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Rocket Doctor
10-09-2007, 08:14 PM
As I mentioned previously, I contacted the Sithsonian Air & Space Museum inquiring about their model rocket collection and Bob Craddock.

Today I received an email directed to me. and here is what the email has to say.

Mike Neufield , the chair of our Department of Space History ,asked me to respond to your inquiry.

From my recollection, we have approximately 150 - 200 model rockets in the National Collection. As you know,almost all of those were donated by G. Harry Stine during the early 1970's. While we do have plans to make a model rocket display at our Dulles facility , we currently don't have the funding to do that. Thus, we do not have a dedicated display on model rocketry.

I had received support from the Smithsonian's Lemelson to document the history of model rocketry.Their support allowed me to conduct a number of interviews with some of the most notable model rocket pioneers. It wasa lot of fun and all of them are very nice and interesting people. While I did write and submit a book proposal about the history of model rocketry , I haven't had any interest from publishers. Also, what little money had left over from the Lemelson support was taken away from me a few years ago due to budgetary shortfalls. Eventually, I would like to come back to the model rocketry book , but I have a number of other funded projects to finish first.

Thanks for your interests.

Bob Craddock

So, this is the story on the collection and model rocket display and book as of today 10/9/07

pyrovette20
10-09-2007, 08:33 PM
Are they looking for donated model rockets? I think we could all come up with a few.

Initiator001
10-09-2007, 08:35 PM
How much money will it take to get a model rocket display at the Smithsonian?

I think this is something the NAR should investigate.

Bob

Rocket Doctor
10-10-2007, 05:31 AM
How much money will it take to get a model rocket display at the Smithsonian?

I think this is something the NAR should investigate.

Bob


The first thing that we should do is look into a publisher for his book.

And the second would be to find out how mich money would it take to get a display up and running.

In my opinion, ALL, the model rocket manufactures should kick in and get this project going, they would benefit from it.

And, I think my original ideas is better, have a total museum (not part of another museum) located at space camp in Huntsville, where, so many kids that are interested in space can be exposed to the hobby, but, once again, it's going to take money.

At least now we know the story from the source.

What's your opinions?

Nuke Rocketeer
10-10-2007, 07:13 AM
Any good modroc museum display ought to also include the infamous rocket eating tree complete with several rockets hanging from it in various stages of decay...... :D

Joe W

lurker01
10-10-2007, 10:28 AM
As I mentioned previously, I contacted the Sithsonian Air & Space Museum inquiring about their model rocket collection and Bob Craddock.

Today I received an email directed to me. and here is what the email has to say.

Mike Neufield , the chair of our Department of Space History ,asked me to respond to your inquiry.

From my recollection, we have approximately 150 - 200 model rockets in the National Collection. As you know,almost all of those were donated by G. Harry Stine during the early 1970's. While we do have plans to make a model rocket display at our Dulles facility , we currently don't have the funding to do that. Thus, we do not have a dedicated display on model rocketry.

I had received support from the Smithsonian's Lemelson to document the history of model rocketry.Their support allowed me to conduct a number of interviews with some of the most notable model rocket pioneers. It wasa lot of fun and all of them are very nice and interesting people. While I did write and submit a book proposal about the history of model rocketry , I haven't had any interest from publishers. Also, what little money had left over from the Lemelson support was taken away from me a few years ago due to budgetary shortfalls. Eventually, I would like to come back to the model rocketry book , but I have a number of other funded projects to finish first.

Thanks for your interests.

Bob Craddock

So, this is the story on the collection and model rocket display and book as of today 10/9/07

Wow, Lee and Vern donated a lot of kits and papers to Craddock ... I wonder if those were sold when he said he sold off his collection or if he is still holding onto them? I guess only time will tell...

Robert

Gus
10-10-2007, 11:30 AM
Wow, Lee and Vern donated a lot of kits and papers to Craddock ... I wonder if those were sold when he said he sold off his collection or if he is still holding onto them? I guess only time will tell...
Robert
Were the kits donated to Mr. Craddock or to the Smithsonian?

