John C. Stennis Space Center
|John C. Stennis Space Center|
|The B-1/B-2 Test Stand holding space shuttle components (1987)|
|Preceding agencies||Mississippi Test Operations
National Space Technology Laboratories
|Jurisdiction||U.S. federal government|
|Headquarters||Hancock County, Mississippi|
|Agency executive||Dr. Richard J. Gilbrech, director|
|Stennis Space Center home page|
The John C. Stennis Space Center (SSC) is a NASA rocket testing facility. It is located in Hancock County, Mississippi, on the banks of the Pearl River (Mississippi–Louisiana) at the Mississippi–Louisiana border. As of 2012[update], it is NASA's largest rocket engine test facility.
As of 2007[update], British manufacturer Rolls-Royce plc has been operating an outdoor aero-engine test facility within SSC due to noise pollution concerns at its UK testing facility at Hucknall Airfield (near its main UK site at Derby). Rolls-Royce is just one of the over 30 local, state, national, international, private, and public companies and agencies using SSC for their rocket testing facilities.
The initial requirements for NASA's proposed rocket testing facility required the site to be located between the rockets' manufacturing facility at Michoud Assembly Facility in eastern New Orleans, Louisiana and the launch facility at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Also, the site required barge access as the rocket motors to be tested for Apollo were too large for overland transport.
The selected area was thinly populated and met all other requirements; however before construction began, five small communities (Gainesville, Logtown, Napoleon, Santa Rosa, and Westonia), plus the northern portion of a sixth (Pearlington), and a combined population of 700 families had to be completely relocated off the facility. Remnants of the communities, including city streets and a one-room school house, still exist within the facility.
The 13,500 acres (55 km2) site was selected on October 25, 1961 on the Mississippi Test Facility or Pearl River Site. On December 18, 1961 NASA officially designated the facility as NASA Mississippi Test Operations. The test area (officially known as the Fee Area) is surrounded by a 125,000 acres (506 km2) acoustical buffer zone. The facility's large concrete and metal test stands were originally used to test-fire the first and second stages of the Saturn V rockets. All Space Shuttle Main Engines were flight-certified at Stennis. The facility was renamed again to Mississippi Test Facility on July 1, 1965, became a part of the Marshall Space Flight Center on June 14, 1974 and renamed National Space Technology Laboratories a name that continued until May 20, 1988 when it was renamed for Mississippi senator and space program supporter John C. Stennis.
With the end of the Apollo program, use of the base decreased, with economic impact to the surrounding communities. Over the years other government organizations have moved to the facility, providing a major economic benefit to the communities.
In the 1990s, a new test complex named "E" was constructed to test a variety of new engine concepts. A series of tests conducted there eventually led to the commercialization of hybrid rocket motors, one of which was used to power the first privately funded spaceship, Scaled Composites SpaceShipOne.
In 2007 Rolls-Royce plc opened an outdoor aero engine test facility at John C. Stennis. The test stand is built on the old H1 test bed, Rolls-Royce relocated their engine testing facility from Hucknall near its main Derby site in the UK due to noise pollution issues.
Test stands 
The Engineering & Science Directorate (ESD) at SSC operates and maintains SSC's rocket test stands.
- The A-1 test stand was originally designed to test the Apollo Saturn V Second Stage (S-II). It supports a maximum dynamic load of 1.7 M lbf.
- The A-2 test stand is used for J-2X Engine testing. It supports a maximum dynamic load of 1.1 M lbf.
- NASA has begun construction of the new A-3 test stand at SSC. The A-3 stand will be used for testing J-2X engines under vacuum conditions simulating high altitude operation. A-3 will also be operable as a sea-level test facility.
- The B-1/B-2 test stand is a dual-position stand supporting a maximum dynamic load of 11M lbf. It was originally built to simultaneously test the five F-1 engines of a complete Saturn-V S1-C first stage. During the shuttle era it was modified to test the Space Shuttle Main Engine(SSME). It is currently under retrofit for SLS main engine testing.
- The E-Complex supports testing of small engine and single/multiple components.
Installation of a 35,000-gallon liquid oxygen tank atop the A-3 Test Stand.
In 2005, the Center was home to over 30 government agencies and private companies. By far the largest of these were elements of the United States Navy with some 3,500 personnel, which was far larger than the NASA civil servant contingent. Some of the prominent resident agencies include:
- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Data Buoy Center
- A branch of the Naval Research Laboratory
- The Lockheed Martin Mississippi Space and Technology Center
- The Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command
- The Naval Oceanographic Office
- Navy Special Boat Team 22 and NAVSCIATTS (Naval Small Craft Instruction and Technical Training School).
- The University of Southern Mississippi's High Performance Visualization Center
- Rolls-Royce Outdoor Engine Testing Centre
- The US Geological Survey Hydrologic Instrumentation Facility
- Mississippi Army Ammunition Plant
The museum and visitor center for the Stennis Space Center was known as StenniSphere, but closed its doors to the public on February 15, 2012. Exhibits focused on the activities of NASA, space, space exploration, science, geography, weather and more. Many of the exhibits from StenniSphere have been moved into the new INFINITY visitor facility.
The INFINITY Science Center officially opened in April 2012 to replace the old StenniSphere visitors center. The new center features state-of-the-art science and space exhibits, including a full-sized International Space Station module.
See also 
- Kelley, Mike (September 26, 2012). "Scheuermann appointed new MSFC director". The Huntsville Times. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
- "May 1961 speech leads to Stennis facility". Lagniappe. 11 May 2011.
- "A-1 Test Stand". NASA.
- "NASA's Stennis Space Center Marks New Chapter in Space Exploration". NASA.
- "Environmental Assessment for Stennis Space Center A-3 Test Stand". NASA.
- "StenniSphere Museum and Visitor Center to Close" (Press release). NASA. Jan. 30, 2012.
- "History of INFINITY Science Center". NASA. Retrieved 2012-09-13.
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Stennis Space Center|
- Official website
- Lagniappe official newsletter
- Movie of a test for a 250K hybrid rocket motor
- High Performance Visualization Center homepage
- National Data Buoy Center
- Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command
- Robot Science Group
- INFINITY Science Center at Stennis Space Center