Jim Jenkins was incredibly knowledgeable. We spent a long time talking to him and asking questions, and just enjoying his stories and conversation. He helpfully provided my daughter with a wealth of resources for her home-schooled study of space. He was absolutely stellar!
On August 18, it was our good fortune to have Mr. Alex McCool approach us and offer a personal tour of your facility. In his unassuming manner, we were given a first hand recount of NASA's beginnings. As volunteers at the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, we were privileged to meet the Apollo 13 astronauts and several members of mission control. Our brief time with Mr. McCool was equally inspiring and impressive.
What a treasure you have in Mr. McCool.
Sincerely,
Chris and Carol
This place is really good, you can see a bunch of old stuff and they are amazing. However, the best part is the Saturn V Hall! It is AMAZING! You can spend 1 2 hour easily with just running through the halls and check the exhibitions BUT I would recommend taking a guided tour in the Saturn V Hall. We were lucky and the 5 of us were guided by Lowell Zoller. He was a project manager at Nasa telling amazing details of everything. We wanted to spend maximum an hour in this hall and finally we were there 2-3 hours! And we wanted to stay but the place was about to close so ...
Columbia High School's Stem Club took a trip down for the day to check things out. We all had a blast and got to meet a very important person, Charlie Johnson. He is a NASA Rocket Scientist (1960-1980), Army Aviator and Veteran.
I now know a lot more than I ever knew before. I would so go back to the space and rocket center.
I have a new respect and understanding of the sacrifices made by our astronauts and rocket engineers. I've seen similar artifacts in the Smithsonian air and space museum, but the docents here brought so much more to life, and connected with each and every visitor. A human guide makes a huge impact.
... A highlight of our trip was talking with one of the volunteer docents Lucian "Luke" Talley who was an electrical engineer with IBM who worked on the guidance system of the Saturn V rocket. He was able to tell us a lot about the program and the workings and has some interesting anecdotes about his time with the program. There are about 60 volunteers that rotate through seek one out and talk to them! Worth the trip.
