LAUNCH's January/February issue is shipping now.

NEW YORK CITY, New York USA — The latest issue of LAUNCH Magazine will be distributed to each of the guests attending the grand opening gala of the new Davidson Center for Space Exploration at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama on January 31.

Former CBS-TV anchor Walter Cronkite and astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Scott Carpenter will be among the many astronauts and VIPs on hand to celebrate the opening of the new center-which includes Huntsville's recently restored Saturn V rocket on display indoors.

In its January/February 2008 cover story, LAUNCH chronicles the Saturn V's restoration and previews the remarkable new Davidson Center. The article was co-authored by center officials Brenda Carr and Irene Willhite, along with Fred Ordway, a former member of Wernher Von Braun's rocket team.  As a result, center officials asked the magazine to provide issues for the hundreds expected at the invitation-only gala.

"We're thrilled to be a part of this," said Mark Mayfield, editor-in-chief of LAUNCH. "This is going to be an extraordinary gathering, with several surviving members of Von Braun's team joining some of the most famous astronauts in the history of America's space program. It'll be fun."

In addition to the Saturn V cover story, the new issue of LAUNCH includes major coverage of high-powered hobby rocketry; a look back at the launch of America's first satellite in 1958; a history of hybrid-motor rocketry; coverage of the X PRIZE Cup exhibition in New Mexico; an article on how to build Sirius Rocketry's outstanding Saturn V model; astronaut Walter Cunningham's latest Viewpoint column, and much more.

And coming next in the March/April issue: Writer Ben Bova's exclusive, hard-hitting look at the politics that shaped NASA during its first 50 years; along with an in-depth interview with former Estes Industries model rocket expert Bill Simon, now a yacht designer in Washington State.

LAUNCH can be found at most Barnes & Noble stores, many Borders stores, and by subscription at http://www.launchmagonline.com. LAUNCH is owned by MM Publishing Inc. in New York City. The company also publishes Ad Astra, the official Journal of the National Space Society, along with magazines for luxury hotels on the East and West coasts.

01-27-2008 02:39 PM  #1
Steve_Shannon Will fly beer for rockets   Joined: Aug 2006 Posts: 1653	Re: LAUNCH Magazine joins a grand celebration of spaceflight in Huntsville In the past, I felt that Launch was not oriented towards high power rocketry. This issues has caused me to change my mind. The article about the Saturn 5 at USSRC is excellent, but my favorite article was the one about the Launch Magazine sponsored rocket that launched at Balls. There were other articles in this issue that were absolutely excellent. I am simply amazed at the modeling skill shown in Mario Perdue's article, especially where he describes building the scale launch tower. I might not ever have the patience or skill to do that, but I sure love seeing others who do.

01-27-2008 03:25 PM  #2
Just Jerry Freeform rockets advocate   Joined: Aug 2006 Posts: 555	Re: LAUNCH Magazine joins a grand celebration of spaceflight in Huntsville Quote: In the past, I felt that Launch was not oriented towards high power rocketry. This issues has caused me to change my mind. The article about the Saturn 5 at USSRC is excellent, but my favorite article was the one about the Launch Magazine sponsored rocket that launched at Balls. There were other articles in this issue that were absolutely excellent. I am simply amazed at the modeling skill shown in Mario Perdue's article, especially where he describes building the scale launch tower. I might not ever have the patience or skill to do that, but I sure love seeing others who do. There is no magazine that addresses "general consumers". Just Jerry

01-27-2008 03:45 PM  #3
Steve_Shannon Will fly beer for rockets   Joined: Aug 2006 Posts: 1653	Re: LAUNCH Magazine joins a grand celebration of spaceflight in Huntsville Quote: There is no magazine that addresses "general consumers". Just Jerry I find Consumer Reports to be helpful.

01-29-2008 12:16 PM  #4
TRASEC New Member   Joined: Sep 2006 Posts: 8	Re: LAUNCH Magazine joins a grand celebration of spaceflight in Huntsville In my opinion, Launch magazine fills a unique role. It's a hobby rocketry-ish magazine with artilces and content on space and spaceflight and it's an Air & Space type magazine that has some aspect of hobby rocketry in every issue. From purely a hobby point of view, it showcases hobby rocketry to a wide subscription base - which is likely our core demographic. Bob Schoner

01-30-2008 12:44 AM  #5
agrippo Certified Level Three   Joined: Aug 2006 Posts: 71	Re: LAUNCH Magazine joins a grand celebration of spaceflight in Huntsville Mark Mayfield and his staff have the experience, professionalism and contacts to showcase hobby rocketry to more people then the rest of the hobby's magazine combined. Don't underestimate the impact Launch can have while it is being sold in Barnes and Noble. Plain and simiple, Mark Mayfield and company are one of the best things that ever happened to the hobby when it comes to potential growth. Andrew Grippo

