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Space Age Enhances Area's Rich and Colorful History;
In October 1961, the federal government announced its selection of a site in Hancock County, Miss., to locate the nation’s test facility for static firing the Saturn V rocket engines.
Less than eight years later, American astronauts walked on the lunar surface, safely transported thousands of miles by a space vehicle tested and proven flight-worthy at SSC.
Selection of this site for the Mississippi Test Facility, later named the National Space Technology Laboratories and today known as the John C. Stennis Space Center, was a logical and practical one. The area offered ample land for construction of the huge test facilities and had water access for shipping massive rocket stages and barge loads of propellants.
In addition to its natural resources, the area boasted a rich and colorful history dating as far back as 1699. Indians, settlers, pirates and soldiers shaped this area which now hosts modern-day explorers such as scientists, computer specialists and oceanographers.
In the decades before the Space Age arrived in Mississippi, the old towns of Gainesville, Napoleon, Santa Rosa, Logtown and Westonia formed a logging and shipping center along the scenic East Pearl River. In time these settlements gave way to a scientific community of professionals working within a high-technology network unlike any other.
A Saturn Vfirst stage is transported by barge down the East Pearl River.
Tried-and-true methods prepared SSC for the Space Age.
SSC’s first assignment, and the reason for its existence, was to flight certify all first and second stages of the Saturn V rocket for the Apollo manned lunar landing program. The program began with a static test firing April 23, 1966, and continued into the early 1970s.
A new chapter in SSC’s history was written with the first test of a Space Shuttle Main Engine in June 1975. The main engine test program is expected to continue into the 1990s and beyond, supporting shuttle missions and the planned Space Station.
During the transition between the Apollo and shuttle programs, SSC’s missions expanded. The center evolved into a multi-disciplinary laboratory comprised of a number of federal and state agencies engaged in space and environmental programs and the national defense.
Today, plans are under way to begin testing the Advanced Solid Rocket Motor in 1994. With the first static firing, SSC will have sole responsibility for testing the entire shuttle propulsion system. A new Component Test Facility, expected to be activated in 1994, will be used to test advanced turbopumps for the next generation of engines fueled by liquid hydrogren.