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 On April 23, 1966, the south
Mississippi silence was broken
by the Space Age: the sound of
the first rocket engine static test-
firing at NASA Stennis Space
Center. The test was of five J-2
engines that powered the Saturn
V moon rockets to the lunar
surface in the 1960s.
In the 1970s, the test stands
began testing space shuttle's main engines, and SSC has
tested
every space shuttle main engine since 1975.
The center's new role in meeting NASA's goals of completing
the
International Space Station, and building new spacecraft to
return
to
the moon and travel on to Mars will be to lead the
integration of
NASA's
propulsion testing and testing the new
spacecraft's engines.
Stennis Space Center is a major contributor to the area's
economies.
In 2005, the center had an impact of more than
half a
billion dollars on
the Mississippi counties of Hancock,
Harrison
and Pearl River; and St.
Tammany Parish in
Louisiana. NASA
employs approximately 300 civil
servants,
and more than 1,300
contract workers. The center's 30-plus
federal, state and
academic agencies employ approximately
4,500
people, including 1,600 scientists and engineers.
Twenty-one percent
of the workforce lives in Hancock County.
The center generated
more
than 19,700 jobs and more than
$818 million in personal
income, and purchased more than
$160 million in local goods and services.
The NASA Explorer School (NES) program helps educators
and
students join NASA's mission of discovery. Stennis Space
Center
sponsors area schools: Bay-Waveland Middle School,
Bay St. Louis;
North Gulfport 7th and 8th Grade School; and
Magnolia Middle School,
Moss Point.
NASA Administrator Mike Griffin noted Stennis Space Center's
importance
to NASA when he recently said: "Stennis is the last
place in the
country where we can test large engines or whole
rocket stages."
NASA and over 30 government and academic agencies reside
at NASA
Stennis Space Center. The workforce of 4,500 includes
1,600 scientists
and engineers engaged in space, ocean,
environmental and national
defense programs.
In addition to NASA's Stennis Space Center, the new NASA
Shared
Services Center will employ 500, consolidating all of
NASA's activities
in financial management, human resources,
information technology and
procurement.
The United States Navy is the largest agency. More
oceanographers
work at Stennis than any other location in the
world. The Commander, |
Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command, heads a
worldwide
organization providing oceanographic,
meteorological and mapping services.
Every Navy craft
receives products and services from this
command. Its largest
element is the Naval Oceanographic Office, which
supports
the Department of Defense and operates one of the world's
most capable supercomputing centers.
The Naval Research Laboratory at Stennis performs
oceanographic and
atmospheric environmental research. The
Navy's Special Boat Team
Twenty-Two is the Department of
Defense's agent for special operations
in a riverine
environment. Part of the Department of Defense's Special
Operations Command, the Naval Small Craft Instruction and
Technical
Training School instructs mobile training teams.
The Navy's Human
Resources Services Center Southeast
serves approximately 27,000
Navy, Marine Corps and Army
civilian employees representing 10
southeastern states,
Puerto Rico and Cuba.
Other SSC agencies:
- NOAA: National Data Buoy Center, National Weather Service;
National Marine Fisheries Service
- National Coastal Data
Development Center
- USGS Water Resources Division
- Environmental Protection Agency: Environmental Chemistry
Laboratory,
Gulf of Mexico Program
- Department of Energy
The Mississippi Army Ammunition Plant industrial complex
houses
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne's rocket engine assembly
facility and other
companies. The Lockheed Martin Mississippi
Space and Technology
Center resides in the aerospace park
constructed by the state of
Mississippi.
Other SSC contractors:
 Computer Sciences Corporation
Jacobs Technology
Applied Geo Technologies Inc.
Science Applications
International Corporation
The Center of Higher Learning
consortium
provides on-site
education and research,
and includes:
Mississippi State University
Pearl River Community College
University of New Orleans
University of Southern Mississippi
University of Mississippi |
