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Rocket testing facility in Hancock County, Mississippi, US

The John C. Stennis Space Center (SSC) is a NASA rocket testing facility in Hancock County, Mississippi, United States, on the banks of the Pearl River at the Mississippi–Louisiana border. as of 2012, it is NASA's largest rocket engine test facility. There are over 50 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 stages to be tested for Apollo were too large for overland transport. Additionally, the Apollo motors were too loud to be tested at Marshall Space Flight Center's existing test stands near Huntsville, Alabama. A more isolated site was needed. After an exhaustive site selection process that included reviews of other coastal locations including Eglin Air Force Base in Florida plus islands in both the Caribbean and the Pacific, NASA announced formation of the Mississippi Test Facility (now known as Stennis Space Center) on Oct. 25, 1961, for testing engines for the Apollo Program. A high terrace area bordering the East Pearl River in Hancock County, Miss., was selected for its location. NASA entrusted the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers with the difficult task to procure each land parcel either by directly purchasing the land or through acquisition of a perpetual easement. 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. The effort acquired more than 3,200 parcels of privately owned land – 786 residences, 16 churches, 19 stores, three schools and a wide assortment of commercial buildings, including nightclubs and community centers. Remnants of the communities, including city streets and a one room school house, still exist within the facility. With the end of the Apollo and Shuttle programs, use of the base decreased, with economic impact to the surrounding communities. Over the years, other government organizations and commercial entities have moved to and left from the facility, in the balance providing a major economic benefit to the communities.

The Rocket Propulsion Test Complex is a rocket testing complex which was built in 1965 as a component of the John C. Stennis Space Center. The Rocket Propulsion Test Complex played an important role in the development of the Saturn V rocket. The A 1, A 2 and B 1/B 2 test stands were declared a National Historic Landmark in 1985. The NASA Engineering & Science Directorate (ESD) at SSC operates and maintains SSC's rocket test stands.

The smaller two of the original three test stands at Stennis Space Center, the A 1 and A 2 stands were built to test and flight certify the second stage of the Saturn V, the S II (pronounced "ess two"), the launch vehicle for the Apollo program. The two stands are similar steel and concrete structures are roughly 200 feet (61 m) tall, and capable of withstanding thrust loads of more than 1 million pounds and temperature of up to Each test stand can provide Liquid Hydrogen (LH2) and liquid oxygen (LOX) in addition to support fluids, gaseous helium (GHe), gaseous hydrogen (GH2) and gaseous nitrogen (GN2) as purge or pressurizing gasses.

Construction began in 1963 and was finished in 1966. The A Test Complex also includes a Test Control Center, observation bunkers, and various technical and support systems. On 23 April 1966 workmen at the A 2 test stand successfully captive fired for 15 seconds the S II T, Structural and Dynamic Test Vehicle for the Saturn V second stage, in an all systems test. This was the first test of a flight weight S II stage. The stage, largest and most powerful liquid oxygen liquid hydrogen stage known, developed one million pounds of thrust from its five Rocketdyne J 2 engines. This test also marked the first operational use of the A 2 stand. The first full duration firing of the S II flight stage occurred 20 May 1966 when S II T test fired on the A 2 test stand for 354.5 seconds. LOX cutoff sensors initiated cutoff automatically. The firing passed all major test objectives with the exception of the propellant utilization system. This was the fourth static firing of the S II T. The stage developed one million pounds of thrust from its five hydrogen oxygen powered J 2 engines.

A static test version of the Saturn V second stage S II T ruptured during pressure tests at SSC on 28 May 1966, and five North American Aviation technicians monitoring the test received minor injuries. The accident occurred when the hydrogen fuel tank failed under pressure. S II T, which had five hydrogen oxygen J 2 engines capable of generating one million pounds of thrust, had been tested May 25 in ground firing but stopped firing after 195 seconds when a hydrogen link leak caused automatic cutoff. At time of the explosion, technicians were trying to determine cause for the hydrogen leak. No hydrogen was in the tank when the explosion occurred. Under the direction of MSFC, a Board of Inquiry headed by Dr. Kurt H. Debus, Director of Kennedy Space Center, convened on the night of May 28. Immediate investigation revealed that the second shift crew, not knowing that the liquid hydrogen pressure sensors and switches had been disconnected, had attempted to pressurize the tank. Believing that a liquid hydrogen vent valve was leaking, the technicians closed the facility by blocking valves. This had caused the vehicle tank to become over pressurized and burst. On 30 May 1966 the board released its findings after two days of inquiry. The fuel tank of the S II stage had been pressurized beyond design limits. There was a need for tighter controls over MTF test procedure. Following the destruction of S II T, NASA extended the S II battleship program until July 1967. On December 30, 1966, MSFC technicians at the MTF test stand conducted a static firing of the first flight version of the Saturn V second stage, S II 1. This second test firing, like an earlier firing, lasted more than six minutes.

