Reaching for the stars in Huntsville

by Graham McKenzie

Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of Graham McKenzie.

His two-day mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.  In short to visit the US space epicentre of Huntsville Alabama and discover what is so special about the city that has just been voted the best place in the US to live.

In the mid 1940’s the team from Germany that had developed the V1 and V2 rocket technology during World War 2 and led by Werner Von Braun, moved the to the US with the purpose of continuing research and development.

Despite the fact that most of the world assumes Houston and Cape Kennedy (Canaveral) in Florida are the mainstays of the North American Space industry, the reality is that since the mid-point of the 20th century it is Huntsville in Northwest Alabama that has seen the lion’s share of investment, employment and inevitable growth.

The choice of Huntsville was supposedly decided by the Germans liking for the Alabama mountains north of the city, but the reality is likely to be closer to the dividing of federal monies between Houston for manned space flight control, Cape Kennedy for launch and Huntsville for the development of propulsion.

The resultant political sway the greenbacks carried may have been decisive, even in the fifties and sixties. Notwithstanding this, the legacy of rocket development is clearly very impressive.

For many years Huntsville was one of the wealthiest cities based on per capita income in the whole of the country. The not stop demand for highly skilled, highly educated and highly paid technicians was an expensive business, and the provision of services including education and health is a testimony to the amount of cash flowing into the area.

Today in the 21st century it is still regarded as the top place in the US to live, reflected in the high-class entertainment facilities, hotels, restaurants and low crime rate. I was lucky enough to be at the opening night of the new eight thousand capacity amphitheatre Orion. ‘Built for the people of Huntsville by the people of Huntsville’.

It also boasts an impressive program of musicians pulled from the nearby holy Trinity of music hotspots. Muscle Shoals, Memphis and Nashville are within an hour or so drive from the city. The opening night called the ‘The First Waltz’ featured almost exclusively artistes from Alabama including the American Sweetheart, Emmylou Harris. The atmosphere, the bars, the food and most importantly the acoustics were all superb. When combined with a warm star-filled night, it was a perfect debut for Alabama’s new venue.

But this is Space City, ‘I’m a rocket man’ and U.S. Space & Rocket Centre here I come. Based a little way out of downtown the centre looms into view with the sight of, yes you got it, rockets. Once inside the historian development are all documented in a hall dominated by the most famous of all rocket engines, the Saturn V which powered man to the moon in the 60’s.

It is quite remarkable what was achieved by these men and women given that I, and you, have more computing power in our mobile phones than they had to work with on the entire Apollo program. No stone is left unturned in this exhibition with lots of chances to act as early astronauts with interactive displays and even a Gemini spacecraft you are invited to get into. It’s a tight fit!

The centre also offers a space camp where, generally, youngsters are given the chance to participate in a residential course that teaches the basics of life as an astronaut. We were able to participate in a mini space camp and enjoyed the privilege of a moon walk, landing a space shuttle and a multi axis trainer or gyro that simulates a tumble spin.

Participants ride strapped and suspended in a chair assembly inside three tumbling rings. You tumble simultaneously through all three axes and rotate, somersault, and roll all at once rapidly but it’s not quite the vomit inducing experience you may think. A staff member controls the simulation at all times so it’s secure and one can always use the safe word which is ‘STOP’.

The camp even looks into the future as to what life might be like on a Martian outpost. All in all, great fun and very educational.

The finale is literally a trip into space via the Planetarium. An out of world experience as the interactive narrator takes the audience across the solar system and then emphasises in the entire universe how small and insignificant Earth is.  The conclusion is, despite the size, we should do everything to protect it. It was somewhat disappointing, therefore, to find that in the restaurant the amount of single use plastic was exceptionally high with seemingly little or no opportunity to recycle.

Huntsville is a must do for anybody with even a passing interest in space travel and when you add in all the other attractions including music, food, entertainment, bars, antebellum architecture and the traditional southern welcome, it’s a must do for everybody.

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