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By NASA
NASA Stennis Buffer ZoneNASA / Stennis NASA’s Stennis Space Center is widely known for rocket propulsion testing, especially to support the NASA Artemis program to send astronauts to the Moon to prepare for future human exploration of Mars.
What may not be so widely known is that the site also is a unique federal city, home to more than 50 federal, state, academic, and commercial tenants and serving as both a model of government efficiency and a powerful economic engine for its region.
“NASA Stennis is a remarkable story of vision and innovation,” Center Director John Bailey said. “That was the case 55 years ago when the NASA Stennis federal city was born, and it remains the case today as we collaborate and grow to meet the needs of a changing aerospace world.”
Apollo Years
Nearly four years after its first Saturn V stage test, NASA’s Stennis Space Center faced a crossroads to the future. Indeed, despite its frontline role in supporting NASA’s Apollo lunar effort, it was not at all certain a viable future awaited the young rocket propulsion test site.
In 1961, NASA announced plans to build a sprawling propulsion test site in south Mississippi to support Apollo missions to the Moon. The news was a significant development for the sparsely populated Gulf Coast area.
The new site, located near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, conducted its first hot fire of a Saturn V rocket stage in April 1966. Saturn V testing progressed steadily during the next years. In fall 1969, however, NASA announced an end to Apollo-related testing, leading to an existential crisis for the young test site.
What was to become of NASA Stennis?
An Expanded Vision
Some observers speculated the location would close or be reduced to caretaker status, with minimal staffing. Either scenario would deliver a serious blow to the families who had re-located to make way for the site and the local communities who had heavily invested in municipal projects to support the influx of workforce personnel.
Such outcomes also would run counter to assurances provided by leaders that the new test site would benefit its surrounding region and involve area residents in “something great.”
For NASA Stennis manager Jackson Balch and others, such a result was unacceptable. Anticipating the crisis, Balch had been working behind the scenes to communicate – and realize – the vision of a multiagency site supporting a range of scientific and technological tenants and missions.
A Pivotal Year
The months following the Saturn V testing announcement were filled with discussions and planning to ensure the future of NASA Stennis. The efforts began to come to fruition in 1970 with key developments:
In early 1970, NASA Administrator Thomas Paine proposed locating a regional environmental center at NASA Stennis. U.S. Sen. John C. Stennis (Mississippi) responded with a message of the president, “urgently requesting” that a National Earth Resources and Environmental Data Program be established at the site. In May 1970, President Richard Nixon offered assurances that an Earth Resources Laboratory would be established at NASA Stennis and that at least two agencies are preparing to locate operations at the site. U.S. congressional leaders earmarked $10 million to enable the location of an Earth Resources Laboratory at NASA Stennis. On July 9, 1970, the U.S. Coast Guard’s National Data Buoy Project (now the National Data Buoy Center) announced it was relocating to NASA Stennis, making it the first federal city tenant. The project arrived onsite two months later on September 9. On Sept. 9, 1970, NASA officially announced establishment of an Earth Resources Laboratory at NASA Stennis. Time to Grow
By the end of 1970, Balch’s vision was taking shape, but it needed time to grow. The final Saturn V test had been conducted in October – with no new campaign scheduled.
A possibility was on the horizon, however. NASA was building a reusable space shuttle vehicle. It would be powered by the most sophisticated rocket engine ever designed – and the agency needed a place to conduct developmental and flight testing expected to last for decades.
Three sites vied for the assignment. Following presentations and evaluations, NASA announced its selection on March 1, 1971. Space shuttle engine testing would be conducted at NASA Stennis, providing time for the location to grow.
A Collaborative Model
By the spring of 1973, preparations for the space shuttle test campaign were progressing and NASA Stennis was on its way to realizing the federal city vision. Sixteen agencies and universities were now located at NASA Stennis.
The resident tenants followed a shared model in which they shared in the cost of basic site services, such as medical, security, and fire protection. The shared model freed up more funding for the tenants to apply towards innovation and assigned mission work. It was a model of government collaboration and efficiency.
As the site grew, leaders then began to call for it to be granted independent status within NASA, a development not long in coming. On June 14, 1974, just more than a decade after site construction began, NASA Administrator James Fletcher announced the south Mississippi location would be renamed National Space Technology Laboratories and would enjoy equal, independent status alongside other NASA centers.
“Something Great”
For NASA Stennis leaders and supporters, independent status represented a milestone moment in their effort to ensure NASA Stennis delivered on its promise of greatness.
There still were many developments to come, including the first space shuttle main engine test and the subsequent 34-year test campaign, the arrival and growth of the U.S. Navy into the predominant resident presence onsite, the renaming of the center to NASA Stennis, and the continued growth of the federal city.