As for a museum, for better or worse, the Smithsonian is pretty much the nation's "keeper of the historical record" when it comes to Air and Space. It would be nice to see them display, and continue to collect, historically significant model rocketry artifacts.

But part of the problem is that the Smithsonian currently seems reluctant do do either. I recently tried to donate something I thought they might be interested in and was informed that before they even considered it they wanted me to know that they do not have funds to pay for shipping items to them and that anything donated would probably be put in storage for a long time since they have way more items than they can display.

I agree it would be nice to have the NAR spearhead an effort to: A. convince the Smithsonian of why they should be collecting historically significant model rocketry artifacts B. encourage the Smithsonian to display those artifacts C. Offer to serve as an agent to help raise funds for a display D. Offer to provide expert advice in the creation of an appropriate display.

As an NAR member, I would be happy to help in this effort.

Gus
10-10-2007, 11:39 AM
The first thing that we should do is look into a publisher for his book.

While I'd certainly be interested in reading Mr. Craddock's book, there are others doing a wonderful job of gathering and making available model rocket history, without the benefit of foundation support.

I would love to see a book by Terry Dean.

Ye Olde Rocket Shoppe, Ninfinger, JimZ, EMRR, and Dale Windsor all come to mind as folks also making significant contributions.

My thanks to all.

Rocket Doctor
10-10-2007, 12:29 PM
While I'd certainly be interested in reading Mr. Craddock's book, there are others doing a wonderful job of gathering and making available model rocket history, without the benefit of foundation support.

I would love to see a book by Terry Dean.

Ye Olde Rocket Shoppe, Ninfinger, JimZ, EMRR, and Dale Windsor all come to mind as folks also making significant contributions.

My thanks to all.


I have contacted Mr ceaddock again to find out what kind of funding it would take to get a display going. I will post the reply.

As far as the book goes, if he has it done and is looking for a publisher, that is much better than starting from scratch.

I spoke to Vern, and he has the first three chapters done, I would like to see Vern and Lee and Bill Simon and Bill Stine get there heads together and come up with "The History of Model Rockets", too bag something like this couldn't be done before NARAM 50.

The answer to my email to the Smithsonian is verbatum, this was their reply, what can I say ???

moonzero2
10-10-2007, 12:39 PM
The first thing that we should do is look into a publisher for his book.

And the second would be to find out how mich money would it take to get a display up and running.

In my opinion, ALL, the model rocket manufactures should kick in and get this project going, they would benefit from it.

And, I think my original ideas is better, have a total museum (not part of another museum) located at space camp in Huntsville, where, so many kids that are interested in space can be exposed to the hobby, but, once again, it's going to take money.

At least now we know the story from the source.

What's your opinions?

I agree with this logic! Makes perfect sense and the most do able.

Rocket Doctor
10-10-2007, 12:49 PM
I agree with this logic! Makes perfect sense and the most do able.



I think the rocket community (here) should make this an effort to make it a reality, it seems the Smithsonian is dragging their feet......so sad !!

At the rate where going, we'll be celebrating the 75 anniversary and 3/4 of us won't be here to celebrate it.

Initiator001
10-10-2007, 12:54 PM
Perhaps NARTS could publish/sell Craddock's book. :confused:

I expect the 'donation' required to establish a hobby rocketry display will be somewhat pricey. However, the hobby has pulled together on the BATFE lawsuit so, maybe, we could do it, again, for a display.

I see the display as being a freestanding, four-side glass case that could be moved around as larger display areas are changed. Say 3-4 feet wide and 4-6 feet high.

The display could feature one side for the early days of the hobby (Carlisle, Stine, MMI, Estes, Centuri), a side for the hobby's peak during the late 60s-early 70s (Cineroc, Enerjet, Saturn models), the present (Oracle, Flis, etc.) and HPR.

