Rocket Men: See where NASA cranks its engines

• Advocate marketing report
• Published: Apr 26, 2009

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Just across the state line into Mississippi lies thousands upon thousands of acres featuring more than 30 federal, state, academic and private organizations. But this isn’t a university.

It’s the John C. Stennis Space Center, just a couple of miles into Louisiana’s neighboring state. Stennis is home to NASA’s largest rocket-propulsion test complex, as well as testing services for the U.S. Department of Defense.

Test firing of the shuttle’s main engines at Stennis can be viewed by the public during visiting hours and scheduled times. However, the main visitor experience takes place at the StenniSphere, the center’s 14,000-square-foot visitor center.

Inside the StenniSphere, you’ll find the following:

• A Visualization Laboratory that shows the effects of Hurricane Katrina’s storm surge
• A moon rock collected by the crew of Apollo 15
• An Apollo 4 Command Module
• A mock rocket engine test control center
• A space shuttle cockpit
• A mock habitation and laboratory module from the International Space Station
• A pictorial history of the United States’ space program
• Mission patches
• The Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command

Outside the visitor center are also some educational displays, including everything from a main shuttle engine to a full-size Jupiter-C rocket, which put the first United States satellite into orbit.

StenniSphere tours run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. Group tours can be booked for Tuesday through Saturday except for major holidays. Tours begin at the Launch Pad at the Welcome Center, off of Exit 2.

Tour reservations: (800) 237-1821

Main phone:  (228) 688-2370

On the Net: http://www1.ssc. nasa.gov/public/visitors