Patricia Huffman Smith NASA Museum
The East Texas Weekend Preview — East Texas changed forever on the morning of February 1st, 2003.
During a scheduled landing operation, Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over the piney woods. Littering debris all around the region.
Aboard were 7 brave astronauts. Rick Husband, Willie McCool, David Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Michael Anderson, Laurel Clark, and Ilan Ramon. None of which survived.
Today, you can visit this East Texas museum that captures the entirety of the story and the event’s lasting impact.
The Patricia Huffman Smith NASA Museum is a non-profit organization that hosts a variety of exhibits. From a huge collection of debris from the wreckage to personal testimonies from the day of the tragedy, visitors can gain a full scope of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.
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Stroll through the STS-107 Crew Gallery. In this space you will discover personal items and family photos of each of the astronauts. Beside these displays are two additional pieces that highlight the search volunteers, Charles Krenek and Jules “Buzz” Mier, Jr., who passed away in a helicopter crash during the massive Columbia recovery effort.
Known as the “largest land-based search and recovery effort in human history”, guests can walk through a large collection of photographs that capture the air, ground and water search for pieces of the Columbia around East Texas.
While the museum primarily serves a memorial, there are tons of educational and fascinating space-themed exhibits to engage with. Get up close and personal with a real space suit, actual astronaut food and pieces of Reinforced Carbon-Carbon (RCC), the material used on the outside of the space shuttles.
This weekend, discover this pivotal event in NASA’s, and East Texas’, history.
The Patricia Huffman Smith NASA Museum can be found at: 375 Sabine St Unit B, Hemphill, TX 75948
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