All models displayed (Except for already built historical ones) would need to be built to high standards of assembly and finish, i.e., catalog models. The models should be 'overbuilt' to withstand moving and exposure.

Bob

Initiator001
10-10-2007, 01:09 PM
If a current manufacturer makes a $$$ donation for the display, will this guarantee them space in the display for their product?

What if an 'older' manufacturer does not want to $$$ donate to the display? Does that mean none of their products, even if there is important historical value, will not be displayed?

I think the NAR should handle the decision on what/how the display is set up. The NAR could form a "Historical Committee" made up of 5-7 NAR members with background/experience/education related to the hobby. They could establish a historical timeline of the hobby and document important aspects. The maintanence of the Smithsonian display would be one of their responsibilites. The display could be partially changed every few years to keep it fresh and interesting.

Bob

Rocket Doctor
10-10-2007, 01:21 PM
If a current manufacturer makes a $$$ donation for the display, will this guarantee them space in the display for their product?

What if an 'older' manufacturer does not want to $$$ donate to the display? Does that mean none of their products, even if there is important historical value, will not be displayed?

I think the NAR should handle the decision on what/how the display is set up. The NAR could form a "Historical Committee" made up of 5-7 NAR members with background/experience/education related to the hobby. They could establish a historical timeline of the hobby and document important aspects. The maintanence of the Smithsonian display would be one of their responsibilites. The display could be partially changed every few years to keep it fresh and interesting.

Bob



I bet one manufacturer won't participate !!!!
If it's going to be the history of model rocketry, ALL, manufacturers should be represented.

One way of telling who participated with cash donations would be a plaque showing who donated.

I stll think that my idea of the museum would be better, since the Smithsonian, by their actions are dragging their feet, and, I'm sure money could be found for such a display.

Is there any carpenter's out there willing to donate some time? If we all got together on this, it could be done.

Rocket Doctor
10-10-2007, 01:28 PM
I have another idea, what do you think about MINI rocket displays around the country?

Such displays could be held at all of the NASA centers, Smithsonian, Space Camp and the like.

These display would then expose more current and potential rocketeers to the hobby. Also, lets say there are 10 mini displays, they could be rotated around to each of the 10 sites. lets say every six months so that the displays will constantly be changing.

What's your thought about this?

Initiator001
10-10-2007, 01:45 PM
Bill Stine tried to set up a Museum of Model Rocketry 7-8 years, ago.

He could not get it going. The last I heard he was thinking of setting it up in conjunction with one of the Challenger Centers.

Since then, I believe Bill has given up on it. The small display at the Seattle Museum of Flight appears to be as far as he was able to get.

It would be much easier and less expensive to have a display as part of an already established museum.

Bob

tfischer
10-10-2007, 02:14 PM
All models displayed (Except for already built historical ones) would need to be built to high standards of assembly and finish, i.e., catalog models. The models should be 'overbuilt' to withstand moving and exposure.

Bob

Although that's certainly the showiest option, it doesn't represent what 99% of rocketeers flew. Heck, I knew a number of kids that thought that painting was overkill -- they just wanted to build and fly!

-Tim

kurtschachner
10-10-2007, 02:23 PM
Well, one thing that is a problem at the Smithsonian and most museums is that less than 5% of held items are on display at any one time. Check out this article:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1414460

I know that Bob has tried to get more visibility of MR items at the museum but it has not been approved.

lurker01
10-10-2007, 02:51 PM
Bill Stine tried to set up a Museum of Model Rocketry 7-8 years, ago.

He could not get it going. The last I heard he was thinking of setting it up in conjunction with one of the Challenger Centers.

Since then, I believe Bill has given up on it. The small display at the Seattle Museum of Flight appears to be as far as he was able to get.

It would be much easier and less expensive to have a display as part of an already established museum.

