Rockets & Moon Rocks at the U.S. Space Center

The U.S. Space and Rocket Center is located just 2 hours from Nashville in Huntsville, Alabama. My family took a day trip to check out this awesome space center!

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Visiting Nashville soon? Learn more about touring the city with kids, the science and art museums!

Tickets & Hours

The U.S. Space and Rocket Center requires timed entry tickets. You are able to purchase them ahead of time online (recommended if you are on a certain schedule) or in person. The Rocket Center is open daily from 9-5 and only closed for Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Years Day.

Various discounts are available, but below are the general fees. Additonal tickets required for the planetarium, some simulators and seasonal events.

• Ages 13+ $30
• Ages 5-12 $20
• Ages 4 and under-FREE!

Your Day at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center

Parking is free and was plentiful during our summer visit. When you enter the grounds, you will also see the Space Camp facilities. Continue to the main entrance near the A-12 Oxcart aircraft. Wheelchair and stroller rental are available at the ticket counter for no charge. Electric scooters are also available for a fee.

The Rocket Center has both indoor and outdoor exhibits and consists of several buildings. Beginning indoors in the main building, you will first find this amazing “Universal Waste Management’ room… and yes we took a family selfie…and yes it wound up on our Christmas card.

After this pitstop you will pass by a display about the ‘Space Craze’ and space suits.

Continue on to a hands-on area called, ‘Dare to Explore’ with interactive games and activities that are mostly geared towards children.

My youngest crash landed several times quite happily on this simulator game.

Lunch at the Rocket Center

After thoroughly exploring this area, our stomachs decided it was time for some lunch! The Rocket Center has a cafeteria area called Mars Grill. The restauarant is open daily from 10-3 and has kid-friendly items like pizza, burgers, hot dogs and chicken tenders. They also have other options such as a variety of salads, nachos and even pulled pork.

The food is exactly what you would expect from a museum cafeteria. However, the other guests eating with us included some NASA scientests! It was very cool to dine with the scientests in their white lab coats and know that actual space research was happening nearby.

Space Shuttle Park

After lunch we exited the main building and began to explore outside. There are several different types of space vehicles as well as a few helicopters to look at outside. There is also the Kid Cosmos Area for children 8 and under. Here kids can get their sillies out and run around a bit. There is also a mini version of the Moon Shot ride.

The Moon Shot is included in your general admission and during our visit my family (not me!) was able to ride it several times in a row with little to no wait. You must be 54 inches to ride and not have a medical condition (details are available online and onsite).

It was a million degrees during our visit, so once everyone had their fill of the Moon Shot we headed into the final building.

Saturn V Hall

This large hall houses both the National Geographic Theater and the Saturn V rocket. The rocket is huge. It takes up about the entire length of the Hall. It is also a National Historic Landmark.

The rocket is the centerpiece of the Hall with exhibits on either side. As you walk, you will come across a moon rock brought back to Earth by astronaut Alan Bean during the Apollo 12 mission.

There is also a display about astronaut food and how they accomplish day to day tasks while in space. One of the most interesting areas was the quarantine trailer. This trailer was made to keep the astronuats in quarantine after their return from space. Scientests were unsure what sort of debri they would be returning with and wanted to keep the astronauts in a controlled enviroment. The trailer is also able to be viewed from the inside.

Visitors at the Rocket Center can also sit in some displays to experience the tight quarters the astronauts travel in!

Other Exhibits at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center

Througout your exploration of the Rocket Center you will find several simulators. Some are included with general admission while a few require additional ticketing. Since writing this, I have also noticed that a SparkLab! STEAM center for kids is available onsite. We did not notice this during our trip, nor can I find it on the online map. We also explored a SparkLab! during our trip to the Smithsonian American History Museum and I assume they are similar.

The U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama makes for an excellent day trip. We left Nashville around 7:00 AM and stopped for a hike at the Old Railroad Bed Trail on the Land Trust of Alabama. From there we continued to the Rocket Center. After our day of space exploration, we made it back to Nashville in time for dinner!