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Sierra Vista "space-a-holic" gives News 4 tour of his massive collection

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Posted 7:05 AM 9/5/2012 : Sierra Vista "space-a-holic" gives News 4 tour of his unique collection

SIERRA VISTA, Ariz.- What started as one man's simple passion for the solar system, has now grown into a massive collection, that he says is one of the largest and most unique space artifact collections across the country. 

Inside the home of Retired Navy Officer Scott Schneeweis, you can find more than 1,000 artifacts from America's space program. 

"There are perhaps only a handful of collectors across the country, engaged in this particular type of activity," Schneeweis says. 

His fascination started at a young age when his grandmother began showing him pamphlets about the space program. "Then in the mid 1980's when I realized I wasn't going to be an astronaut, I decided that one way to affiliate with the program would be to go out and learn about it," Schneeweis says. 

And learn he did. Among his artifacts is a 133-pound parachute used in the Apollo command module. He also has a heat shield, signed by most of the Apollo astronauts. "There are artifacts in here that have been back to Marshall Space Flight Center to support engineering efforts because the technology was done so well back in the 1960's," Schneeweis says.

His goal is to raise awareness about the importance of the space program. "Over the long term we need to be able to, if we're going to survive as a human race, we need to get off our planet and we need to be able to expand," Schneeweis says. 

Even though he realized long ago he wasn't going to be an astronaut, try telling him he'll never travel to space and he'll say that's not necessarily true. 

Schneeweis says with commercial space flights taking off, he's looking forward to possibly one day making the journey.

To look at more of Schneeweis' collection you can head to his website: www.spaceaholic.com/about.htm

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