Come visit our new Davidson Center for Space Exploration! The Davidson Center for Space Exploration at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center (USSRC) is officially open to the public! The most recent addition to the USSRC, the 68,200-square-foot Davidson Center now serves as the new front door for the USSRC museum complex, creating a total of more than 100,000 square feet of exhibit space within the USSRC complex. In addition to housing the Saturn V 500D/F moon rocket, a National Historic Landmark, the Davidson Center soon will include such Apollo artifacts as the Apollo 16 capsule with parachutes, capsule and lunar rover trainers, space suits, moon rock obtained during the Apollo 12 mission, a lunar tool set, lunar rover, and lunar lander. These artifacts will be moved from the main museum, and the entire museum plan, which includes a variety of exhibits, artifacts, and interactive kiosks, will be implemented over subsequent months, as funding permits. The facility also has a 360-seat auditorium and 3-D theater. Current films now showing at the Davidson Center Digital Theater are 3-D Sun and Mars 3-D. Please click here for show times. For more information on how you can make a donation toward new exhibits in the Davidson Center for Space Exploration, please click here. Moonbuggy Race at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center The Fourteenth Annual Great Moonbuggy Race, sponsored by Northrop Grumman, Boeing, and Teledyne Brown, will be held Friday, April 4, 2008, through Saturday, April 5, 2008, at the USSRC. Inspired by the original engineers at Marshall Space Flight Center whose creation of the lunar rover allowed for travel on the moon, the Great Moonbuggy Race is an annual NASA event hosted by the USSRC. In the Moonbuggy Race, students must create and test their own lunar rovers for the competition, facing many of the same challenges as the Apollo astronauts. Groups from participating high schools and colleges compete in teams of two (one boy and one girl) in a race for the fastest time across a simulated lunar surface. Please make plans now to join us for this exciting, hands-on engineering competition that showcases practical science, math, and technology education in action!

Alumni Spotlight Jarrad Bedwell describes himself as "a true space geek." Although he did not attend SPACE CAMP as a child, he currently serves as an intern here at the USSRC. A History/English major, it may seem unlikely that someone with so little experience in science, math, and technology would end up working around rocket engines and space flight simulators. But Jarrad explains this could not be further from the truth. "This is my dream job," says the Tennessee Technical University student, and as a USSRC employee, Jarrad enjoys working with Curator Irene Willhite in the Archives department and "playing with rockets every day." But the heart of Jarrad's story does not end here; it begins in the Davidson Center for Space Exploration with his new fiancée, Rachel. On Friday, February 22, 2008, after much encouragement from his fellow USSRC staffers and friends, Jarrad had a special request for the USSRC Security team: a special, after-hours tour of the Davidson Center. After obtaining permission, Jarrad planned to take his then girlfriend, Rachel, out for their belated Valentine's Day celebration. After a romantic dinner, Jarrad brought Rachel over to the Davidson Center for a private tour. Beginning at stage one of the Saturn V rocket, Jarrad took Rachel through man's journey into the heavens. From the early beginnings of the Mercury Redstone, to Buzz and Neil's magnificent alighting onto the lunar surface, Jarrad and Rachel finally landed on the moon. As Rachel gazed around at each of the 16 lunar landing sites, Jarrad dropped to one knee: "Twelve men stepped on the moon," he began, "but the real question is will you make history with me?" Rachel said yes, and the couple is looking to wed in the fall of 2009. For Jarrad, not only has the USSRC given him the opportunity to have the job of his dreams, but also it has born witness to the launching of his new life with Rachel. If you have a SPACE CAMP alumnus you would like to spotlight in a future newsletter, please e-mail holleyg@spacecamp.com.

1-800-63 SPACE · www.spacecamp.com/alumni
U.S. Space & Rocket Center, One Tranquility Base, Huntsville, AL 35805