St. Louis Science Center

Located in St. Louis, location of the McDonnell plant which built the spacecraft for Project Mercury and Project Gemini, the St. Louis Science Center is able to display several Mercury- and Gemini-related artifacts.

Previously the home of Gemini 6, that spacecraft was moved to the Oklahoma History Center and was replaced with an unflown spacecraft, Gemini 3A.

I've visited the St. Louis Science Center three times.

On my first visit, in 2008, the SLSC was the second-to-last stop on a two-week trip hitting aerospace museums in Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, and Missouri. Less than a week before our arrival, while we were on the road, Mercury spacecraft #19, formerly displayed in Switzerland, was put on display. It was a nice surprise -- I only expected to find the Gemini spacecraft on display! Still in the process of being entirely unpacked, there were still shipping crates all around the area.

The entire area (including Gemini 3A) was taped off with a combination of CAUTION tape and "wet floor" barricades, but an inquiry at the information desk led me to meet the Associate Director of the James S. McDonnell Planetarium, who graciously granted me access to the area, allowing me to move crates, barricades, and the like.

By the time of my second visit, in 2012, S/C #19 had been placed into a proper glass display case. Unfortunately, it was still clad in its Plexiglas sheath, meaning that it was necessary to photograph through two shiny barriers. The museum also added a few smaller Mercury- and Gemini-themed exhibits.

Between 2012 and my third visit in 2018, the SLSC had renovated the exhibit. Unfortunately, this involved pushing both spacecraft into corners, limiting visitors two viewing only two sides. S/C #19's display now had only a glass half-wall on one side, allowing better photography. Some items had been taken off display, while a few other items were added.

As of now, I have not yet sorted through all of my pictures of the St. Louis Science Center, but some other page references this location. Thus, this is a "place holder" version right now, with only the pictures actually referenced. Come back some time later to see if I've finished up, or drop me an email to request me to prioritize the rest of these pictures.