Cape Canaveral has long been the gateway to space in the United States. It's the location of the early human space flights and it continues to be the most active spaceport in the world. What's been done to preserve the space history at the site? Well, we're about to find out. Welcome to T-minus Deep Space from N2K Networks. I'm Maria Varmazis. James Draper is the director of the Cape Canaveral Space Force Museum. He walks us through how he became a space nerd when he joined the museum and learned about the incredible history on the Space Coast. My name is Jamie Draper and I am honored to serve as the director of the Cape Canaveral Space Force Museum. It is a unique entity that's been around for a lot longer than people would think. One of the big questions is, why is there a Space Force Museum when Space Force is only five years old? Right, yep. Well, our space military operations are over 75 years old. So just to give you a little background about myself, I'm a 25-plus year museum professional with a master's in historical administration. No aerospace background before I took this job about five years ago. So I'm still a student, still a novice, still learning it all. So it's super exciting. We're in this new space age and I just can't get enough of it. So I worked presidential museums with National Archives before I accepted this position. And fun thing about this is I accepted this position as a director of an Air Force Space Museum. And that was August of 2019, I believe. Oh, that timing is auspicious. There you go. So a few months later, Space Force is created and they said, "You're reassigned to Space Force, not even on my radar." I'm like, "What is going on?" So I'm Space Force Museum director now. And it's been a wild roller coaster ever since. Really exciting. All kinds of big developments. Space is huge. Space is hot. And space is hard, which is something our CSO has pushed out several times. And the museum side of space is difficult as well because I'll go over some of the challenges as we talk. Sure. Let me give you a little bit of a background on the museum itself. Okay, I was going to ask you first before you get into that. Were you a space nerd before you took this job? Sorry, as a space nerd, I'm asking, like you are now obviously, but were you before you took this job? Honestly, not really. Okay, cool. As a kid, I had the Space Shuttle toys. We watched some Space Shuttle missions. I remember in the '80s coming down to Florida from Michigan, where I was from, and watching a shuttle launch. Oh, you lucky dog. I'm sorry. I was like, "Fellow '80s kid, I am so jelly." That was cool. I could picture it today. The big plume of smoke from those solid rockets. So you've got some proper space credentials from childhood. I'm just saying, because I didn't do any of that. But it wasn't, you know, my education, my training, it was all material culture, preservation, interpretation, museum development, all of this stuff. Space wasn't even in that equation, but I'm a history geek to the core, and there's exceptional history around our space programs. Oh, I would imagine. And I really want to visit your museum. So I'm just like, "This is partly me just going like, 'I really want to go.' Okay, so now tell me a bit about the museum as someone who has never been genuinely and really wants to go. Tell me what I'm missing." All right. Well, we opened in 1966. We've been around for a while. So it opened as Air Force Space Museum, and it's evolved over time into the Air Force Space Missile Museum. And then a few years ago, we upgraded the name or transitioned the name to keep up with the times and the installation to the Cape Canaveral Space Force Museum. But it's a very unique entity. It started at Launch Complex 26, which is where America entered the space age. And it grew into this big rocket garden with 50 rockets and missiles on display, was one of Florida's largest attractions. We're talking a million and a half visitors a year. Really? It was huge at the time. Before that Mickey guy. Yeah. Well, yeah. And before Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, which at that time was three rockets and two trailers, and they've grown into this amazing attraction. Right. And we've become a little more sequestered into this hidden gem on the Space Coast. Let's change that. We're going to change that. We're going to change that. We're working on that. We're trying to get a little less hidden. Yeah. And we're going to change that. Right now we are about 30 facilities on the Cape. And it's surprising. Everybody's shocked. Like, how do you exist? And we don't know about it. Yeah. I am literally my question in my head. It's mainly because the NASA side had all of these great astronaut missions. Yeah. They started on the Cape side, but transitioned to Kennedy Space Center. They marketed, they advertised, and they had to because they struggle for every appropriated dollar. Right. Yep. We are Department of Defense, DOD. A lot of the things that were going on on the Cape were what we call secret squirrel things, you know? Can't talk about it. Yeah. Little hush hush. They weren't advertising all of these missile testings that they were doing. And it all started as a missile test facility and morphed into the world's premier gateway to space over time. Oh. We've got all of these facilities on an active military spaceport. It's maddening from a museum side because as a museum professional, my goal is to share this history with everyone and anyone. But we've got these security perimeters with one exception of a facility that we have outside the gates. And that's the Sands Space History Center. So that's the one people can go to six days a week, free admission history on all 30 historic launch complexes. We host a ton of programming there, special events. And then as far as accessing the rest of the sites right now, it's commercial tours through Canaveral tours. And there's another tour operator that's going to start soon. Our mission through our nonprofit foundation and other partners is to get our own tour program going up and running to bring people out to these sites. So it's a very complicated museum operation. I was going to say. But it's so cool. I was going to say, from what I understand, OK, you said there's 30 locations. So my understanding is very nebulous. So forgive me. But you