NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

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May 25, 1961	President John F. Kennedy sets goal of sending a man to the moon before the decade is out.
October 25, 1961	NASA announces decision to establish national rocket test site in Hancock County, Mississippi.
December 18, 1961	Site officially named Mississippi Test Operations (MTO).
April 18, 1962	Army Corps of Engineers opens real estate project office to begin land acquisition negotiations.
May 17, 1963	Workmen cut first tree to start clearing the test area for construction.
July 1, 1965	MTO designated Mississippi Test Facility (MTF).
April 23, 1966	First Saturn V rocket booster (S-II-T) tested at Mississippi Test Facility.
September 9, 1970	NASA announces Earth Resources Laboratory will locate at MTF.
March 1, 1971	Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) testing assigned to MTF.
June 14, 1974	MTF renamed National Space Technology Laboratories (NSTL).
May 19, 1975	First Space Shuttle Main Engine test at NSTL. Test did not include ignition.
June 12, 1975	First Space Shuttle Main Engine tested at NSTL to achieve ignition.
June 24, 1975	First Space Shuttle Main Engine tested at NSTL to go full duration without an early shutdown.
May 28, 1976	Flag-raising ceremony marks the official move of the Naval Oceanographic Program to NSTL.
April 21, 1978	First system test of Space Shuttle Main Propulsion Test Article conducted-including three SSMEs tested simultaneously.
March 1978	Earth Resources Laboratory Applications Software (ELAS) developed at NSTL and implemented worldwide.
June 11, 1987	Mississippi Technology Transfer Center dedication held.
February 25, 1988	NSTL conducts 1,000th test firing of Space Shuttle Main Engine.
May 9, 1988	NSTL assigned key role for space remote sensing commercialization.
May 20, 1988	NSTL renamed John C. Stennis Space Center by Executive order of President Ronald Reagan.
January 18, 1989	Construction begins on the Component Test Facility to test turbopump machinery for rocket propulsion systems.
August 20, 1990	First time SSME tests are conducted on all three test stands in one day.
December 30, 1991	NASA Administrator designates SSC Center of Excellence for large propulsion system testing.
July 24, 1992	Space Shuttle Main Engine program achieves 2,000th test firing.
August 11, 1993	High Heat Flux Facility dedicated. The facility tests materials to be used for hypersonic spacecraft of the future.
May 1, 1994	SSME test operations program management transferred from Marshall Space Flight Center to SSC.
May 26, 1995	SSC completes testing on new Block I configuration SSME.
March 16, 1996	First test conducted on a sub-scale cryogenic fuel tank for the X-33 Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) program.
May 19, 1996	Endeavor is the first Space Shuttle to fly three Block I SSMEs, all tested at SSC.
May 30, 1996	NASA designates SSC as lead center to manage capabilities and assets for rocket propulsion testing.
July 2, 1996	NASA Headquarters announces SSC will conduct and manage engine Component testing for the X-33 for the RLV program.
February 21, 1997	SSC designated as NASA's lead center for implementing commercial Remote sensing activities.
April 15, 1998	Navy's Major Shared Resource Center (MSRC) dedicated and officially Named the Trent Lott Supercomputing and Visualization Institute.
July 27, 1998	Activation initiated of E-1 Component Test Facility, world class high-pressure component cryogenic facility.
August 8, 1998	All four test positions occupied for the first time in center's history.
September 1, 2000	Lockheed Martin Propulsion, Thermal and Metrology Center at Stennis announced.
September 29, 2000	A $25 million construction project begins for Naval Small Craft Instruction and Technical Training School and Special Boat Unit 22 in support of Navy SEAL activity.
April 21, 2001	SSC opened its doors to more than 13,000 visitors for the first-ever public night test firing of a Space Shuttle Main Engine.
May 2001	The E-Complex began work on nearly $24 million worth of upgrades.
May 22, 2001	StenniSphere recognized its 250,000th visitor.
August 6, 2001	SSC conducted the final test of a three-part test series of Electro-Mechanical Actuator technology used on the former X-33 program's Linear Aerospike XRS-2200 flight engine. The series was conducted as part of NASA's Space Launch Initiative.
November, 2001	The E-Complex successfully completed the first phase in an important test series for the integrated powerhead demonstrator (IPD) liquid oxgygen turbopump. The IPD program is developing new technologies for NASA's second-generation propulsion systems.
April 8, 2002	The launch of STS-110 marks a milestone for NASA and for SSC as this flight was the first to use a full complement of the Block II configuration of the Space Shuttle Main Engine.
August 5, 2002	Ribbon cutting ceremonies for three facilities, valued at more than $60 million, were held at SSC for the Lockheed Martin Mississippi Space and Technology Center, the Naval Small Craft Instructional and Technical Training School and Special Boat Unit 22 and the Naval Oceanographic Office Warfighting Support and Survey Operations Center.
August 24, 2002	Roy Estess retired as Center Director.
August 25, 2002	NASA's Bill Parsons named Center Director.
May 9, 2003	Bill Parsons selected as the manager for the Space Shuttle Program.
May 9, 2003	Michael Rudolphi named Interim Director.
