Kennedy Space Center in Orlando, Florida
Ok, so it’s not strictly a museum. Yeah, it’s the actual working facility from which the United States launches most of its rockets and all of its manned space missions.
But they’ve got an amazing collection of treats for the space-buff. There’s the rocket garden, with a slew of (mostly real) vintage rockets: the Saturn IIb, a Mercury-Redstone, a Mercury-Atlas, an Atlas-Agena, a Gemini-Titan and more. Then, there’s tours to the launch pads. And the restored Mercury control center. And an endless bunch of artifacts. Really, like National Air & Space, this is a must-see.
The Astronaut Hall of Fame is also part of the KSC. Among the artifacts there: the Apollo 14 command module, “Kitty Hawk”. Most amazing: an actual Saturn V rocket, laid out on its side at the Saturn V Center. The thing is huge, and iconic. You’ll never forget it.