all are located right next to a launch pad, right there at one point. At least one building that's right there. OK, that's sort of what I've been told. Some of them are launch pads, some of the facilities. So 30 historic launch complexes on the Cape, a lot of them are abandoned in place as programs ended and other programs surfaced elsewhere. So we actually occupy several abandoned launch complexes. One facility is Hangar Sea, which is a missile assembly building from 1953. We've got 30 rockets and missiles in there. So when I say 30 facilities, there's probably four or five that are that include interpretation, exhibits, displays, static elements. And then the rest are more storage or more just what we call windshield touring. If you have Cape access, you can go out there and try to. Drive out. You see the history. It's our built environment. The structures are artifacts themselves. So it's very unique. Oh, my goodness. Yeah, I was going to say it doesn't sound and I mean this as a nice thing. It doesn't sound like quite any museum I've heard of, which is awesome, frankly, because given the history that you all are covering, it shouldn't be. It should be unique in that way. So usually for many museums, there's like the crown jewels. Yes. What are yours? That's tricky because we have your favorite kid, right? Yeah, I know every museum person gets that question. What's your favorite artifact? And for me, that changes depending on the type of research or programming we're working on. So one one day it's our snark missile. What you got to love the name snark snark missile. Okay, well, it's legit. It's a snark. It's it's our first intercontinental cruise missile. That's beautiful. It's a beautiful rocket. Oh, it's not a rocket. It's jet powered. But the name is marvelous. And it's got a little whimsy behind it. Jack Northrop back in the day grew up on Lewis Carroll stories. Think that was wonderland. Well, one of those was a nonsense poem called the hunting of the snark. And so the snark was a name he extracted from his childhood and assigned to this nuclear tipped cruise missile. There's some dark humor there that you got to kind of love. All right, I'll give you that one. That's pretty great. So that's one of my favorites. Some of my favorites are the facilities themselves like launch complex five six is on our museum grounds. So you've got a blockhouse and two launch pads. And this dates back to the 50s. And from that site, Alan Shepard launched into space in May 1961, our very first astronaut in the space. You can go there and stand on the very spot where you went where we launched our first astronaut. Yeah. So what sets us apart from a lot of space museums out there is that in C2 history, you can go to space museums all over the world, see amazing hardware, amazing personal effects, space suits, capsules. But we offer the only experience where you could stand on the spot, walk in the footsteps of Dr. Werner von Braun of astronaut John Glenn and just get inspired on this amazing space history. It all started out. We'll be right back. For someone who's not a space person and is going, well, we're going to be in Orlando, the area. Why should they come visit your museum? Well, it's museums contend with this all the time because, you know, working presidential history for the longest time, you would have that one family member, the reluctant one who was well, no, you had the one that was a super fan of presidential people. Oh, yeah. Presidential history. Yeah. Tragging the rest of the family to the site. Like, let's go to the, you know, the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum. And there's like, uh, thanks, dad. I mean, I mean, not a stereotype, but yeah, yeah, yeah. Sometimes it's just some little prodigy kid. Yeah. But, um, but with space, I think anyone could really get into it. Like I said, I wasn't really a space geek before I started, but I'm full bore now. Because when you're talking about the Cape in specific, this is the launch site. This is the world's premier gateway to space. So typically you're talking about a tube of metal filled with fuel, riding a tailifier into the heavens. I mean, you gotta appreciate the sheer awesomeness of that, even if you're not a fan. So when you come to like the Sand Space History Center, you see rocket engines. You see the capsules, the launch councils. These are the tangible visceral connections to our space past. It's much more exciting, not to denigrate educational institutions, but much more exciting than the classroom. Where are you sitting there sifting through this generic textbook? And it's all dependent on the level of passion from your teacher. And if you, if you look out, you get that great teacher, you get inspired, motivated. But if you get a teacher who doesn't really care about it, then if you get some lump, then you're like, oh, nuts to this. We've all been through that. But museums offer that unique aspect where you connect with this three-dimensional object that was, you know, somebody's space element or, or, or trying to think of the periscope from the dome shaped houses that they watched the rocket on the pad through. I mean, there's so many cool pieces out there. That's really neat. So you don't have to be a super fan. You'll get into it nonetheless. I was going to say, I'm about ready to like leap out of my chair and go right now. Although you didn't have to convince me I already wanted to go, but I'm like, no, I really want to go. So yes, I will see you later. Nice. So I want to ask, you all got a big funding infusion from incoming NASA administrator, Jared Isaman. Yes. Yeah. Tell me about that. That's pretty exciting. Sure. Our museum is technically a federal museum, a part of space launch Delta 45 and US Space Force, a part of the Air Force Heritage Program. So that's the federal side. And technically I'm a federal employee with all of that. But we have this not private nonprofit foundation and a lot of federal museums have this, this nonprofit side. And for us, it's the US Space Force Historical Foundation. And they've been supporting us. They also went through name change and recent. Okay. Because they've been around since 1989. So they've actively fundraised to support our exhibit projects, artifact preservation programs. So they were the ones who connected with Jared Isaacman. And Jared Isaacman