Bob


Wait a minute, there is a Model Rocket museum down in New Mexico, and no its not the 'rocket patch' outdoors at the White Sands range. I believe its a public permanent display and has many of G. Harry's models that were donated. The location is the New Mexico space museum.

I would rather visit here: http://www.nmspacemuseum.org/ for model rocketry and rockety in general. The NASM is just too big and would take a week to go through and see everything properly.

Robert

lurker01
10-10-2007, 02:58 PM
Bill Stine tried to set up a Museum of Model Rocketry 7-8 years, ago.

He could not get it going. The last I heard he was thinking of setting it up in conjunction with one of the Challenger Centers.

Since then, I believe Bill has given up on it. The small display at the Seattle Museum of Flight appears to be as far as he was able to get.

It would be much easier and less expensive to have a display as part of an already established museum.

Bob


I called and have spoken to people at the Challenger Center; they know nothing about any model rocket display or Bill Stine or Bob Craddock (Bob was supposed to have gone through G. Harry's collection with Bill at the Center...). They did know about hosting NARAM 48 activities and the like.

I donated kits to Bill... I guess I wont get those back; never again. I will only donate too myself, then display them in my office :/

That display at SMoF is nothing, and it pains me to see that. My collection will most likely be donated to the Museum of Science and Industry in Los Angeles CA. I should out live my wife, and I don't know of anyone I would personally trust or who would appreciate and understand the collection. Too many people are just interested in, 'wow this is worth $300 and that over there, well I wouldn't take ANYTHING less that $750 for that!'. I have come to realize that I am one of the few who collect for the 'love of rockets' and not the 'love of money'.

Robert

barone
10-10-2007, 05:08 PM
Well, since everyone seems to be giving their two cents worth, let me express my penny thought......

Apparently the National Air and Space Museum doesn't appreciate the contributions that our hobby has made to air and space history. Don't give them anything...no rockets, no money, no donated time. NOTHING! :mad:

Now, what other venues or available? Make our own? I think we'd be better served taking advantage of using an already established museum and their organization, not to mention letting them worry about maintaining the buildings, utilities, insurance and so forth (who wants to collect dues from other rocketeers to help mainatin a museum).

With that said, what organizations should be used? Well, several have been mentioned. I would prefer to see one at the Air and Space Museum in Huntsville, for a starter. Several NAR sections exisist there and may already have a relationship established. Again, I say as a starter. Later, duplicate displays could be established at other museums like White Sands. :D

What to display? I think that the displays should be simple and represent the various phases of the hobby. Start with...the first model rocket. The first parachute recovery. The first boost glider. The first Rocket glider. Development of launch equipment. Scale rockets. Gee, it gets bigger the more I think about it.... :eek:

Who should organize? Before presenting any idea to a museum, I think there should be an organized plan for the display (what, when, where, how) and that it can't be limited to just the NAR. Tripoli needs to be involved also. Unless you don't want to include HPR in the museum.

Well, anyway....my penny thought.

tfischer
10-10-2007, 05:14 PM
Well, since everyone seems to be giving their two cents worth, let me express my penny thought......

Apparently the National Air and Space Museum doesn't appreciate the contributions that our hobby has made to air and space history. Don't give them anything...no rockets, no money, no donated time. NOTHING! :mad:.

I seriously doubt that is the case. As was stated by someone else earlier in this thread, the Smithsonian displays only a small fraction of the artifacts in their collections. This is true of most large museums.

What gets displayed comes down to priorities and finances. The Udvar-Hazey center (the "Dulles Facility" mentioned in the post above) is only a few years old. We were there a couple years ago and it was practically empty, even though there were a huge number of exhibits in it (that is, the place is HUGE and not even close to having its potential filled).

So as they fill it, they need to prioritize. What would people rather see, the Space Shuttle Enterprise, or a model rocket collection? Heck I'm a BAR and I'd choose the Shuttle hands-down. It's not that they hate model rocketry, it's just that it hasn't bubbled to the surface yet.

