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A Quiet Roar
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17313 |
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Section : |
NATURAL SCIENCE
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| Issue
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2 / 1990 |
2,907 Words |
| Author
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Lisa Monti
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Nearly 30 years ago, as the United States announced plans to send astronauts to the moon, the tranquil setting of Mississippi's south western Gulf Coast was chosen as the site for testing massive rocket stages. Today at this little-known space center, NASA continues its test program in support of space shuttle flights, while other agencies carry out their own diverse missions.
Halfway between the celebrated Mission Control in Houston and the high-profile launch pads of Cape Canaveral, Florida, is an unheralded NASA facility near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, where rigorous test firings help determine the flight-worthiness of the space shuttle's powerful main engines. Before the launch countdown sequence of a shuttle mission begins, the orbiter's three thrust-providing engines mush pass a series of ground tests at the John C. Stennis Space Center prior to receiving the space agency's stamp of approval.
Although the Mississippi center was used to test the Saturn 5 first- and second-stage rockets for the Apollo lunar landings and has flight-certified every shuttle's main engine, the facility has never enjoyed the visibility has never enjoyed the visibility of the better-known John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson space centers. Part of the reason may be that the Mississippi site began as a field operation of the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Today, Stennis' personnel and specialized facilities continue to play a supporting role in the shuttle engine test program, which is directed by the Marshall Center.
Located on 13,480 heavily wooded acres near the Gulf of Mexico, what is now the Stennis Space Center was established in 1961 as the Mississippi Test Facility. In 1974, it was renamed the National Space Technology Laboratories when it was awarded full NASA field installation status for its achievements in space applications and earth resources activities. In 1988, President Reagan again renamed the facility, this time for the retiring Mississippi senator who supported the nation's space program from its inception and the Mississippi test site since its establishment.
The Stennis work force consists of 1,844 government employees and 3,613 contractors. The private industry contractors supply technical and institutional support to the government agencies.
Site Selection and Apollo Testing
In response to President Kennedy's directive in 1961 to send a man to the moon before the end of the 1960s, the government initiated a search for a site where the two largest Saturn 5 rocket stages could be test-fired and certified for launch readiness. That same year, after surveying approximately 30 sites in the Gulf Coast area, NASA announced its selection of a sparsely populated area along the East Pearl River that was accessible by water and had mild climate that would allow year-round activity. A large land mass surrounding the facility was also needed to serve as an acoustical buffer zone to insulate surrounding communities from the sound generated by the tests. Water access was required because the huge Saturn stages had to be transported by barge from their manufacturing locations to the test site and from there onto the launch pad in Florida. The first-stage assembly facility was in nearby New Orleans.
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