Stafford Air & Space Museum

What is Stafford Air & Space Museum?

The museum sits on the grounds of Weatherford's Thomas P. Stafford Airport, and its collection mixes spacecraft, rockets and airplanes. Highlights include the spacesuit Stafford wore on Apollo 10, the Gemini 6A capsule he flew, a Titan II missile, a Moon rock and a Mark 6 reentry vehicle.

Other exhibits cover the Mir space station, the Hubble Space Telescope and the Space Shuttle program, and more than 20 historic aircraft fill out the aviation side. For travelers who grew up watching Gemini and Apollo missions on television, seeing real flight hardware this close is the main draw.

History of Stafford Air & Space Museum

The museum traces its start to 1981 and is named for Weatherford's own astronaut, Thomas P. Stafford, who piloted Gemini 6A in 1965 and later wore the Apollo 10 suit now on display. In June 2010 it became a Smithsonian Affiliate, a partnership with the national museum network that links it to the Smithsonian Institution.

Visiting Stafford Air & Space Museum: tips

Allow one to two hours, and more for anyone who likes to read every label. The museum is listed as having restrooms, parking and wheelchair access, and it is a good fit for kids. It is less than a mile off the old road, an easy side trip from Weatherford.

Provine Service Station, known as Lucille's Place, is about 4.6 miles away and pairs well with the museum. The ghost town site of Indianapolis is about 11 miles away, and Rock Mary is about 15 miles away.