Mississippi science museum displays moonshot command module

The 9-hour mission showed the rocket’s third stage would restart and that the command module’s heat shield would withstand re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere. (pixabay photo)

BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss.— An early artifact of America’s moonshot program is now on display in Mississippi.

Infinity Science Center is displaying the command module from Apollo 4, an unmanned 1967 mission that successfully demonstrated the full Saturn V rocket and the capsule that would carry men to the moon.

The 9-hour mission showed the rocket’s third stage would restart and that the command module’s heat shield would withstand re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere.

The command module is on long-term loan from the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air & Space Museum. The display is part of a redesign of the museum’s space exhibits.

The Saturn V rocket was among those tested at neighbouring Stennis Space Center.

Spokeswoman Mary Douglas says the 8,000-pound (3,600-kilogram) module was stored for five years at Stennis out of public view.