Journey from Route 66 to outer space at the Stafford Air & Space Museum

The Stafford Air & Space Museum in Weatherford, OK is a treasure trove for aviation and space lovers…

You may expect priceless pieces of air and space history at places like the Smithsonian, Kennedy Space Center, or the National Museum of the Air Force, but there’s actually a hidden gem hiding on Route 66 in Weatherford, OK: the Stafford Air & Space Museum. (Photo gallery at end of article)

Over our years of traveling Route 66, we’d noticed the signs for the place many times, but we never quite had time to spot until this year, and wow. Just wow. We’ll never pass it by again, and now that we know what we’ve been missing, we want you to know about it too.

So what makes the Stafford Air & Space Museum so great?

The facilities

The first thing you’ll notice on a trip to the museum is how impressive the place is… This isn’t some tiny little makeshift museum- it’s a world-class facility with multiple well-designed areas. From the airplanes outside to the expansive displays inside, this isn’t the kind of place you breeze through in 15 minutes- it’s a place you can easily spend hours of your day. To give you an idea… the place boasts 63,000 square feet.

Yeah, it’s not some hodgepodge collection from someone’s attic. It’s a world-class air and space museum.

The aviation history

Divided into a few different areas, the museum has several airplanes ranging from Wright Brothers reproductions to an F-16 to a MiG. Along with the airplanes come several well-designed displays that’ll take you on a journey of aviation history.

The space exploration artifacts

For most of us, the real showstoppers of the museum revolve around space exploration. Never would you expect this many space-flown artifacts outside the big-name space destinations. Want to see a bunch of suits from NASA missions? Check. Want to see a space-flown Gemini capsule? Check. How about the Apollo 10 hatch door? Yep, got that too.

The glimpses into General Thomas P. Stafford’s life and career

If you’re a casual NASA fan, particularly of the Apollo missions, General Stafford’s name probably rings a bell as the commander of Apollo 10. In addition to paving the way for our moon landing, Stafford, John Young, and Gene Cernan actually set a speed record on their re-entry that stands today.

The museum, however, does a great job of telling his story which is filled with unbelievable achievements both before and after his historic Apollo 10 mission.

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Photo Gallery:

Whether you’re a lover of aviation, space exploration, or learning about incredibly brave Americans like General Stafford, this museum will leave you in awe.

Helpful handouts, informative displays, and engaging on-site staff & volunteers make the exhibits come to life, so expect to spend at least an hour as you get lost in space at this out-of-this-world Route 66 museum.

(Oh, by the way, there’s also in the process of getting a Stealth Fighter. I mean, come on, how cool is that?)

For more information, visit their website.

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Want to visit the Stafford Air & Space Museum? It's a stop on our Route 66 car caravans!

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