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I don’t know why, but I think of the last week of January as NASA week. Why this week? Well, if there’s ever a week that stands out in NASA history, for better or worse, it has to be this one. On January 27, 1967 three Apollo astronauts died during a pre-launch test. On January 28, 1986, Challenger and her crew of seven were lost shortly after take-off. And on February 1, 2003, Shuttle Columbia broke up on re-entry after having sustained tile-damage on lift-off. Those remembered, that’s not really what this post is about. Because NASA is also rather busy this week in 2008, at least in Huntsville.

I can remember growing up, riding in the car as we’d head to Huntsville, we’d always play “who can spot the rocket first” - watching as we came around the corner and over a hill for the Saturn I rocket, standing upright in the backyard of the world’s largest aero-space museum. And I remember standing beside it, looking up and being incredibly wow-ed by how huge it was.

Then, as things do, as I grew up it began to seem a little smaller. Or actually, maybe it wasn’t so much that I grew up. Maybe it was that NASA decided to go on and build a full size model of the Saturn V, twice the height of the Saturn I, and stand it up beside it. Yeah, pretty sure it was that. (In case you were wondering: the Saturn I ~ about 180ft tall. The Saturn V ~ twice that at 360ft!)

The Saturn V, of course, being the rocket that carried us to the moon, and particularly built in large at Huntsville by Von Braun’s crew. That’s probably why the USSRC is home to one of three remaining (more or less) real Saturn Vs. Out back, long before the model was built, lied the real deal, just sitting on the grass. Not exactly a fitting home for such a great legacy.

And so the Space and Rocket Center, with the help of some fundraising, decided to build it a real home, clean it up a bit (I understand it had grown weeds and rusted), and move it indoors. As they did that though, they had to turn out the lights on the model as they built the new building nearby. Why? I don’t know. They said it was for construction purposes, but then again this is NASA. Put a man on the moon? Piece of cake. Figure out how to write while weightless? Ball point pen. (You get the joke.)

But now construction is finished, and this week NASA is opening the doors (at least to some VIPs for now) on the new facility, and more symbolically, they “lit the rocket” (the model that is) back up. Here it is standing beside the new facility, where you can see the real thing hanging inside.

Also, coinciding with this (perhaps), NASA is celebrating its 50th year of space flight and there’s some events happening in Huntsville with astronauts such as Buzz Aldrin, Tom Jones, and Ed Buckbee (all authors) in attendance. Word is that Jim Lovell and Walter Cronkite are also in attendance, but I’m not sure exactly where.

I’m hoping to be able to go to some events and bring back pictures and perhaps blog about their talks and presentations, but seein’ as how the big event is sold out (and at $150 a seat at that), I’m not sure how well my luck will be on getting into that one.

An additional picture from the lighting ceremony after the jump.