January 5, 2004	Rear Admiral Thomas Q. Donaldson, V (Ret.) assumes the position of Center Director.
January 21, 2004	Space Shuttle Main Engine reaches a significant milestone of one million seconds of test and flight operations during a test firing at SSC.
October 5, 2004	SSC ships the last of Space Shuttle Discovery's three main engines to Kennedy Space Center, Florida, for NASA's Return to Flight following the loss of Space Shuttle Columbia. All three of Space Shuttle Discovery's main engines were tested and proven flight-worthy at SSC. Discovery's STS-114 mission launched July 26, 2005 and safely landed at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on Aug. 9, 2005.
August 11, 2005	A Space Shuttle Main Engine test marks the 30th anniversary of SSME testing at SSC.
August 29, 2005	Hurricane Katrina makes landfall, battering Southeast Louisiana and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Maps of its track show Katrina's eye moved up the Pearl River and passed directly over Stennis Space Center.
September 13, 2005	Bill Parsons named center director.
January 23, 2006	Dr. Richard Gilbrech named center director.
April 21, 2006	A space shuttle main engine test marks the 40th anniversary of the first engine test at the center.
June 5, 2006	NASA announces center responsibilities associated with the Constellation Program for robotic and human moon and Mars exploration. Stennis manages and integrates rocket propulsion testing for the Crew Launch Vehicle Project. Stennis leads sea-level development, certification, and acceptance testing for the upper stage engine, sea-level development testing for the upper stage main propulsion test article, and sea-level acceptance testing for the flight upper stage assembly.
September 29, 2006	Stennis Space Center conducts the final space shuttle main engine test on its A-1 Test Stand.
November 9, 2006	Stennis Space Center's A-1 Test Stand officially handed over to NASA's Constellation Program for testing the J-2X engine that will power upper stage of the new crew launch vehicle, Ares I, and the Earth departure stage of the new cargo launch vehicle, Ares V.
May 8, 2007	NASA announces decision to build a new test stand at Stennis Space Center for the J-2X engine that will power the upper stages of NASA's Ares I and Ares V rockets. The 300-foot-tall test stand with an open-frame design will allow engineers to simulate conditions at different altitudes.
June 13, 2007	Tree clearing begins for the site of the new A-3 Test Stand at Stennis Space Center.
August 23, 2007	NASA officials and government leaders participate in the official ground-breaking event for the A-3 Test Stand at Stennis Space Center. Taking part in the event were Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, Senator Thad Cochran, Senator Trent Lott, Representative Gene Taylor, NASA Deputy Administrator Shana Dale, NASA Associate Administrator for Exploration Systems Scott Horowitz, and Stennis Space Center Director Rick Gilbrech.
September 19, 2007	Core components, known as Powerpack 1A, of the J-2X engine being designed for NASA's Constellation Program are installed on the A-1 Test Stand at NASA's Stennis Space Center.
September 30, 2007	Robert D. Cabana assumes the position of Center Director.
December 18, 2007	A "chill test" on the A-1 Test Stand at NASA's Stennis Space Center signals the beginning of testing on Powerpack 1A of the J-2X engine being designed for NASA's Constellation Program.
January 31, 2008	A gas generator ignition test on the A-1 Test Stand at NASA's Stennis Space Center marks first hotfire test on Powerpack 1A of the J-2X engine being designed for NASA's Constellation Program.
May 3, 2008	NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center Director Robert D. Cabana joins a distinguished list of American space heroes with his induction into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame at Kennedy Space Center.
May 8, 2008	Engineers at NASA's Stennis Space Center successfully completed the first series of tests on Powerpack 1A as part of early development of the J-2X engine that will power the upper stages of the Ares I and Ares V rockets, key components of NASA's Constellation Program. The test hardware consisted of J-2 components used from the Apollo program in the 1960s through the X-33 program of the 1990s.
October 1, 2008	The last flight engine scheduled for testing at Stennis (Engine 2061), arrives.
October 22, 2008	A flight certification test on engine 2061, the last space shuttle main flight engine scheduled to be built, is conducted on the A-2 Test Stand.
October 24, 2008	Fabricated steel begins arriving by truck for construction of the A-3 Test Stand that will be used to test the engine for the nation's next generation of moon rockets. Structural steel work would begin Oct. 29.
November 20, 2008	Arthur E. 'Gene' Goldman named center director.
April 9, 2009	Structural steel work is completed on the A-3 Test Stand. The final beam was ceremoniously placed atop the structure as more than 100 guests and workers looked on.
June 2, 2009	The new Emergency Operations Center is officially opened as Gov. Haley Barbour; Charles Scales, NASA associate deputy administrator; Gene Goldman, Stennis director, and other officials conduct a ribbon cutting ceremony. The 78,688-square-foot facility houses the medical clinic, fire department, security services, energy management control system and incident command post.
June 29, 2009	The last scheduled test of a space shuttle main engine is conducted at the A-2 Test Stand.
July 2, 2009	Construction of the A-3 Test Stand marks a milestone with completion of a pair of transfer docks to be used for delivery of rocket propellants (or fuel).

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Responsible NASA Official: Paul Foerman, SSC Public Affairs Office