New Mexico Museum of Space History

About

The New Mexico Museum of Space History stands in Alamogordo in the Tularosa Basin—a region that played a pivotal role in the history of spaceflight. Just miles away, White Sands Missile Range was the proving ground for captured V-2 rockets after World War II, the site of the first full-scale rocket tests in the United States, and the location of Robert Goddard's early liquid-fuel rocket experiments. Alamogordo's history is inseparable from the birth of the American space program. The museum's four-story Golden Cube houses artifacts and exhibits spanning the full arc of space exploration history, from early rocketry through the International Space Station and the current commercial space era. Artifacts include actual spacecraft, spacesuits worn by astronauts, and rocket engines from early test programs. The International Space Hall of Fame, housed within the museum, honors astronauts, cosmonauts, and space scientists from around the world—with particular recognition given to the New Mexico pioneers who contributed to launch vehicle development. The museum operates an outdoor rocket garden with full-size rockets and missiles from the postwar test programs, including V-2 replicas and early US research rockets. The Clyde W. Tombaugh IMAX Dome Theater shows space and science films on a large format screen. A planetarium within the theater complex offers daily sky programs. The museum is affiliated with the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs and offers significantly reduced admission for New Mexico residents. New Mexico seniors receive free admission on Wednesdays. Its proximity to Spaceport America—the world's first purpose-built commercial spaceport, 45 miles away—gives the museum a contemporary dimension as New Mexico continues to be at the center of space exploration.

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