NASA Marshall Space Flight Center supports removing rest stop rocket

NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville released a statement this week saying it supports the removal of the Saturn 1B rocket at the Alabama welcome center near the Tennessee line.

The rocket has deteriorated so badly that it cannot be restored, the statement said.

“This rocket was not built to withstand more than 40 years of continuous exposure to the elements of nature,” the statement said. “The support structure has deteriorated over the years, the damage is too significant to repair, and could potentially pose a structural safety issue if left in place.”

In an interview with AL.com published earlier this week, Alabama tourism director Lee Sentell said the welcome center had already been closed and is under renovation. He said restoring the rocket was impractical.

The rocket has been in place about 44 years. The Welcome Center opened in 1977. In 1979, the U.S. Space and Rocket Center donated the Saturn 1B rocket, 168 feet high and 22 feet in diameter, to stand as a symbol of Huntsville’s role in the space program. The rocket was painted in 2006 and more maintenance was done starting in 2014, but it has steadily deteriorated since then.

The Saturn 1B was one of three Saturn rockets developed in Huntsville. More powerful than the earlier Saturn 1, it was designed for orbital training missions with both the Apollo spacecraft and lunar model.

NASA ordered the completion of 12 Saturn 1B rockets, but only nine were launched supporting Apollo, Skylab and Apollo/Soyuz test project missions.

The Marshall Space Flight Center’s statement concluded:

“In partnership with the state of Alabama and the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, we are supporting the safe removal of the Saturn 1B rocket and looking toward what may take its place in the future.”

Sentell said he hopes that the welcome center may be able to feature a new symbol that reflects Huntsville’s continuing role in space exploration with plans to return astronauts to the moon and eventually send them to mars.

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