And until the Udvar-Hazey center opened, they were insanely space restricted on the national mall. Other exhibits can tell a better story of the space race than model rockets can.

As noted, there are plans for a model rocketry exhibit at the Udvar-Hazey center. If you'd like to see those plans advanced, perhaps a large donation would coax it from the drawing boards and into fruition...

-Tim

Initiator001
10-10-2007, 06:19 PM
I called and have spoken to people at the Challenger Center; they know nothing about any model rocket display or Bill Stine or Bob Craddock (Bob was supposed to have gone through G. Harry's collection with Bill at the Center...). They did know about hosting NARAM 48 activities and the like.



I stopped and saw Bill Stine at the old Quest facilities back in 2000.

I saw the boxes of stuff his Dad had saved (I did not get to see in any of the boxes :( ).

Bill told me at that time that Bob Craddock had recently visited for several days to help organize and sort all of Harry's stuff at the Quest plant.

Bob

lurker01
10-10-2007, 06:47 PM
I stopped and saw Bill Stine at the old Quest facilities back in 2000.

I saw the boxes of stuff his Dad had saved (I did not get to see in any of the boxes :( ).

Bill told me at that time that Bob Craddock had recently visited for several days to help organize and sort all of Harry's stuff at the Quest plant.

Bob

Thank you for the clarification.

Robert

lurker01
10-10-2007, 07:00 PM
Its kind of interesting: Model Rocketry did so much in the early days; things like: educating people about rockets, an easy way to 'boiler plate' concepts and ideas, used in engineering and aeronautical schools/programs... yet it is barely a blip on the radar screens of museums.

Last museum I was in had scores of plastic model jet kits, yet no model rockets. I think the perception of model rockets as , 'iconic toys of the 60s/70s', holds true even today.

We know that isn't the case. A model rocket can be as simple as a Guillows rubber powered profile plane, and as complicated as a .40 sized pattern plane when you start looking at FAI and national scale rocket competition. I believe that model rocketry's interest has directly paralleled the Manned Space Program as when interest in Moon flights wained, so did interest in model rockets.

A museum is only going to display things that bring the public into their gift shops. And as was pointed out a couple of posts prior too this one, a BAR is more likely to want to the Enterprise display instead of a model rocket display.

I say there needs to be a dedicated model rocketry museum that does nothing but display model rockets. Its doable but it would be a full-time job for who ever takes on the task. It would also be costly.

Robert

tfischer
10-10-2007, 07:42 PM
A museum is only going to display things that bring the public into their gift shops.

Ironically enough, my Astrocam 110 (may it rest in pieces) was purchased on a vacation, at none other than the Air and Space Museum's gift shop. This was circa 1983...

-Tim

Rocket Doctor
10-10-2007, 07:50 PM
I have received a rather lengthy email from Bob Craddock about "stand alone" model rocket museums and his book.

When I get back on the 27th, I will post it, very interesting stuff.

Ltvscout
10-11-2007, 07:08 AM
I have received a rather lengthy email from Bob Craddock about "stand alone" model rocket museums and his book.
You should ask Bob to stop on over here and join the forum!

Green Dragon
10-17-2007, 09:03 AM
Well, this thread got me to dig out some old pics I have :)

first two are circa 1984 ?, and show the long-time Model Rocket display in the center 'island' display, this was still there last time I visited, but been 6-7 years now, I need to drop in again .... note the Cineroc, Enerjet engine and other cool goodies like the ? FSI Javellin .

of note, however are the RARE photos of the Model Rocket display in the side wing, April 1982 (as printed on photo front when processed ).
this was a large ,near circular ring with rockets - all part of the G H Stine collection, including original Model Missiles, Czech contest birds, other assorted items, including the original Schultz Space-Plane style glider, and an RDC Honeybee sounding rocket.
Unfortunately, I either did not get pics of all the birds, or some have been lost, but here's a minor glimpse back into time....