On January 11, 1967, initial post static checkout of the S II 1 stage ended at MTF. On January 27, 1967, the S II 2 stage left Seal Beach, California, to pass through the Panama Canal and on to MTF. After its journey lasting 16 days, the S II would arrive at MTF for two static tests. The S II 2 stage arrived on dock at MTF on February 11, 1967. The S II 2 stage, part of the second Saturn V vehicle (AS 502) scheduled for launch from KSC late in 1967, was scheduled for testing at MTF late in March 1967. On February 17, 1967, the first full duration test of a cluster of uprated J 2 engines, S II battleship test No. 041, lasted 360 seconds. On February 25, 1967, workmen completed construction of the S II A 1 test stand, and the Corps of Engineers accepted beneficial occupancy with exceptions. On March 31, failure of a prevalve to close caused program officials to scrub the first attempt to static fire the S II 2 stage. Battleship testing of the S II battleship test stage equipped with five uprated J 2 engines ended in late March 1967 with a full duration test of approximately 360 seconds mainstage operation.

These two test stands tested and flight certified S II stages and J 2 engines until the end of the Apollo program in the early 1970s.

It was announced in 1971 that the center would be performing tests on the engines for the new Space Shuttle program (called the SSME). The A 1 and A 2 test stands, originally designed to accommodate the physically much larger S II J 2 engines, were modified to accept the smaller SSME, and testing officially began on May 19, 1975, when the first such engine was tested on the A 1 stand. The center continued to test engines for the duration of the shuttle program, on the A 1 and A 2 stands with the final scheduled test occurred on July 29, 2009, on the A 2 stand.

As the shuttle program is phased out, the A 1 and A 2 test stands are seeing new use testing the next generation of rocket engines, including the J 2X engine designed to power the SLS upper stage, with the first such test occurring on December 18, 2007. Stennis tested Aerojet Rocketdyne AJ26 rocket engines for Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va., which partnered with NASA to provide commercial cargo flights to the International Space Station. Orbital's maiden flight to the space station launched from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia September 18, 2013. Orbital's Antares rocket was powered by a pair of AJ26 engines.

The A 1 Test Stand was designated the Fred Haise Test Stand in March 2020, in honor of the Apollo 13 astronaut and Biloxi, Mississippi, native.

The B 1/B 2 test stand is a dual position, vertical, static firing stand supporting a maximum dynamic load of 11M lbf. It was originally built in the 1960s to simultaneously test the five F 1 engines of a complete Saturn V S1 C first stage from 1967 to 1970. On October 17, 1966, MSFC shipped its S IC all system test booster, S IC T, to SSC for use in checkout of a static test stand and for use in static firings. Workmen loaded the huge booster aboard the barge Poseidon for the 1,000 mile river journey. Six days later the S IC T reached SSC. All future firings would be accomplished at the B 2 stand. An all systems test version of Apollo/Saturn V first stage, S IC T, went into the B 2 test stand at the Mississippi Test Facility on December 17, 1966. Stage electrical and mechanical hook up to the test stand began immediately. Static firing would occur in early 1967 to demonstrate the facility checkout system.

On 13 February 1967 Corps of Engineers personnel completed construction of the S IC B 2 test stand at MTF. Following an extensive systems, subsystems, and total integrated systems checkout of the B 2 test stand at MTF on March 3, 1967, workmen successfully fired the S IC battleship/all systems stage (S IC T) for 15 seconds. This S IC T test, the first MTF S IC firing, proved the total compatibility of stage, mechanical support equipment, and S IC test facilities. A second S IC T firing lasted for 60 seconds on March 17, 1967. This firing validated the flame bucket water flow pattern of the B 2 test stand and ended the facilities checkout test series at MTF.

During the shuttle era it was modified to test the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME). Stennis now leases the B 1 test position to Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne for testing of RS 68 engines for the Delta IV launch vehicle. NASA has prepared the B 2 test position to test the core stage of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS), which it first did in early 2021. The SLS Core Stage, with four RS 25D rocket engines, was installed on the stand for propellant fill and drain testing and two hot fire tests.

