Columbia Memorial Space Center

An Apollo escape pod and a sleek two-story museum hint at this site’s place in aerospace history. Downey’s aviation ambitions soared during the Space Race: The former North American Rockwell plant was responsible for building 17 Apollo Program command modules, 11 of which were used in manned missions (including the first Moon landing), as well as all six space shuttle orbiters. The Columbia Memorial Space Center explores the site’s bulldozed legacy through kid-friendly exhibitions but strikes a more somber tone as the national memorial to the crew of the ill-fated Space Shuttle Columbia.