No one could have imagined it all at the time. However, even in this period of early development, one thing was clear – the future lay ahead, and NASA Stennis was on its way.
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Last Updated Sep 09, 2025 EditorNASA Stennis CommunicationsContactC. Lacy Thompsoncalvin.l.thompson@nasa.gov / (228) 688-3333LocationStennis Space Center Related Terms
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By NASA
4 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Dwarf planet Ceres is shown in these enhanced-color renderings that use images from NASA’s Dawn mission. New thermal and chemicals models that rely on the mission’s data indicate Ceres may have long ago had conditions suitable for life.NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA The dwarf planet is cold now, but new research paints a picture of Ceres hosting a deep, long-lived energy source that may have maintained habitable conditions in the past.
New NASA research has found that Ceres may have had a lasting source of chemical energy: the right types of molecules needed to fuel some microbial metabolisms. Although there is no evidence that microorganisms ever existed on Ceres, the finding supports theories that this intriguing dwarf planet, which is the largest body in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, may have once had conditions suitable to support single-celled lifeforms.
Science data from NASA’s Dawn mission, which ended in 2018, previously showed that the bright, reflective regions on Ceres’ surface are mostly made of salts left over from liquid that percolated up from underground. Later analysis in 2020 found that the source of this liquid was an enormous reservoir of brine, or salty water, below the surface. In other research, the Dawn mission also revealed evidence that Ceres has organic material in the form of carbon molecules — essential, though not sufficient on its own, to support microbial cells.
The presence of water and carbon molecules are two critical pieces of the habitability puzzle on Ceres. The new findings offer the third: a long-lasting source of chemical energy in Ceres’ ancient past that could have made it possible for microorganisms to survive. This result does not mean that Ceres had life, but rather, that there likely was “food” available should life have ever arisen on Ceres.
This illustration depicts the interior of dwarf planet Ceres, including the transfer of water and gases from the rocky core to a reservoir of salty water. Carbon dioxide and methane are among the molecules carrying chemical energy beneath Ceres’ surface.NASA/JPL-Caltech In the study, published in Science Advances on Aug. 20, the authors built thermal and chemical models mimicking the temperature and composition of Ceres’ interior over time. They found that 2.5 billion years or so ago, Ceres’ subsurface ocean may have had a steady supply of hot water containing dissolved gases traveling up from metamorphosed rocks in the rocky core. The heat came from the decay of radioactive elements within the dwarf planet’s rocky interior that occurred when Ceres was young — an internal process thought to be common in our solar system.
“On Earth, when hot water from deep underground mixes with the ocean, the result is often a buffet for microbes — a feast of chemical energy. So it could have big implications if we could determine whether Ceres’ ocean had an influx of hydrothermal fluid in the past,” said Sam Courville, lead author of the study. Now based at Arizona State University in Tempe, he led the research while working as an intern at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which also managed the Dawn mission.
Catching Chill
The Ceres we know today is unlikely to be habitable. It is cooler, with more ice and less water than in the past. There is currently insufficient heat from radioactive decay within Ceres to keep the water from freezing, and what liquid remains has become a concentrated brine.
The period when Ceres would most likely have been habitable was between a half-billion and 2 billion years after it formed (or about 2.5 billion to 4 billion years ago), when its rocky core reached its peak temperature. That’s when warm fluids would have been introduced into Ceres’ underground water.
The dwarf planet also doesn’t have the benefit of present-day internal heating generated by the push and pull of orbiting a large planet, like Saturn’s moon Enceladus and Jupiter’s moon Europa do. So Ceres’ greatest potential for habitability-fueling energy was in the past.
This result has implications for water-rich objects throughout the outer solar system, too. Many of the other icy moons and dwarf planets that are of similar size to Ceres (about 585 miles, or 940 kilometers, in diameter) and don’t have significant internal heating from the gravitational pull of planets could have also had a period of habitability in their past.
More About Dawn
A division of Caltech in Pasadena, JPL managed Dawn’s mission for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Dawn was a project of the directorate’s Discovery Program, managed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. JPL was responsible for overall Dawn mission science. Northrop Grumman in Dulles, Virginia, designed and built the spacecraft. The German Aerospace Center, Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Italian Space Agency and Italian National Astrophysical Institute were international partners on the mission team.
