History
The museum was originally created as the International Space Hall of Fame. In 1973 former Alamogordo mayor Dwight Ohlinger was inspired by the Baseball Hall of Fame to propose a Space Hall of Fame, and further to propose that it be built at Alamogordo because so much of the developmental work for the space program had been done in the Tularosa Basin. Ohlinger rallied support among elected officials at local, state, and national levels, and New Mexico Governor Bruce King adopted the idea into the Office of Cultural Affairs. The early plans called for displays of space-related artifacts and the inclusion of a planetarium.
Charles E. Nolan and Associates were hired as the architects. The main building was designed and constructed as a "golden cube" (a cube with a gold-tinted glass exterior) and dedicated on October 5, 1976, opening to the public on November 23, 1976. At the dedication ceremony the initial fifteen Hall of Fame members were inducted.
The planetarium was constructed in combination with an IMAX theater and opened in 1981. The combined facility was named after Clyde W. Tombaugh, New Mexico resident and discoverer of Pluto.
In 1987 the name of the facility was changed to Space Center, reflecting the growing role of the exhibits. In 2001 the name changed again to its present name of New Mexico Museum of Space History.
Read more about this topic: New Mexico Museum Of Space History
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