Gallery
Located in Hancock County, Mississippi , on the banks of the Pearl River at the Mississippi–Louisiana border, the John C. Stennis Space Center is where NASA tests the various rocket engines that are used to ferry its payloads out of Earth’s gravity well. Besides NASA, there are more than 30 local, state, national, international, private, and public companies and agencies using SSC for their rocket testing facilities. The test site is located on some 13,500 acres (55 square kilometers) and was selected on October 25, 1961. Photos courtesy: Jason Rhian, Scott Johnson, Curt Godwin