front line in Korea, and an aircraft mechanic who was assigned unexpectedly to a radar site in Canada. We also continue the annual tradition of publishing the first-prize winning essay in the Museum’s annual student writing competition. The road to manned space flight was travelled by celebrated Air Force pilots but also two mice. Our final salute to the new Space Gallery is an up-close glimpse of two preserved white mice who participated in early space physiology studies, Mildred and Albert. You’ll definitely want to visit the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in 2016 to explore exhibits about iconic artifacts and astronauts, large and small, who blasted a path to the stars.
Editor
The Air Force Museum Foundation, Inc. is a Section 501 (c)(3) private, non-profit corporation. It is not part of the Department of Defense or any of its components, and it has no governmental status. Friends of the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force membership dues and all donations to the Air Force Museum Foundation paid in 2015 are tax deductible within the limits prescribed by law.
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Friends Feedback Spare 617 I always enjoy the Friends Journal, but the summer issue was special for me because I spent most of my 30-year Air Force career as an airlifter. Over the course of 26 of those years, I accumulated over 4,000 hours as a pilot in the C-130E and H models. Naturally, I was excited to read the story about Spare 617, an aircraft in which I have logged some hours, and see the mighty Hercules pictured in the centerfold. I did spot some discrepancies in the specifications for the C-130E on page 30. The maximum gross weight for the E and H models is 155,000 pounds. I believe the figure given in the article is for an A model. Also, the service ceiling listed is a bit exaggerated. The 33,000 feet must have been a Lockheed engineer’s dream. The actual service ceiling listed in Air Force data for the E model is 28,000 feet, but even that number is a stretch. When loaded down with all the “global mobility” equipment we normally carried, the aircraft struggled to get to 25,000 feet. Col (Ret) Harv Shelton, Hot Springs Village, Arkansas Response from Brett Stolle, Museum Research Division: The figures listed in the Friends Journal reflect the maximum operating characteristics and not basic mission/combat operating statistics. The figures are not wrong, but neither are they wholly representative of the aircraft’s capabilities while in regular service. Colonel Shelton is correct that the takeoff weight is listed at 155,000 pounds. However, the T.O. data I have on the C-130E shows a maximum gross weight of 175,000 pounds (overload). The 155,000 figure is more appropriate, but does not reflect the absolute max load. Regarding the service ceiling, my data suggests it is not limited at 28,000 feet. The listed figure is 32,600 feet at combat weight, intermediate power. I do not have a figure available for max service ceiling, but the flight envelope chart tops out as high as 36,181 feet. However, it is unlikely that many C-130Es were operated to that altitude. The combat load ceiling is 21,500 feet Colonel Shelton is correct that at that weight the aircraft would struggle to get to 25,000 ft. Tin Can The article, “Navigating the Pacific in a Tin Can” in the Spring 2015 Friends Journal brought back memories. I was a rookie navigator in August 1944 flying over the Golden Gate Bridge in a new B-24J bomber headed for Townsville, Australia. We did not have any overwater flight training.The leg to Hawaii was 13 hours. Next was a stop at Canton, a small dot in a big ocean, then Tarawa,
Guadalcanal, and finally Townsville. We did not have LORAN; I used a drift meter on white caps, a sextant for sun shots and, as we got closer to our destination, a radio compass. I had a very nervous crew chief who worried about our gas, especially on the leg to Hawaii. The weather was good to us, and we came in on my ETAs. I flew 43 missions with the Thirteenth Air Force in the Southwest Pacific. Al Gill, Knoxville,Tennessee Berlin Airlift There have been countless great articles in the Friends Journal. However, the article by Colonel Halvorsen “Remembering the Berlin Airlift,” Summer 2015, ranks if not at the top, then close to it. I thought I knew about the Berlin airlift. I didn’t, really didn’t. I knew the geopolitical implications. I knew the statistics, e.g. the ton miles, the weather, some accidents, but I really did not understand what was going on beneath those flights. Never have I read with such poignancy about those on the ground; living in bombed out buildings without heat or electricity, picking flecks of flour from the coal soot. Children politely sharing four sticks of gum, the others licking the wrappers. And the subsequent dropping of gum and candy from above—against regulations—until the regulations were changed. The German aircraft mechanics, who only a couple years before were fixing Me109s and FW190s that were shooting down B-17s and B-24s, now working on Allied C-54s bringing them food and coal, and hope. Thanks, Colonel Halvorsen. Lt Col (Ret) Louis J. Malucci, Fairport, New York Berlin Airlift The article by Colonel Halvorsen was most interesting and very well written. I was surprised to learn that the C-82 Packet took part in the Berlin Airlift. I served as maintenance officer on C-82s at Donaldson AFB, Texas, where I was involved in Operation Long Horn. Operation Long Horn was one of the largest simulated war maneuvers staged by the U.S. Army and Air Force on American soil.