01-30-2008 11:28 AM  #6
Jim Orner Low Power Flyer   Joined: Jan 2008 Posts: 7	Re: LAUNCH Magazine joins a grand celebration of spaceflight in Huntsville Quote: Mark Mayfield and his staff have the experience, professionalism and contacts to showcase hobby rocketry to more people then the rest of the hobby's magazine combined. Don't underestimate the impact Launch can have while it is being sold in Barnes and Noble. Plain and simiple, Mark Mayfield and company are one of the best things that ever happened to the hobby when it comes to potential growth. Andrew Grippo Hear, Hear! That's why I subscribed.

01-30-2008 11:36 AM  #7
Jim Orner Low Power Flyer   Joined: Jan 2008 Posts: 7	Re: LAUNCH Magazine joins a grand celebration of spaceflight in Huntsville I subscribed because it is an excellent magazine.

01-30-2008 12:01 PM  #8
Jim Orner Low Power Flyer   Joined: Jan 2008 Posts: 7	Re: LAUNCH Magazine joins a grand celebration of spaceflight in Huntsville In regards to the cover article, I visited USSRC in '85 and saw the Saturn V. I'm glad to see that they enclosed it indoors. I was afraid that it might rust away.

01-30-2008 12:27 PM  #9
Steve_Shannon Will fly beer for rockets   Joined: Aug 2006 Posts: 1653	Re: LAUNCH Magazine joins a grand celebration of spaceflight in Huntsville Quote: In regards to the cover article, I visited USSRC in '85 and saw the Saturn V. I'm glad to see that they enclosed it indoors. I was afraid that it might rust away. I agree, but I sure enjoyed walking right up to it and putting my hand on a wonderful piece of history. I hope people will still be able to get close.

01-30-2008 05:11 PM  #10
William Slaughter Certified Level Two   Joined: Sep 2007 Posts: 34	Re: Saturn V Come on down to Houston, our Saturn V is freshly refurbished, and you can get quite close indeed. I'll drive right past it on the way to our club launch this weekend!

01-30-2008 06:41 PM  #11
Dwatkins Certified Level One   Joined: Aug 2006 Posts: 22	Re: LAUNCH Magazine joins a grand celebration of spaceflight in Huntsville Quote: but my favorite article was the one about the Launch Magazine sponsored rocket that launched at Balls. As one who was involved in this project I am glad to read this. Launch Magazines suport of this project was greatly appreciated by us. On the Magazine, I was not sure I needed another rocketry magazine. Launch though covers ROCKETRY. As a child of the space age,watching the USA first get to space, then land on the moon, and on to the shuttle it is what brought me to the hobby. So it is a great magazine for people like me because it covers a little of it all. As far as how the magazine is put together, It is a first class publication.

02-02-2008 08:12 PM  #12
dwmzmm Certified Level Two   Joined: Aug 2006 Posts: 55	Re: Saturn V Quote: Come on down to Houston, our Saturn V is freshly refurbished, and you can get quite close indeed. I'll drive right past it on the way to our club launch this weekend! Hope you guys had fun at the launch, today, Bill. Sorry I wasn't able to make it. I pretty much drop in at Rocket Park to see the Saturn nearly every time I come to NHRC's JSC launches; can't seem to "get enough" of the Saturn....

02-13-2008 10:39 PM  #13
mperdue New Member   Joined: Mar 2007 Posts: 7	Re: LAUNCH Magazine joins a grand celebration of spaceflight in Huntsville Quote: I am simply amazed at the modeling skill shown in Mario Perdue's article, especially where he describes building the scale launch tower. I might not ever have the patience or skill to do that, but I sure love seeing others who do. Steve, Thanks for the complement. The launch tower was a very challenging project that I really enjoyed doing. I'm glad you liked it. Mario

02-15-2008 08:00 AM  #14
Johnnie Certified Level II   Joined: Aug 2006 Posts: 136	Re: LAUNCH Magazine joins a grand celebration of spaceflight in Huntsville Quote: I agree, but I sure enjoyed walking right up to it and putting my hand on a wonderful piece of history. I hope people will still be able to get close. I hope these will help, these were taken by Vince Huegele of HARA the night of the opening... When I could walk up and touch this magnificant piece of history, I was saddened by how bad it had deteriorated. This is as fitting a resting place as any, as the Saturn V is now restored to all it's glory (if only cosmetically). Johnnie