Restoration of Titan 4B Begins at Air Force Museum

The National Museum of the US Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, recently started restoring the 200-foot tall Titan 4B rocket, acquired from Lockheed Martin in 2005. “This is the largest artifact we have ever restored,” said Greg Hassler, a supervisor in the restoration division. More than 350 Titans launched from 1959-2005, helping to shape US space history, states a museum release. When restoration efforts are completed, the rocket will be in the space gallery of the museum’s newest facility. “Right now what they’re doing is preliminary restoration work,” NMUSAF spokeswoman Susan Swan told Air Force Magazine. They are “cataloging parts, [and figuring out] what nuts and bolts they’ll need,” she said. Due to the sheer size of the rocket “one of the biggest challenges for our staff [will] be figuring out how to assemble and display it horizontally because it is too tall to stand up inside the gallery,” said Hassler. The division also is looking “for help from those who worked in the Titan 4B program,” states the release. (See Air Force Museum Breaks Ground on Fourth Building.)