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Friends Feedback (cont.) The simulation included thwarting an invasion and recovering from an atomic attack.To carry out the mock war, which began in late March 1952, ranchers between Waco and San Angelo signed easements to their land. Several Lometa-area ranches became sites of battles and campgrounds as more than 115,000 troops came to Texas for maneuvers.Local residents cooperated and participated by rationing and trading with troops, offering facilities for a mock USO facility and attending programs and presentations given by soldiers. In a nationally publicized event, aggressor forces captured and occupied the town of Lampasas, establishing mock control of media and setting curfews.The city was liberated near the end of the simulation on April 9, 1952.The $3,300,000 exercise left local residents with damaged ranch land, outbuildings, fences and gates, as well as spooked livestock, but also gave them an opportunity to experience war in their own community.
Did you know ? •
The Museum is currently seeking volunteers to host visitors in our fourth building as well as our present galleries. The new building is scheduled to open in June 2016.
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The Education Division is looking for volunteers to support their monthly Family Day initiative by conducting aerospace demos and workshops. They are also looking for assistance with other activities, such as Home School Day and Space Day.
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There are many opportunities to serve as a volunteer, including assisting the Air Force Museum Foundation at the Friends Membership Desk, Foundation offices, and the Air Force Museum Theatre.
My line chief came to me—a green 2nd lieutenant—the first day there and said he had found a crack in the nose gear strut of one of our C-82s. He suggested we inspect all of our C-82s. I agreed, of course. He found eight of our squadron had cracked struts. So I grounded them.The CO came to me when he learned what we had done and ordered me to sign them off. I refused (according to the book, I should have refused). He immediately relieved me as maintenance officer and signed them off himself. The next day he had second thoughts about what he had done, and sent all eight back to Donaldson for repairs and withdrew his decision to relieve me. However, when we returned to Donaldson after completing Operation Long Horn, I got orders sending me to Japan rather than to Ohio State University, where I’d been accepted for a Masters degree. Instead, I spent the next 18 months in Ashiya, Japan. Upon my return I was sent to Stanford University to get my Masters degree. I had to serve three more years to pay for it!
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Numerous special events can use your support, including large seasonal outdoor events such as the World War I Dawn Patrol Rendezvous and the Giant Scale Radio-Control Model Aircraft Show.
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By joining now, volunteers will have the opportunity to participate in fourth building opening activities and hosting visitors in four new galleries.
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Weekend gallery volunteers are presently the Museum’s greatest need; however, weekday volunteers are also being recruited for morning or afternoon shifts.
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The Museum depends on the current 550+ volunteers who travel from Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, West Virginia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and, of course, Ohio for its daily operation.
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Last year, Museum volunteers met and shared experiences with more than one million visitors.
I knew two pilots who flew C-54s on the Berlin Airlift (now deceased) whom I would like to remember here: Lt Col James Romero and Capt Joe Laufer.
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Volunteers contributed more than 105,000 hours, equivalent to 52-person-years of productivity, in 2014, providing a multi-million dollar asset in human resources to the USAF.
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Volunteering at this Museum is just plane fun!
Joe Noah, Clarksville,Virginia
Are you or someone you know ready to have some fun promoting the history of the Air Force? You don’t need a PhD in history, just a willingness to share your time with our visitors from around the world in a unique and exciting way. Visit our website at www.nationalmuseum.af.mil and click on the volunteer link. Here you can submit your name and mailing address to receive further information and application paperwork.
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NMUSAF Staff
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hen the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force (NMUSAF) opens its fourth building to the public in 2016, roughly 50,000 square feet will be devoted to the stories and artifacts of the Air Force’s rich and impressive space and missile heritage. The new Space Gallery will be located adjacent to the Missile Gallery and will encompass space launch, space science, astronauts, and satellites, as well as provide additional space for exhibits on strategic nuclear missiles.
Many readers are familiar already with the Space Shuttle Exhibit. At the core of the exhibit is NASA’s first crew compartment trainer (CCT), which NASA used to train all space shuttle astronauts. It allows the public to appreciate the size and shape of a shuttle orbiter while at the same time allowing a more educational experience than would have been possible with an actual shuttle.
Though this aspect of its history is unfamiliar to many, the U.S. Air Force has been deeply involved in space since the beginning of the space age and continues today with deep USAF involvement in activities beyond the atmosphere. The U.S. Air Force, in fact, created the term “aerospace.” The desire to portray a more well-rounded picture of the Air Force role in national defense history was the motivating factor behind a new, expanded Space Gallery. Coming Attractions Two large attractions, the Space Shuttle Exhibit and the enormous Titan IVB space launch vehicle, will anchor the new Space Gallery. As visitors enter the gallery, they’ll see the Space Shuttle Exhibit straight ahead on the left, and the Titan IVB’s payload fairing will loom overhead immediately to the right.
NMUSAF
The Space Shuttle Exhibit crew compartment trainer flight deck.
Visitors can look close up into the flight deck and the mid deck to gain an excellent understanding of the shuttle’s small living and working spaces. Actual orbiters don’t allow those views because visitors can’t see into the crew compartments. In the exhibit’s walkin payload bay mockup, visitors can inspect the Teal Ruby early warning satellite, a rare example of a real, formerly classified military satellite that was never launched.
