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Is it possible to visit some of the famous American capsules in any museum?

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    $\begingroup$ I won't complain if you close it but "Anything historical of the non-general reference variety relating to space." is somewhere on Area51. So this question is about history of space exploration so I think is, even if weakly, on topic. I'm just asking where I can touch space exploration with hands. $\endgroup$
    – user55
    Jul 17, 2013 at 18:52
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    $\begingroup$ I disagree with closing this. It's asking a question on previous space exploration. $\endgroup$
    – John Riselvato
    Jul 17, 2013 at 20:09
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    $\begingroup$ I agree - keep it open. Learning from the past is vital. People tend for forget what happened. So visiting the old junk can certainly be an enlightenment for future developments! $\endgroup$
    – s-m-e
    Jul 17, 2013 at 20:34
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    $\begingroup$ My concern is that the locations of these capsules could possibly change, and then the answers would be obsolete (why shopping questions are usually off-topic on SE sites), but I guess that is unlikely to happen anytime soon. (voting to re-open) $\endgroup$
    – user40
    Jul 17, 2013 at 21:18
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    $\begingroup$ @dd3 isn't that all of science? ;) $\endgroup$
    – John Riselvato
    Jul 17, 2013 at 22:57

5 Answers 5

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Yes, visiting some of the famous (American) capsules is possible. Larger accumulations of capsules, excluding mock-ups and never-flown equipment, can be found at the following places in the US.

National Air and Space Museum (Smithsonian Institution), Washington, DC:

  • Mercury-Redstone-3 [suborbital], "Freedom 7" (Shepard)
  • Mercury-Atlas-6, "Friendship 7" (Glenn)
  • Gemini 4, (McDivitt, White)
  • Gemini 7, (Borman, Lovell)
  • Apollo 11, "Columbia" (Armstrong, Aldrin, Collins)
  • Skylab 4, (Carr, Gibson, Pogue)
  • [Russian] Soyuz TM-10 (Manakov, Strekalov)

Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center, Hutchinson, KS:

  • Mercury-Redstone-4 [suborbital], "Liberty Bell 7" (Grissom)
  • Mercury-Atlas-1, Capsule #4 (unmanned)
  • Apollo 13, "Odyssey" (Lovell, Swigert, Haise)

Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, IL:

  • Mercury-Atlas-7, "Aurora 7" (Carpenter)
  • Apollo 8 (Borman, Lovell, Anders)

Astronaut Hall of Fame, Titusville, FL:

  • Mercury-Atlas-8 "Sigma 7" (Schirra)
  • Apollo 14, "Kitty Hawk" (Shepard, Roosa, Mitchell)

Space Center Houston (NASA Johnson Space Center's Visitor Center), Houston, TX:

  • Mercury-Atlas-9, "Faith 7" (Cooper)
  • Gemini 5 (Cooper, Conrad)
  • Apollo 17, "America" (Cernan, Evans, Schmitt)

California Science Center, Los Angeles, CA:

  • Mercury-Redstone-2 [suborbital] (chimpanzee "Ham")
  • Gemini 11 (Conrad, Gordon)
  • Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, "ASTP" (Stafford, Brand, Slayton)

A full list ordered by missions can be found here: http://www.live555.com/misc/CapsuleLocations.html

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  • $\begingroup$ Mercury 1 and 3, Apollo 8, 11 and 17, Gemini 6 and 7 set milestones. So they could be candidates. $\endgroup$
    – user55
    Jul 17, 2013 at 6:51
  • $\begingroup$ The link is somewhat out of date. In addition to what you have listed, the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center now holds Gemini 10, as well as a flown Vostok and one of two Apollo "white rooms." $\endgroup$
    – Tristan
    Sep 3, 2013 at 13:45
  • $\begingroup$ MA-2 is in the Houston Museum of Natural Science, but it's hard to see. eclectichouston.com/i/ma-2.jpg $\endgroup$
    – Organic Marble
    Aug 5, 2019 at 18:19
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The Apollo 10 Command Module is on display at the Science Museum in London.

enter image description here

(pic from beenthere-donethat.org.uk)

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All of the Apollo Command Modules are on display as follows:

Apollo 6 - Fernbank Science Center, Atlanta, Georgia
Apollo 7 - Frontiers of Flight Museum, Dallas, Texas
Apollo 8 - Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, Illinois
Apollo 9 - San Diego Air and Space Museum, San Diego, California
Apollo 10 - Science Museum, London, England
Apollo 11 - The National Air and Space Museum, Washington, D.C.
Apollo 12 - Virginia Air and Space Center, Hampton, Virginia
Apollo 13 - Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center, Hutchinson, Kansas
Apollo 14 - Visitor's Center, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
Apollo 15 - USAF Museum, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio
Apollo 16 - U.S. Space and Rocket Center, Huntsville, Alabama
Apollo 17 - NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas

(Thanks to NASA's list of Apollo locations.)