~ AL

ps: sorry for the small pics, still not 100% up to speed on my scanner, if anyone wants these larger, lmk and I can retry.

Royatl
10-17-2007, 03:28 PM
Cool. In that fourth photo, toward the right edge, is a built Czech Astra rocket, a kit of which is still sitting just to my left to be scanned in.

Initiator001
11-01-2007, 01:42 PM
I have received a rather lengthy email from Bob Craddock about "stand alone" model rocket museums and his book.

When I get back on the 27th, I will post it, very interesting stuff.

Ken,

Could you post the informaton you received?

Thanks.

Bob

Rocket Doctor
11-01-2007, 02:54 PM
Bob
I will post all additional letters from not only Bob Craddock, but another in the space history dept that I had received.

Will appear in the next couple of days.
Ken

Initiator001
11-01-2007, 02:58 PM
Bob
I will post all additional letters from not only Bob Craddock, but another in the space history dept that I had received.

Will appear in the next couple of days.

Ken

I look forward to reading your posts. :)

Bob

Rocket Doctor
11-01-2007, 04:19 PM
Bob

I have several interesting ones to post, hopefully tomorrow.
Ken

SEL
11-01-2007, 10:26 PM
Bob

I have several interesting ones to post, hopefully tomorrow.
Ken

Cool! Thanks, Bob.

Sean

Rocket Doctor
11-02-2007, 01:35 PM
As promised, here is what the Smithsonian had to say to my many inquires about a model rocket display there.

These were all addressed to me, so, I will just go into the text of the reply and it's author.

Wednesday October 10,2007

I'm not the person to ask about the model rocket museum. That was something that Bill Stine was pursuing. Realistically,however, for a brick and mortar-type museum, Jay Apt and I estimated that he would need on the order of about $10 million. The reason is that you couldn't expect the museum to generate enough revenue to be self-sufficient . (infact, I don't know of any museum that is self-sufficient) Most of the money would have to be held as an endowment , and at an estimatedf 5% return you would only have a useable payout of about 200-250 thousand, which might be enough to pay bills and hire 1-2 people to operatethe museum. That's actually a lot of money -maybe even more than the net worth of all the model rocketry companies combined. Unless there is a BAR with some prety deep pockets, I don't see how the museum will ever become a reality. The last time I spoke to Bill, he was working with the Museum of Flight in Seattle who was interested in highlighting model rocketry in an exh8ibit. I haven't talked to Bill in a wh8ile, so I don't know what's happening with that.

I don't have a finished book. That's not really how things work. Before investing the time into a book, you typically put together a proposal and try to find a publissher. If the publisher is willing to take the risk, then they provide you with a monetary advance and you complete the book. My situation became even more complicated at the Smithsonian when we signed an agreement with Harper-Collins giving them the right to firsr refusal on any non-scholarly publication by Smithsonian employees. Basically, , I have to go through them first before approaching any outside publishers. I think that they will probably be interested, however. Finding a publisher is not really the problem. The problem is finding a publisher who is willing to provide me with the cash advance necessary to complete the book AND make it worth my time to stay up late at night and work on week ends. I have a lot of fun projects going on right now, including some that allow me to travel to Europe, Hawaii, and Australia at least once a year,too. I also have two young boys who like to do things with their daddy. Basically, my other projcets are paying a lot more money or are a lotmore exciting, and they offer me the opportunity to do things with my kids while they're still young. Eventually the model rocketry book will get published. I know a lot of people are interested in seeing one. However, it's going to have to fit within my schedule for time and money. It's on my plate, but it's at least another year or two before I visit the idea again.

I appreciate your interest.

Bob Craddock



Thursday October 11,2007

Ken,

A dsiplay case on model rocketry is planned, and I may have a lot to do with it It should 't be that expensive either. However, if we really wanted to do something neat, like an anniversary event, that could cost a lot of money 40k-100k easily for a one night event. Unfortunately, we still have tens of millions of dollars to raise to complete the Dulles Center, so it's unlikely we could get our Development Office to support such an effort. Besides, what do you consider the anniversary date from model rocketry? It's hard to pick one date and say "That's It".