For a complete list of mission participants, visit:
https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/dawn/overview/
News Media Contacts
Gretchen McCartney
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-287-4115
gretchen.p.mccartney@jpl.nasa.gov
Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
NASA Headquarters, Washington
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By NASA
NASA Glenn Research Center High School Engineering Institute participants, left to right: Evan Ricchetti, Edan Liahovetsky, and Doris Chen, prepare to add weights to their rover to test the effectiveness of their wheel grouser designs on Friday, July 18, 2025. Credit: NASA/Jef Janis This summer, NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland hosted the NASA Glenn High School Engineering Institute, a free, work-based learning experience designed to prepare rising high school juniors and seniors for careers in the aerospace workforce.
“The institute immerses students in NASA’s work, providing essential career readiness tools for future science, technology, engineering, and mathematics-focused academic and professional pursuits,” said Jerry Voltz of NASA Glenn’s Office of STEM Engagement.
Throughout the five-day sessions (offered three separate weeks in July), students used authentic NASA mission content and collaborated with Glenn’s technical experts. They gained a deeper understanding of the engineering design process, developed practical engineering solutions to real-world challenges, and tested prototypes to address key mission areas such as:
Acoustic dampening: How can we reduce noise pollution from jet engines? Power management and distribution: How can we develop a smart power system for future space stations? Simulated lunar operations: Can we invent tires that don’t use air? NASA Glenn Research Center High School Engineering Institute participants, left to right: Adriana Pudloski, Anadavel Sakthi, Aditya Rohatgi, and Alexa Apshago, make modifications to the control system program for their rover on Friday, July 18, 2025. Credit: NASA/Jef Janis Voltz said he hoped students left the program with three key takeaways: a deeper curiosity and excitement for STEM careers, firsthand insight into how cutting-edge technology developed in Cleveland contributes to NASA’s most prominent missions, and most importantly, a feeling of empowerment gained from engaging with some of NASA’s brightest minds in the field.
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By NASA
Explore This Section Science Courses & Curriculums for… STEM Educators Are Bringing… Overview Learning Resources Science Activation Teams SME Map Opportunities More Science Activation Stories Citizen Science 4 min read
STEM Educators Are Bringing Hands-On NASA Science into Virginia Classrooms
Professional learning experiences are integral to the enhancement of classroom instruction. Teachers, at the forefront of Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics (STEM) education, play a key role in the advancement of STEM learning ecosystems and citizen science.
On June 24-25, 2025 – despite a major east coast heat wave – twenty-four educators from eight school districts in the Hampton Roads region of southeastern Virginia (Newport News, Hampton City, Virginia Beach City, Isle of Wight County, Poquoson City, Norfolk, York County, and Suffolk Public Schools) converged at the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA) in Hampton, VA for a professional development workshop led by experts from NASA Langley Research Center and the NASA Science Activation program’s NIA-led NASA eClips team. Developed in collaboration with another NASA Science Activation team, GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) Mission Earth, and with support from the Coastal Virginia STEM Hub (COVA STEM) – a “STEM learning ecosystem targeting pre-K to adult residents in Coastal Virginia” – this two-day training, also provided comprehensive resources, including lesson plans, pacing guides, classroom activities, and books, all designed for integration into Hampton Roads classrooms.
The NASA Langley team led workshop participants through a training about GLOBE, a program dedicated to advancing Earth System science through data collected by volunteer members of the public, also known as ‘citizen scientists’. GLOBE invites educators, students, and members of the public worldwide (regardless of citizenship) to collect and submit cloud, surface temperature, and land cover observations using the GLOBE Observer app – a real-time data collection tool available right on their smartphones. These observations are then used to help address scientific questions at local, regional, and global scales. Through this training, the educators participated in K-20 classroom-friendly sample lessons, hands-on activities, and exploring the GLOBE Observer app, ultimately qualifying them as GLOBE Certified Educators. Earth System science lessons, activities, and information on how to download the GLOBE Observer citizen science app are available on the GLOBE website. Similarly, NASA eClips, which focuses on increasing STEM literacy in K-12 students, provided educators with free, valuable, standards-based classroom resources such as educator guides, informational videos, engineering design packets, and hands-on activities, which are available to educators and students alike on the NASA eClips’ website. Throughout the training, educators collaborated in grade-level groups, brainstorming new ways to integrate these standards-based NASA science resources.
One educator envisioned incorporating GLOBE’s cloud resources and supportive NASA eClips videos into her energy budget unit. Others explored modifying a heat-lamp experiment to include humidity and heat capacity. One teacher enthusiastically noted in response to a GLOBE urban heat island lesson plan, “The hands-on elements are going to be really great deliverables!” The creative energy and passion for education were palpable.