In August 2007, NASA began construction of the A 3 test stand at SSC. The A 3 stand was to 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. However, because the Constellation Program was cancelled in 2010, the stand is expected to be unused after its completion. The A 3 stand may however, be able to be refurnished to test a new mission when needed. In 2014, journalists writing for Bloomberg News and the Washington Times criticized the continued construction work on the $350 million test stand, and characterized it as a wasteful earmark by Mississippi U. S. senator Roger F. Wicker. American New Zealand launch service provider Rocket Lab intends to use the A 3 stand to develop and test their Archimedes reusable rocket engine.

In the 1990s, a new test complex named "E" was constructed to test a variety of new small engine and single/multiple components and concepts. The E test stand complex consists of four distinct test stands

In 2012, Blue Origin tested the thrust chamber assembly at the E 1 test cell for its new thrust BE 3 liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen rocket engine. As part of Blue's Reusable Booster System (RBS), the engines are designed eventually to launch the biconic shaped Space Vehicle the company is developing. On 22 May 2014, an AJ26 rocket engine under test on the Stennis E 1 test stand, for a future Orbital Sciences Antares launch, failed and caused major damage to the E 1 test stand. As of 10 June, neither NASA, Orbital, nor Aerojet Rocketdyne have released any additional information on the extent of the damage, nor time frame when the three test cells in the E 1 test stand will return to operational status. As of early June 2014, the E 1 test stand was non operational pending the completion of an investigation into a rocket engine failure on the test stand on 22 May 2014.

The E2 test facility at Stennis has multiple test cells that support three separate test stands (Cell 1 and Cell 2), for testing horizontally mounted engines and for vertically mounted vehicle stages and/or engines. Cell 1 can support engines with up to of thrust while Cell 2 can support vehicle stages with up to of thrust. E2 Cell 1, originally known as the High Heat Flux Facility (HHFF), was constructed in 1993 to support materials development for the National Aerospace Plane (NASP). as of 2013, the most recent test completed on the E2 test stand had been a 2012 NASA test of chemical steam generators.

The E4 test stand consists of four 32 foot tall concrete walled cells and an associated concrete foundation; a 1,344 square foot hardened and conditioned Signal Conditioning Building; a 12,825 square foot high bay with 10 ton bridge crane, shop area with 1 ton bridge crane, and a 7,000 square foot blast hardened Test Control Center; and two 1,400 square foot raised floor control rooms. The site also includes underground deluge water piping; underground power, data, and control duct banks; and potable water. The E4 hard stand system was designed to accommodate up to 500,000 pounds force (2,224 kN) engines and powerpack systems testing in a horizontal configuration.

In 2001, the Pentagon's Ballistic Missile Defense Organization proposed construction of a $140 million facility at Stennis H 1 test stand to test its proposed Space Based Laser (SBL) to begin in the first quarter of fiscal year 2002. The facility was to be used to evaluate beam quality, efficiency, and power levels for a prototype megawatt class hydrogen fluoride laser. In 2007, British manufacturer Rolls Royce plc has been operating an outdoor aero engine test facility built on the old H1 test area. Rolls Royce constructed the facility due to noise pollution concerns at its UK testing facility at Hucknall Airfield near its headquarters in Derby. In 2013, a second test stand was opened by Rolls Royce.

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 INFINITY Science Center is a non profit museum that hosts the NASA visitor center for John C. Stennis Space Center. The facility is located adjacent to the Mississippi Welcome Center near the MS/LA border. The themes of the center's interactive exhibits include Mississippi Natural History, NASA, space, planets, stars, weather, Earth science, space travel and exploration. Displays include the Apollo 4 command module, a full sized International Space Station module, a cutaway model of the Orion spacecraft, and components from a space flown RS 25 Space Shuttle Main Engine. Outdoor displays include an F 1 rocket engine, a tsunami buoy, U. S. Navy riverine training boat and the Apollo 19 Saturn V first stage rocket booster (acquired from NASA Michoud Assembly). The INFINITY Science Center officially opened in April 2012 to replace the old StenniSphere visitors center.

The museum and visitor center for the Stennis Space Center was known as StenniSphere. Upon the imminent opening of the new INFINITY Science Center, StenniSphere closed its doors to the public on February 15, 2012. Unlike INFINITY, the StenniSphere building is located within the grounds of the Stennis Space Center. 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.