HUNTSVILLE, Ala., July 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, a United Technologies Corp. company, recently pledged $400,000 to help create an interactive exhibit at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center (USSRC). "The Force" will allow guests to experience virtual visits to NASA and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne to explore innovations and confront the challenges of creating engines of massive size and thrust.
"The Force" will be in the new 68,200-square-foot Davidson Center for Space Exploration facility, which houses Alabama's own Saturn V rocket vehicle. It will be one of many displays in the USSRC, which serves as the official visitor center for NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center.
"Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne has proudly been a part of the nation's space program since its inception, and many of our successes have been possible through our relationship with Huntsville and NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center," said Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne President Jim Maser. "We want to share these successes with this community, which has meant so much to us over these many years, and will continue to do so in the years ahead."
"There is much elation in our community and with our employees about this excellent educational and tourist setting in northern Alabama," said Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne Alabama Operations General Manager Rick Bachtel. "We are excited to be a partner in this venture."
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne tested many of the country's most powerful liquid rocket engines at Marshall and is currently supporting the development of new engines for the Constellation Program.
"We are delighted to help guests appreciate the crucial importance of propulsion and its impact on the Rocket City here in Huntsville," added Bachtel.
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, Inc., a part of Pratt & Whitney, is a preferred provider of high-value propulsion, power, energy and innovative system solutions used in a wide variety of government and commercial applications, including the main engines for the space shuttle, Atlas and Delta launch vehicles, missile defense systems and advanced hypersonic engines.
Pratt & Whitney is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines, space propulsion systems and industrial gas turbines. United Technologies, based in Hartford, Conn., is a diversified company providing high technology products and services to the global aerospace and building industries.
Bryan Kidder
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne
818 586-2213
