John c. stennis space center

Since the dawn of Space Age, the John C. Stennis Space Center has played an important position in the America's space program.

Engineers at the center tested the Saturn V rockets that would carry humans to the moon and the main engines for the space shuttle. Today, Stennis tests out components of NASA's new Space Launch System that will carry humans to Mars and robotic explorers to deep space.

"Stennis continues to demonstrate that the road to space goes through Mississippi," then-NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said when he visited the center in 2013.

'The thorn before the rose'

Stennis is located in southern Mississippi, in a region owned at various times by the French, British, and Spanish governments.

The East Pearl River, an important component in the selection of the agency's site, served as an international border between the United States and European colonies.

The vast timber resources of the area led to a boom