The imposing Titan IVB launch vehicle will be one of the largest artifacts in the Museum. The aptly named rocket is 204 feet long and more than 30 feet wide, and is thus a powerful example of USAF space launch history. Even more impactful will be the way it’s displayed— NMUSAF horizontally on a steel support structure a minimum of ten feet above visitors. Raising The Space Shuttle Exhibit featuring the crew compartment trainer (CCT) will be a major the vehicle will create about 6,000 square feet of much-needed exhibit space on the floor display in the new Space Gallery. Friends Journal • Fall 2015
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The New Space Gallery
underneath. The rocket features an 86-foot long payload fairing, center Titan II core vehicle (compare it to the Titan II in the Missile Gallery), and enormous twin, solid rocket motors on each side. The display stand eventually will support exhibit walls and lighting beneath the rocket.
The C-119J aircraft that USAF Airmen used to catch the first returning satellite film buckets in midair will also be relocated to the Space Gallery from the Air Park outdoors, following restoration. The C-119J will do double duty, both as a space-related artifact and as a representative of the adjacent Global Reach Gallery.
NMUSAF
The Fairchild C-119J that was specially modified to perform midair retrieval of reconnaissance film containers will be a key exhibit for both the Space Gallery as well as the Global Reach Gallery.
NMUSAF
A Titan IVB space launch vehicle on the launching pad.
Many other popular and important artifacts will join the Space Shuttle Exhibit and Titan IVB. Among them are the Hexagon KH-9, Gambit KH-7, and Gambit KH-8 reconnaissance satellites on loan from the National Reconnaissance Office. These will join earlier CORONA reconnaissance artifacts as the staff designs and installs exhibits in the years ahead.
In the arena of human space flight, Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo spacecraft on loan from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum will enjoy central locations in the gallery.The new building will allow enough room to eventually exhibit associated artifacts with the spacecraft, such as Apollo crew seats, replica space suits representing all the U.S. manned programs over the years, and other rare pressure suits in the collection.
NMUSAF NMUSAF
The Gambit 1 KH-7 reconnaissance satellite used by the National Reconnaissance Office during the 1960s-1980s. Satellites like this and the Gambit 3 and KH-9 Hexagon played a critical role in winning the Cold War and maintaining U.S. national security.
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The Apollo 15 Command Module took astronauts Col David R. Scott, Lt Col James B. Irwin, and Maj Alfred M. Worden Jr. to the Moon in 1971. This Moon mission was the only one with an all Air Force crew.
The New Space Gallery
The list goes on. The gallery will feature aerospace test artifacts, such as lifting bodies and the X-15A-2, an X-40A flight test vehicle related to the currently-inservice X-37B orbital vehicle, as well as a host of rocket engines, satellite and spacecraft components, and items associated with Air Force astronauts and other USAF space pioneers.
Future Exhibits People and their stories will remain a central feature in both the new Space Gallery and an enhanced Missile Gallery. Future exhibits will explain Airmen’s contributions to navigation, weather, search/surveillance, communication, early warning and detection, and geodesy and mapping. Human spaceflight is a popular subject we’ll also explore. From small mammals and primates through early USAF plans for the Dyna-Soar orbital space plane and the Manned Orbiting Laboratory, to the USAF and DoD role in Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and shuttle programs, the theme of living and working in space will be an important Space Gallery feature.
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The Boeing X-40A on display in the Research & Development Gallery at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.
In the launch realm, the Space Gallery will explain the pivotal role the USAF has played in “heavy lifting” through several decades. The physics and technology of rockets and satellites will be main topics here, with explanations of how thrust, orbits, liquid and solid propellants, space reconnaissance, and related concepts work. The Missile Gallery will be refurbished over time to more fully cover the story of science, rockets, and the Air Force, and the advent of intermediate range ballistic missiles and intercontinental ballistic missiles.The jobs of missileers, from launch crews to fuel handlers and others, will be explained.The missile trainer exhibit is already in place, and a display of rocket fuel handler gear is planned with generous grant funding from the Association of Air Force Missileers. The Cold War and the Soviet threat will be a key theme in the future interpretation of missile development. An introduction to treaties and proliferation will put the missile force into a larger international context. As in the rest of the Museum, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) educational themes will be a priority, as the Space and Missile Galleries highlight the sophisticated technology USAF personnel use to achieve their missions. A new STEM learning node will enable the NMUSAF education staff to present engaging programs that will demonstrate STEM principles to visitors of all ages.
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The Missile Gallery contains (clockwise from bottom center) the Minuteman IA, Jupiter, Thor, Titan II, Titan I, Thor-Agena, Minuteman III, and the Peacekeeper missiles.
The imminent completion of the Museum’s fourth building promises an impressive new venue to showcase the Air Force’s proud space and missile heritage.The NMUSAF staff looks forward to welcoming the public to the new galleries as the institution embarks on a future of exciting Museum exhibits, educational programs, and proud memorial experiences for all visitors.
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