John C Stennis Space Center.

We have been on the gulf coast now for almost 3 weeks and there is a NASA facility just east of here. It is called the John C Stennis Space Center. We visited it yesterday and the tours are free.
It is named after a very powerful senator from Mississippi, who died about 14 years ago.
They do all of the rocket engine testing for Nasa.
They have tested all of the rocket engines from Gemini program all the way through the Space Shuttle program.
They also test the engines for the military as well as commercial endeavors.

E-1 Test Facility

We were fortunate enough to hear and see a test firing while we were on our tour.

 Test firing as seen from about 2 miles away

Also the site is shared by the Navy Research Laboratory. They do computer and software development for the Navy. There is a large contingency of Naval personnel there.

This just one type deployed by NOAA

NOAA has a facility there also. They construct and maintain their weather buoys at this facility.
The buoy seen above is in front of the museum. There are other items too large to be inside.

Rocket engine for Space Shuttle

Inside of the museum are multiple displays. Some of them are interactive.
You can land the Shuttle, Monitor weather from Noaa labs, and do an engine test.
These activities are designed so that they are interesting to both adults and children.

I tried to land the Space Shuttle only to destroy a multimillion dollar space craft and kill myself. Ther is a heads-up display on a screen, but no feeling of flight. I tried twice to land, but I was just too heavy handed on the stick. I was all over the sky and eventually ran out of altitude. It was fun.

Brenda and I tested engines (simulated) and that was very interesting. You have to transfer the fuel to the test engine and fire it.

There is audio while the test is being prepared and during the test. We both enjoyed the experience, especially after having seen a real test earlier.

There is a mock-up of one section of the ISS. It has a full scale Toilet area and shower that are used by the astronauts while in space.
Personal hygiene must go on and it was interesting how those functions were handled.

There was only 5 of us on the tour and the driver of the bus was very informative.
I highly recommend it if you are ever in the Bay St. Louis or Slidell area.

Ta ta for now.