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Stennis Space Center History

Center Leaders

U.S. Senator John C. Stennis

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Stennis History Features

Brief History

The bright moon in a clear sky over the Mississippi Test Facility, now Stennis Space Center, awaits the arrival of the first humans to land on its surface-American astronauts. In the foreground, the A-2 test stand tested the second stages of the Saturn V rocket that took America's celestial pioneers there.

In the late 1960s and early 70s, there was an old saying around the community,"If you want to go to the moon, you first have to go through Hancock County, Miss."

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Previous Center Leaders

The bright moon in a clear sky over the Mississippi Test Facility, now Stennis Space Center, awaits the arrival of the first humans to land on its surface-American astronauts. In the foreground, the A-2 test stand tested the second stages of the Saturn V rocket that took America's celestial pioneers there.
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Chronology of Events

A Space Shuttle Main Engine is hoisted into the A-2 stand at Stennis Space Center before undergoing a test firing.

List of significant events in John C. Stennis Space Center History.

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Oral Histories

Virginia Seal Wagner, fourth from right, talked about this excursion on the Doris M., the Seal family boat, during her oral history interview. Pictured from left are, Mr. and Mrs. Donald Suter, Wernher von Braun’s sister-in-law; Fred Wagner; Mr. and Mrs. Stanton (Dallas); Wernher von Braun’s father, Magnus, from Germany; Wernher von Braun’s wife, Maria; Wernher von Braun; Virginia Wagner; Jack Thompson (Gulfport); and Capt. and Mrs. William Fortune. This photo was taken Oct. 26, 1964, when Wernher von Braun and his family arrived by boat at the Mississippi Test Facility during a vacation to the Gulf Coast.

NASA John C. Stennis Space Center's online version of the oral history collection features 21 histories. The anthology is compiled of historical recollections of former and current employees as well ...

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Related Multimedia

Related Multimedia

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