Background
The AIAA Historic Aerospace Sites program recognizes geographical locations, with or without buildings or facilities, associated with significant aerospace achievements, programs or individuals. The purpose of the program is to inform AIAA members and the public of the significance of the site through a dedication ceremony, a physical brochure, online documentation, and a standardized bronze plaque.
To be considered for selection, a site should meet one or more of the following criteria:
- Demonstrate significance in its national and/or local aerospace-related history, architecture, engineering, or culture
- Be associated with events that contributed to the broad patterns of aerospace history
- Are associated with the lives of persons who have contributed to the development of aerospace
- Have yielded information important in aerospace history
Learn more by visiting the AIAA History Committee Website.
Stölln, Germany
Cincinnati, OH, USA
Hawthorne, CA, USA
Atlanta, GA, USA
Getafe, Spain
Bridgeport, CT, USA
Eglin AFB, FL, USA
Mountain View, California
Atlantic City, NJ, USA
Dunsfold, United Kingdom
This rocket propulsion test complex was created to flight- certify all first and second stages of the Apollo Saturn V rocket. The first test-firing occurred on April 23, 1966. Subsequent to the Apollo Program, these test stands were modified to support the testing requirements of the Space Shuttle Main Engine. Every astronaut who traveled to the moon aboard Saturn V Rockets and into space aboard the Space Shuttle, did so on rocket stages and engines that were first proven flight-worthy on these test stands.
From 1956 to 1993, employees of General Electric’s Re-Entry Systems at this site solved great challenges of national security, defense and manned space exploration; including technologies used for the successful re-entry of Earth’s atmosphere; the development of the first operational heat sink and ablative reentry vehicles; the first successful recovery of a man-made object from orbit from an intercontinental ballistic missile flight; the development of the first ablative planetary entry probes to Venus and Jupiter; and the creation of the first operational multiple independently targeted re-entry system.
The Cincinnati Observatory, “The Birthplace of American Astronomy,” is the oldest professional observatory in the United States. Ormsby MacKnight Mitchel, the “Father of American Astronomy,” founded the observatory in 1842. John Quincy Adams laid the cornerstone for the observatory on Mt. Ida, later renamed Mt. Adams. The original Merz und Mahler 11-inch refractor telescope was put into service in 1845 and is still in use here today on Mount Lookout. The 1873 Herget Building, which incorporates the original Adams’ cornerstone, was designed by famed architect Samuel Hannaford.
Woomera, Australia