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  • $\begingroup$ What happened to the ASTP capsule[s]? $\endgroup$
    – amI
    Oct 15, 2018 at 6:51
  • $\begingroup$ As per the link provided, the ASTP is in the California Science Center, Los Angeles, California. $\endgroup$
    – Richard S
    Feb 5, 2019 at 22:23
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The rest of the current American crewed capsules.

Mercury Capsules

  • MR-3 Freedom 7 | JFK Library, Boston, MA

  • MR-4 Liberty Bell 7 | Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center Hutchinson, Kansas

  • MA-6 Friendship 7 | National Air and Space Museum Washington D.C.

  • MA-7 Aurora 7 | Museum of Science and Industry Chicago, Illinois

  • MA-8 Sigma 7 | Kennedy Space Center Titusville, Florida

  • MA-9 Faith 7 | Space Center Houston Houston, Texas

Gemini Capsules

  • Gemini 3 / Molly Brown | Grissom Memorial Museum Mitchell, Indiana

  • Gemini 4 | National Air and Space Museum Washington D.C.

  • Gemini 5 | Space Center Houston Houston, Texas

  • Gemini 7 | Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center Chantilly, Virginia

  • Gemini 6A | Stafford Air & Space Museum Weatherford, Oklahoma

  • Gemini 8 | Armstrong Air and Space Museum Wapakoneta, Ohio

  • Gemini 9A | Kennedy Space Center Titusville, Florida

  • Gemini 10 | Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center Hutchinson, Kansas

  • Gemini 11 | California Museum of Science and Industry Los Angeles, California

  • Gemini 12 | Adler Planetarium Chicago, Illinois

Skylab Command Modules

  • Skylab 2 / Crew 1 | Naval Aviation Museum Pensacola, Florida

  • Skylab 3 / Crew 2 | Great Lakes Science Center Cleveland, Ohio

  • Skylab 4 / Crew 3 | National Air and Space Museum Washington D.C.

Space Shuttle Orbiters

  • Enterprise | Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum New York City, New York

  • Discovery | Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center Chantilly, Virginia

  • Atlantis | Kennedy Space Center Titusville, Florida

  • Endeavour | California Museum of Science and Industry Los Angeles, California

from: https://spacequest.wordpress.com/capsule-recap/ with links to photos of the capsules in their locations

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    $\begingroup$ MR-2 with the passenger Ham the chimpanzee is on display in the California Museum of Science and Industry Los Angeles, California. Ham did an important job for man rating the Mercury capsule. $\endgroup$
    – Uwe
    Aug 6, 2019 at 23:17
  • $\begingroup$ The question did not ask for manned capsules only, so you may add the unmanned too, for instance the first primate on orbit with a Mercury capsule before Glenn. $\endgroup$
    – Uwe
    Aug 7, 2019 at 6:43
  • $\begingroup$ Here is a list of the flown uncrewed capsules: $\endgroup$
    – Chris Griffith
    Aug 7, 2019 at 22:11
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Here is a list of the flown uncrewed capsules:

Mercury Capsules

  • MR-1/MR-1A | NASA Ames Exploration Center, Mountain View, California
  • MR-2 | California Museum of Science and Industry, Los Angeles, California
  • MA-2 | Houston Museum of Natural Science, Houston, Texas
  • MA-5 | North Carolina Museum of Life and Science, Durham, North Carolina
  • BJ-1 | Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, Chantilly, Virginia
  • LJ-2 | Air Power Park, Hampton, Virginia

Gemini Capsules

  • Gemini 2 | Air Force Space & Missile Museum, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida

Apollo Command Modules

  • LJ II A-004 | Cradle of Aviation Museum, Garden City, New York
  • 007A | Museum of Flight, Seattle, Washington
  • 010/BP-27 | US Space & Rocket Center, Huntsville, Alabama
  • AS-201 | Strategic Air and Space Museum, Ashland, Nebraska
  • CM-011A/AS-202 | USS Hornet Museum, Alameda, California
  • Apollo 4 | NFINITY Science Center, Pearlington, Mississippi
  • Apollo 6 | Fernbank Science Center, Atlanta, Georgia seen

Orion

  • EFT-1 | Kennedy Space Center, Titusville, Florida

from: https://spacequest.wordpress.com/capsule-recap/ with links to photos of the capsules in their locations

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