Rocket rides to new Atomic Museum

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - A team of movers successfully trucked a 69-foot rocket across Albuquerque Tuesday removing from Old Town the piece of Cold War history and the controversy that accompanied it.

Crews had planned to have the rocket on the road by noon, but the work was delayed when movers discovered they didn't have the right size of bolts to connect the rocket to a crane.

It was expected to take about an hour to get the rocket to the new site on Eubank Boulevard near Southern Boulevard, just outside Kirtland Air Force Base.

The museum is scheduled to open at the new site on April 4. It's also changing its name to the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History.

The rocket has created quite a stir over the years it's been at the museum's Old Town site. City Councilor Debbie O'Malley, who represents the district, said many residents felt it wasn't appropriate to have the rocket as close to the historic San Felipe de Neri Church in Old Town as it is.

While the rocket was originally designed to carry a warhead, museum officials said it was never used as a weapon. Instead, rockets of the same model were used for space exploration.