Rocket at Alabama welcome center wins small victory for survival

The embattled rocket at the north Alabama welcome center scored what supporters considered a victory Friday when the board that oversees the U.S. Space & Rocket Center gave its backing to preserving the rocket.

The rocket center has been charged by NASA to take down the rocket but its board, the Alabama Space Science Exhibit Commission, tapped the brakes on that plan at its quarterly meeting.

The board voted without dissent to support a recommendation from board member Joe Fitzgerald that the rocket center “make every reasonable effort” to make sure the rocket at the under-renovation Interstate 65 welcome center just south of the Tennessee state line remains in place. NASA, which owns the rocket, and the rocket center – which has custody of the rocket on loan from NASA – have said the deteriorating rocket needs to be taken down because the cost for repairs is prohibitive and it poses a safety hazard.

During the board meeting, Fitzgerald gave a passionate defense of the rocket.

“I stand before you today to ask you to save the Saturn 1B (rocket) and not to destroy it,” Fitzgerald told his fellow board members. “Make no mistake – a vote to take this rocket down is a vote to destroy it. That would be a horrible tragedy for our state.”

The vote further freezes action on the rocket, which NASA announced in January would be taken down. The issue will go back to a ASSEC committee for further consideration and Fitzgerald said he intended to present new information to support his position to save the rocket. The rocket center already was awaiting an opinion from the Alabama attorney general’s office on the legality of taking down the rocket, which could be protected under the 2017 Memorial Preservation Act.

The Saturn 1B rocket, which stands 168 feet tall with a diameter of 22 feet, has been in place at the welcome center since 1979. It is one of only two remaining in the world, according to the rocket center. A rocket center report from 2022 described the Saturn 1B as an “overlooked workhorse of the Apollo program.” Among its tasks was as the launch vehicle for the Skylab mission that, Fitzgerald noted, is celebrating its golden anniversary this year.

NASA said once the rocket is taken down, it will be disassembled.

“The USSRC will take the rocket down at the welcome center,” NASA said in February. “NASA will then deconstruct it into small pieces for safe removal from the site and the metal will be reutilized. It will not go to a landfill. The rocket is beyond repair and restoration. Efforts going forward will focus on future plans for the rest stop, which will be led by state leadership.”

No one spoke in favor of taking down the rocket at the meeting.

“Do we have all the facts?” Fitzgerald said of the status of the rocket or avenues for repairs. “Do we want more facts or more information? This is a big move, folks. We’re at the 50th anniversary of Skylab and we’re going to take now the principle vehicle that enabled that to happen during this year.”

Afterward, Fitzgerald said he considered it a victory for the rocket but many more need to follow. The committee to which the issue was referred last year agreed that the rocket should be taken down.

“As you notice, it was not on the (meeting) agenda,” Fitzgerald told AL.com. “Not discussed. I’m going to say this, this was a fait accompli. Move on, nothing here to be seen. And that’s the way it’s been. (Friday’s vote) is a rekindling. I’m saying there’s a spark. Not saying we’ve got a fire but there’s a spark. And there’s hope.”

While NASA, the rocket center and its board as well as the state legislature have been pondering the future of the rocket for more than a year, the issue jumped into the spotlight in January when state Tourism Director Lee Sentell told AL.com the rocket’s days were numbered.

“It’s time for it to go,” Sentell said at the time. “That was never intended to be anywhere that long.”

Days later, NASA said it would cost about $7 million to repair the rocket while questioning if the rocket could withstand refurbishment. The legislature last year allocated almost $1 million to the rocket center to help fund “rocket removal.”

Meanwhile, Daniel Ponsford, a Georgia-based conservator who has worked on projects at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington and across the country, said he believed restoration costs could be as low as $4 million. Ponsford also said he believed the rocket could be restored while standing at the now-closed welcome center.

Ponsford, who has offered to give a firm estimate for repairs at no charge if allowed to assess the rocket, attended Friday’s board meeting.

“The rocket really is in overall good condition,” Ponsford told AL.com last month.

NASA has disagreed.

“Since 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, the focus right now is getting the rocket down safely,” NASA said in a statement to AL.com in February.

Three months later, the rocket appeared to receive a reprieve.

“Now, at this particular moment, our objective was to bring as much knowledge and momentum to bear,” said Steven Thornton, CEO of Monte Sano Research and a leader of a Huntsville group seeking to save the rocket. “We’ve been given a chance.”