U.S. Space & Rocket Center

The U.S. Space & Rocket Center is an excellent destination for the space-loving kid!

The U.S. Space & Rocket Center is a unique experience for kids of all ages. The center has rides, rockets, robots, a restaurant, virtual reality, Guinness world record stations, and much more. Both adults and kids will have fun here.  They host space camps during the summer, which kids love. They fill up fast, however, so be sure to book early! You enter through the main ticket hall, where in addition to paying an entrance fee, you can purchase tickets for a variety of extra activities, including a planetarium show, virtual rocket ride, and more. We spent about half of our four-hour visit in this hall, enjoying the hands-on games in the “featured exhibition area,” the Spark Lab- where we wrote letters to our future selves that will be delivered after traveling to space, riding the hyper ship (this was a paid-for activity, but worth it), and walking through the crew gallery. The Mars Grill is in this area and has classic concession-type foods, such as hot dogs, chicken nuggets, etc.  There is indoor seating as well as picnic tables outside.

Outside this hall, there are large rockets and shuttles on display. We visited on a winter day, so none of the paid activities were open, but the kids enjoyed walking around the rockets and playing on the playground. 

Our final stop was the Saturn Hall, which we quickly realized was the coolest area of the center. The Saturn Hall is the newest and is home to the most displays more activities; a kids' play area, a theater, and the Saturn V Space shuttle. They have the only Saturn-V rocket in the world on display, which is something your kids won't soon forget! I would recommend allocating more time in this area. The kids especially loved playing in the kid's room, but older kids would be interested in all the displays.

They host space camps during the summer, which kids love. They fill up fast, however, so be sure to book early! Each day the center has different activities, so be sure to check their website and calendar to see if there is anything fun happening during your visit. They have specials with admissions on certain days as well as yearly memberships. Their website has tickets for all the shows and extras they offer, definitely check it out and pre-purchase your tickets ahead of time! 

Additional notes: As of February 2022, masks are required for all visitors over 3. This is subject to change. We brought a stroller, and it was straightforward to navigate as there were many ramps throughout.