Aerospace Research and Development
	Stennis Space Center
	NASA Headquarters and Centers
	The rumble and roar of rocket engine testing has long been a mainstay activity of the John C. Stennis Space Center. Arrays of Stennis propulsion test facilities are in constant use, and for good reason. Mississippi-based Stennis is NASA's lead center for testing large propulsion systems. Indeed, every Space Shuttle astronaut rides on rocket engines tested at Stennis. In October 1998, center engineers conducted the 2,000th test of a Space Shuttle Main Engine. Building on its role in engine and vehicle testing, which spans 30 years and dates back to the Apollo lunar landing program, Stennis is now helping to shape the future by assembling and testing the RS-68 engine and first stage common booster core for Boeing's new Delta 4 rocket. The RS-68 is the world's largest liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen engine. By way of a NASA and industry partnership, propulsion test facilities at Stennis are tapped for commercial use. Delta 4 is an Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV), a U.S. Air Force program that will produce the next generation of unmanned launch vehicles for both civilian and military use. Another Stennis rocket engine test stand has been converted and modified to test the X-33's linear aerospike engines, the propulsion end of a partnership between NASA and industry to develop Reusable Launch Vehicles (RLVs), designed to dramatically cut the cost of putting payloads into Earth orbit. A Stennis team began tests on critical elements of the aerospike motors, leading up to full-scale engine tests in 1999. The X-33 is a half-scale forerunner of a commercial version of an RLV, called VentureStar, which is to be built by the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works of Palmdale, California. VentureStar development will take place early next century. Other major engine development projects are also underway at Stennis. Work is underway to ready for flight the 60,000-pound thrust engine, called Fastrac. A single-stage main engine, Fastrac burns a mixture of liquid oxygen and kerosene, powering the X-34 and the first stage of a small rocket booster for NASA's Low-Cost Technologies program. Also, a 250,000-pound thrust hybrid rocket motor is under evaluation. Hybrid rocket motors use an environmentally safe, rubberized fuel and a liquid oxidizer. In this hybrid test project, NASA and Lockheed Martin are conducting work through a Space Act Agreement, a partnership where both parties bring resources to the arrangement and both benefit from the effort. A Space Shuttle Main Engine test lights up the night sky at Stennis Space Center.     Stennis is also working with small businesses under the Small Business Technology Transfer Program, focusing on a high-accuracy modular thrust measurement system, which is utilizing magnetic bearings, along with looking into hydrocarbon-fueled rocket engine health monitoring by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy. While Stennis is busily working on rocket engines that hurl payloads less expensively up above Earth, the center is also engaged in commercial remote sensing activities that look downward from space to scan the planet. Stennis is NASA's lead center for commercial remote sensing within the space agency's Earth Science Enterprise. The emerging remote sensing industry is fast becoming a potential multibillion-dollar force in the U.S. economy. In this regard, Stennis' Commercial Remote Sensing Program (CRSP) office has partnered with industry to help develop remote sensing technology. Remote sensing is the ability to acquire and produce images of specific areas of Earth using sensors mounted on aircraft or satellites. Benefits include: determining the best time to irrigate and fertilize crops; finding the most appropriate routes for highways; better planning in the placement of utility lines; and assessing environmental damage caused by oil spills and natural disasters. The Commercial Remote Sensing Program at Stennis assists numerous companies to enhance their competitiveness. One project underway at CRSP, which began in 1998, is a phased $50 million Science Data Buy, where 15 terabytes of data are being purchased from 5 companies. This data will be available for global environmental research within NASA's Earth Science Enterprise. In the future, NASA will continue to purchase data from the commercial sector and work to understand scientific needs and industry concerns. By purchasing data from the private sector, instead of developing, building, and launching new NASA satellites, the space agency may be able to conduct and expand its scientific investigations at a much lower cost, while encouraging the growth of this economic area. CRSP is also providing the remote sensing community with a comprehensive array of artificial and natural ground targets, to help test commercial airborne and spaceborne remote sensing systems against performance specifications and customer needs. In 1998, Stennis' Earth System Science Office continued a study of Louisiana's Barataria Bay, researching the role of the bay in the global carbon cycle. This research is expected to yield new data with regard to shrimp and oyster production in the bay. Furthermore, this study complements remote sensing studies on the health of Lake Pontchartrain and the occurrence of red tide along the Louisiana coast. Stennis' Earth Observations Commercial Applications Program works with business partners to demonstrate the market effectiveness of new remote sensing products. This is exemplified by recent projects to evaluate the commercial potential of synthetic aperture radar, as well as uses and benefits of hyperspectral data. "As we face the changing times ahead and approach the new millennium, we intend to build on the accomplishments of a great foundation with a renewed focus," explains Stennis director Roy S. Estess. "Stennis Space Center will continue partnering with industry, government, and academia to provide our nation a return on its investment in the human exploration and development of space, as well as in our national defense, economic competitiveness, and study of the environment."
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