On Wednesday during Easter Week, our son Mark brought his wife and two boys to Huntsville for a 3-day visit. While here Mark, Jackson, and I visited the U.S. Space and Rocket Center. The picture above shows Mark and Jackson (red shirt) standing under the shuttle on display at the Center. Nancy and I spent the better part of the two weeks since then in Pennsylvania visiting her Mom who has been a little under the weather. We just returned this afternoon. That's why I didn't post a picture last week.

Originally unnamed, this shuttle simulator was built at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville in 1977 for use in activities such as checking roadway clearances, crane capabilities, and fits within various structures. It was later shipped by barge to the Kennedy Space Center and was used for ground crew testing in the Vehicle Assembly Building, the Orbiter Processing Facility, and the Shuttle Landing Facility.

After it sat in storage for several years, a Japanese organization funded the refurbishing of the steel mock-up and named it Pathfinder. It was displayed at the "Great Space Shuttle Exposition" in Tokyo from June 1983 to August 1984. Pathfinder has since been returned to the United States and is presently on display at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Pathfinder is approximately the same size, shape, and weight of an actual shuttle orbiter.