U.S. Space & Rocket Center

A full Saturn V moon rocket, one of only three remaining, stretches horizontally through the Davidson Center for Space Exploration, close enough to walk beneath its stages and engines. Outside, a full-scale vertical replica of the same rocket rises over Huntsville, Alabama, the city where the Saturn V was developed under Wernher von Braun, who championed the museum before it opened in 1970.

The center serves as the official visitor center for NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, and its collection follows American rocketry from early military missiles to crewed spaceflight. Rocket Park lines up Redstone, Jupiter and other launch vehicles. Pathfinder, a full-size Space Shuttle test article, stands stacked with an external tank and boosters. Indoor galleries hold capsules, engines and other spaceflight hardware.

The center is also the home of Space Camp, which has run on site since 1982. Drawing around a million visitors a year, it suits families and anyone interested in spaceflight. The scale of the outdoor and indoor displays makes it worth allowing most of a day.