Rocketman

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DSCF2600FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/4, 1/60 sec, ISO320)

Beside the White Sands National Monument there is a second thing to see in Alamogordo, NM. It’s the NM Museum of Space History.

The museum is housed in a modern building on a hill. It’s rather small but it is cool inside and there is a lot to see. Because I liked the building and the rooms as much as what is there on display I kept the 14mm lens on the camera all the time.

DSCF2585FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/8, 1/210 sec, ISO200)
 DSCF2593FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/4, 1/60 sec, ISO2000)
 DSCF2601FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/4, 1/60 sec, ISO250)

I don’t know why practicably every boy wants to become an astronaut. Look at the size of the rockets in the second picture above. Pretty small if you ask me. Not a real option for somebody like me you already gets nervous in a fully packed hotel elevator in Asia.

A small capsule sitting on top of a gigantic fuel tank that blasts you into the orbit. If anything goes wrong you are dead. Just think of how many things can go wrong and sometimes go wrong in your daily life. Instead of sitting in a rocket you might as well roll down a steep road in a shopping trolley in heavy traffic and hope for the best. The only difference is that you don’t get famous if you do that. But then how many astronauts can you name beside Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin?

DSCF2617FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/4, 1/60 sec, ISO500)
 DSCF2618FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/4, 1/60 sec, ISO320)

The building is modern from the outside but offers some nice, old fashion scenes. I love the two chairs and the table in the image above. Nothing fits together. The two different chairs (one with tennis balls on every chair leg to protect the floor) and the table with its strange patterned tablecloth create a strong contrast to the modern aluminum frame windows and the dark wall paint. I like that the reflection of the square ceiling lights look like quadratic clouds in that amazing blue New Mexico skye.

I also loved the guide sign to the gents (second image below). Makes you feel like a fighter pilot.

DSCF2624FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/5.6, 1/60 sec, ISO800)
 DSCF2632FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/3.6, 1/60 sec, ISO200)

Although it is a nice museum we didn’t spend much time in it for one simple reason: You don’t go to a museum if the sky is blue and cloudless. Maybe that’s the reason why we visited only a couple of museums in the South West of the USA. The weather is just too good to be inside. At least for us. We need to get as much sun as we can to be prepared for the dark and foggy winter days back home.

PS: The museum is nice but not a reason to visit Alamogordo. The real reason to come here is the fantastic White Sands National Monument that I have covered here already with three blogposts.

DSCF2638FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/8, 1/300 sec, ISO200)