The dedication of both NIA and NASA Langley to education and local community support was evident. This professional learning experience offered educators immediately-applicable classroom activities and fostered connections among NASA science, NASA eClips, the GLOBE Program, and fellow educators across district lines. One educator highlighted the value of these networking opportunities, stating, “I do love that we’re able to collaborate with our colleagues so we can plan for our future units during the school year”. Another participant commented, “This is a great program…I am going to start embedding [this] in our curriculum.”
GME (supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number NNX16AC54A) and NASA eClips (supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number NNX16AB91A) are part of NASA’s Science Activation Portfolio. Learn more about how Science Activation connects NASA science experts, real content, and experiences with community leaders to do science in ways that activate minds and promote deeper understanding of our world and beyond: https://science.nasa.gov/learn
GLOBE educator Marilé Colón Robles demonstrates a kinesthetic activity. Share
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By NASA
Before astronauts venture around the Moon on Artemis II, the agency’s first crewed mission to the Moon since Apollo, Mark Cavanaugh is helping make sure the Orion spacecraft is safe and space-ready for the journey ahead.
As an Orion integration lead at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, he ensures the spacecraft’s critical systems— in both the U.S.-built crew module and European-built service module—come together safely and seamlessly.
Mark Cavanaugh stands in front of a mockup of the Orion spacecraft inside the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.NASA/Robert Markowitz With nearly a decade of experience at NASA, Cavanaugh currently works within the Orion Crew and Service Module Office at Johnson. He oversees the technical integration of the European Service Module, which provides power, propulsion, and life support to Orion during Artemis missions to the Moon. His work includes aligning and verifying essential systems to keeping the crew alive, including oxygen, nitrogen, water storage, temperature regulation, and spacecraft structures.
In addition to his integration work, Cavanaugh is an Orion Mission Evaluation Room (MER) manager. The MER is the engineering nerve center during Artemis flights, responsible for real-time monitoring of the Orion spacecraft and real-time decision-making. From prelaunch to splashdown, Cavanaugh will lead a team of engineers who track vehicle health and status, troubleshoot anomalies, and communicate directly with the flight director to ensure the mission remains safe and on track.
Mark Cavanaugh supports an Artemis I launch attempt from the Passive Thermal Control System console on Aug. 29, 2022, in the Orion Mission Evaluation Room at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.NASA/Josh Valcarcel Cavanaugh’s passion for space exploration began early. “I’ve wanted to be an aerospace engineer since I was six years old,” he said. “My uncle, who is also an aerospace engineer, used to take me to wind tunnel tests and flight museums as a kid.”
That passion only deepened after a fifth-grade trip from Philadelphia to Houston with his grandfather. “My dream of working at NASA Johnson started when I visited the center for the first time,” he said. “Going from being a fifth grader riding the tram on the tour to contributing to the great work done at Johnson has been truly incredible.”
Turning that childhood dream into reality did not come with a straight path. Cavanaugh graduated from Pennsylvania State University in 2011, the same year NASA’s Space Shuttle Program ended. With jobs in the space industry in short supply, he took a position with Boeing in Houston, working on the International Space Station’s Passive Thermal Control System. He later supported thermal teams for the Artemis Moon rocket called the Space Launch System, and the Starliner spacecraft that flew astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams during their Boeing Crew Flight Test mission, before a mentor flagged a NASA job posting that turned out to be the perfect fit.
He joined NASA as the deputy system manager for Orion’s Passive Thermal Control System, eventually stepping into his current leadership role on the broader Orion integration team. “I’ve been very lucky to work with some of the best and most supportive teammates you can imagine,” he said.
Mark Cavanaugh with his mother, Jennifer, in front of the Artemis I Orion spacecraft following the thermal vacuum test at the Space Environments Complex at NASA’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio. Cavanaugh says collaboration and empathy were key to solving challenges along the way. “I’ve learned to look at things from the other person’s perspective,” he said. “We’re all working toward the same incredible goal, even if we don’t always agree. That mindset helps keep things constructive and prevents misunderstandings.”
He also emphasizes the importance of creative problem-solving. “For me, overcoming technical challenges comes down to seeking different perspectives, questioning assumptions, and not being afraid to try something new—even if it sounds a little ridiculous at first.”
Mark Cavanaugh riding his motorcycle on the Circuit of the Americas track in Austin, Texas. Outside of work, Cavanaugh fuels his love of speed and precision by riding one of his three motorcycles. He has even taken laps at the Circuit of the Americas track in Austin, Texas.
When he is not on the track or in the control room, Cavanaugh gives back through student outreach. “The thing I always stress when I talk to students is that nothing is impossible,” he said. “I never thought I’d get to work in the space industry, let alone at NASA. But I stayed open to opportunities—even the ones that didn’t match what I originally imagined for myself.”
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