Bob

This is a email dated October 12,2007 from Dr. Margaret A. Weitekamp. Curator, Division of Space History. National Air & Space Museum

Dear Mr Montanye

Your inquiry to the National
Air & Space Museum was forwarded to me because I am the curator for the Social and Cultural Dimensions of Spaceflight collections., which include boxed model kits for non-flying rocket models. The flying rocket models are a part of a different collection , as are the industry desktop models of variousrockets. A rough search of the Museums database reveals that the National Collections contain approximately 150 different boxed model kits for a variety of rockets and launch vehicles, including model of real vehi8cles as well as model of speculative and science-fiction vehicles. The kits are kept unbuilt as evidence of the hobby of model bnuilding , rather than as artifacts of the launch vehicles that they depict. Some of these kits have been put on display in a large case containing desktop models and other memorabilia in the McDonnell Space Hangar at the Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles Airport in suburban Virginai.

Sincerely,

Dr Margaret Weitkamp,Ph.D
Curator, Division of Space History
National Air & Space Museum
Smithsonian Institution
P.O. Box 37023 MRC,311
Independence Ave at 6th St., SW
Washington DC 20013-7012
(202) 633-2416


WeitekampM@si.edu



These are all of the email that I have received so far, I have made additional inquires about this, the above letter mainly deals with NASA type display models and doesn't answer the issue of hobby model rockets at all.

What's your comments on all of this?????

ghrocketman
11-02-2007, 02:35 PM
I still remember the first time I saw an Enerjet F67....it was in that very display at the National Air & Space Museum in D.C.

The year was 1983 or 1984.

I remember thinking "what the heck is THAT?" eventhough I had seen and flown several FSI BP F100's.

Rocket Doctor
11-02-2007, 09:02 PM
Still waiting for a reply to my question about model rockets not desk top models.

shockwaveriderz
11-05-2007, 11:31 AM
I personally don't thinka "brick and mortar" model rocketry museum wil ever exist due to the costs and expenses involved. Thats why I have suggested to various model rocketeer people that perhaps we should look into a "virtual" museum that resides on the web.

oh by the way, anybody noticed this:

http://www.amazon.com/Launch-Magazines-History-Rockets-Model/dp/160239105X/ref=sr_1_2/103-7663895-9898206?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194283631&sr=1-2

terry dean
nar 16158

Rocket Doctor
11-05-2007, 11:47 AM
I just got another email from the Smithsonian, and, once again, it is being passed to another department head. The Smithsonian is NOT the place for a museum, all they are concerned with is MONEY...

As I have suggested brefore, I think one of the best spots would be at Space Camp in Huntsville, you have the exposure, and you have the interest. My other suggestion, is to have a rotating museum at each NASA center, it could be rotated from center to center, never having the same items in one place.

It's too bad something wasn't done for the 50th anniversary.

Initiator001
11-05-2007, 01:32 PM
I personally don't thinka "brick and mortar" model rocketry museum wil ever exist due to the costs and expenses involved. Thats why I have suggested to various model rocketeer people that perhaps we should look into a "virtual" museum that resides on the web.

oh by the way, anybody noticed this:

http://www.amazon.com/Launch-Magazines-History-Rockets-Model/dp/160239105X/ref=sr_1_2/103-7663895-9898206?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194283631&sr=1-2

terry dean
nar 16158

A 'virtual' museum might be a far more viable option for us.

I e-mailed Mark Bundick (NAR Pres) a few weeks ago about the NAR setting up a 'Historical Committee' to preserve information about the hobby and the NAR. A virtual museum linked to the NAR website would work.

As for the LAUNCH 'book', Mark Mayfield told me they're running late with it.

Bob