Stafford Air & Space Museum

Stafford Air & Space Museum
The Stafford Air & Space Museum entrance.
Weatherford, Oklahoma
Location 3000 Logan Rd. Weatherford, Oklahoma 73096
Type Aviation and space museum
Accreditation Smithsonian Affiliate
Owner The City of Weatherford, Oklahoma
Nearest parking On site (no charge)
Website www.staffordmuseum.org

The Stafford Air & Space Museum is located in Weatherford, Oklahoma, United States. The museum was named a Smithsonian Affiliate in June 2010. The museum features exhibits about aviation, space exploration and rocketry, and a collection of over 20 historic aircraft. Displays include artifacts from the Space Shuttle program, Hubble Space Telescope and the Mir Space Station, a Moon rock, a Titan II missile, a Mark 6 re-entry vehicle, and the Gemini 6A spacecraft.[1][2]

Name

The F-4 Phantom at the entrance of the Stafford Air & Space Museum[3]

The museum is named for legendary astronaut and flight pioneer Lt. Gen. Thomas P. Stafford, a native of Weatherford. Graduating from the US Naval Academy, Stafford is a recipient of the Congressional Space Medal of Honor. A veteran of four space flights, he piloted Gemini VI, and commanded Gemini IX, Apollo 10, and the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project mission.[4]

Exhibits

The center boasts one of the few actual Titan II launch vehicles on display. The huge rocket body crosses the back of a display gallery from one side of the building to the other. Numerous items acquired from the Smithsonian and on display include: a Gemini flight suit, space food, survival items flown to the Moon on Apollo 11, and the actual flight pressure suit Stafford wore on Apollo 10, the first flight of the lunar module to the Moon. One display includes the hatch through which U.S. astronauts and Russian cosmonauts docked and greeted each other in space. Stafford is pictured reaching through the hatch shaking hands with a Russian cosmonaut. The actual uniforms that the two astronauts were wearing at the time are also on display.

Other exhibits include retired aircraft, such as a Russian MiG-21R and an F-16. Full-size replicas displayed include the Wright Flyer, Spirit of St. Louis, Apollo Command Module, and Gemini spacecraft. The museum also features the Rose & Tom Luczo Educational Center that features a flight simulation computer lab, kids library, and a Talon A3 Motion-Based Flight Simulator that runs X-Plane 11 and Microsoft Flight Simulator X. Also on display is a TP-82 Russian triple-barreled survival pistol which was given to Stafford by Alexey Leonov.

As of March 5, 2018, the museum has acquired an Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, also known as the "Warthog." It is on display outside of the museum. In July 2018, the Gemini 6A spacecraft was moved to the museum.[5][2]

Early aviation

Early rocketry

Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs

Modern space and aviation

References

  1. ↑ "EXHIBITS". Stafford Air & Space Museum. Retrieved 2016-12-23.
  2. 1 2 3 Pearlman, Robert (July 31, 2018). "Museum Move Reunites Historic Gemini 6 Spacecraft with its Pilot". Space.com. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
  3. ↑ "Home". Stafford Air & Space Museum. Retrieved 2018-03-06.
  4. ↑ http://www.travelok.com/listings/view.profile/id.7195 accessed on 6-13-10
  5. ↑ KFOR news
  6. ↑ "EXHIBITS". Stafford Air & Space Museum. Retrieved 2018-03-06.

Coordinates: 35°32′40″N 98°40′12″W / 35.54444°N 98.67000°W / 35.54444; -98.67000


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