has been through our facilities. I've taken them through Hangar Sea before they launched on inspiration. I was going to say, I bet you, yeah. Wow, that's cool. That is cool. And his crew through and then spending time with him later before Polaris Dawn. He loved our operation. He loved the history. He's passionate about it. The foundation, you know, really made that connection. And he decided to offer this donation. That's wonderful. And it's dedicated funds toward museum specific projects, specifically exhibits and artifacts, acquisitions and restorations. So right now we have some projects planned, some in the works and some on the horizon that are going to be super fun. I was going to say, can you tell, I don't know if you can. I can hint that some of it will be upgrades to the History Center. I mentioned the Sand Space History Center to make it, make the, improve the visitor experience and interpretation. And we have some fun exhibit elements, one focused on women aerospace pioneers, which there's a ton of them in the whole narrative of Cape Canaveral. Of course. And bioflights, nobody knows about bioflights. Those are the monkey knots and astrochamps. Oh, like Ham. Like Ham. Ham. I know about Ham because of the New Mexico Museum of Space History. Oh, excellent. Yes. I've been to and I learned about Ham there. Yes. I went to Ham's grave site and felt very sad. There's all kinds of people that do a pilgrimage to Miss Baker's grave site at Huntsville and Ham's out there. So they were our brave primate cousins that paid the way for our human astronauts. And so we're looking at some of those exhibit elements, but we also have some exciting artifact restorations in mind. So remember that rocket garden I mentioned? Yes. There's remnants of it just kind of festering in the Florida environment outside. A tough environment for a metal tool. The worst preservation environment in the world. So we have three pieces out there specifically that we will meticulously restore with those funds and move them inside Hanger Sea to help preserve them for future generations. That's wonderful to hear. So, yeah, we're doing a lot with that money. We're going to stretch every penny of that donation to maximum use. That's wonderful. I look forward to hearing and seeing what happens in the future with that. That's great. So I would be remiss if I didn't address the armadillo in the room that has been here this whole time. Oh, yes. Rupert. Okay, Rupert. You're a special friend. Yes. Please tell me why there is a stuffed armadillo on the armadillo. So fun. So Rupert, Rupert the space armadillo. I wish there was a more exciting story, but it's actually one of our great volunteers. Now I have to mention we have 100 museum volunteers and a waiting list of 20 or 30 in the queue of applicants. That's great. Because everybody wants to be a part of this amazing history. Well, when I first started about five and a half years ago, one of those volunteers gave me this stuffed armadillo. And my team and I sitting around on lunch break were wondering, you know, what's his name? We should name this guy. He should have a story. And so we came up with Rupert. Of course. Rupert the space armadillo. Yeah, that sounds good. I know it. And Rupert was born. Now he has a whole biography on our website. His adventures, hashtag follow Rupert are all over our social media channels. He's all over the Cape. He's a space aficionado himself. The goal is to get Rupert into space, make him a true space armadillo as a zero. You're going to see him on one of these crew missions, just floating around the astronauts. You know, Mr. Isaac, man, just put in a word. We'll get him up there. We'll get him up there eventually. Now why an armadillo? Well, if you go out to the Cape, especially this time of year, there's armadillos everywhere. I did not know that. They're nine banded armadillos native to Texas. But I'll tell you the backstory. Back in the 20s or 30s, there was a small mom and pop traveling zoo in the Space Coast area. Of course. Before it was the Space Coast. Oh, OK. And, you know, great depression hit. They went belly up and they released certain animals just out in the wild, including some armadillos. I think those armadillos were very good at reproducing because they are all over the eastern coast of Florida right now. That's wild. They're not wild, though. I mean, they are wild. What am I saying? They're an invasive species. They're mostly blind and deaf. You could walk pretty much right up to them. It's absolutely bizarre. But they're so cool. And I like to picture Rupert and his kin as, you know, working the pads. They're the launch crews. They're armored, you know, protected from the blasts of the rockets. Anyway, that's so sweet. I'm picturing a children's coloring book or something. I was going to say, if you don't know a children's illustrator, I know a bunch who would love to work on that because we love animals. Because this whole time we've had this interview and it's like Rupert's just been sitting here quietly. He's well behaved. I bet. And, you know, pushing him out there into the public, my goal was to bring youth and family groups into the museum fold. You know, something quirky and fun like Rupert. But I'll tell you, the military folks love Rupert. A lot of the uniformed guardians are like, hey, Mr. Draper, where's Rupert? I was like, nice to see you too. But yeah, he's right here. Not chopped liver, just secondary to an armadillo. He's got a growing fan base and, you know, who would have thought? I look back at the beginnings of my career. I never would have envisioned a rocket garden, a space armadillo, all this amazing space history. But hey, life throws you some really cool curveballs. That's it for T-Minus Deep Space, brought to you by N2K Cyberwire. We'd love to know what you think of this podcast. You can email us at space@n2k.com or submit the survey and the show notes. Your feedback ensures we deliver the information that keeps you a step ahead in the rapidly changing space industry. N2K's senior producer is Alice Carruth. Our producer is Liz Stokes. We're mixed by Elliott Peltzman and Tre Hester with original music by Elliott Peltzman. Our executive producer is Jennifer Eiben. Peter Kilpe is our publisher, and I am your host, Maria Varmazis. Thanks for listening. We'll see you next time. [Music] [Music]
