NASA Wallops Flight Facility Visitor Center

NASA's oldest launch range, operating since 1945 and still firing rockets — more than 16,000 of them, plus resupply missions to the International Space Station from the adjacent commercial pad. On 4 December 1959 a rhesus monkey named Sam became the first living creature launched into space from American soil, from here.

The visitor center is free and better than its remote setting suggests: rockets and a full-size Orion capsule mock-up outside, interactive exhibits and a rotating spherical Earth display inside, a small theatre, and staff who work on the programme. A rooftop deck gives views across the marsh toward the launch pads on Wallops Island, and military aircraft from the practice field nearby pass overhead regularly.

Practical: open Thursday to Saturday only for much of the year, roughly 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. — check before driving out. An hour is enough. Launches are announced in advance and draw crowds to viewing areas along the causeway; some are visible as far away as the Carolinas.