The U.S. Space & Rocket Center, formerly the Alabama Space & Rocket Center, opened in March of 1970. The US Space & Rocket Center was the brainchild of Dr. Wernher von Braun who, back in the 1960s, approached local leaders with the idea of creating a museum for what were to become the artifacts of the space program.
They took it to the Alabama Legislature who passed an Act providing the tax base that provided the funding. The US Government supplied the property. Von Braun was also instrumental in securing many of the original artifacts that the Space Center has, including the giant Saturn V rocket vehicle.
On one of his last visits to USSRC before his death, Von Braun said that this country needs a space camp to introduce youngsters to the disciplines of space travel and rocketry at an early age so there will be a new generation of rocket scientists and astronauts ready to take the reins. In June, 1982, the first Space Camp opened and since then almost 450,000 have attended.
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