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The INFINITY Science Center is the public NASA visitor and science museum for John C. Stennis Space Center. The 72,000 square-foot facility is located adjacent to the Mississippi Welcome Center near the MS/LA border. Admission includes a behind-the-scenes bus tour of nearby Stennis Space Center. The two RV Gypsies went here on a Wednesday because it was Seniors Day.
The themes of the center's interactive exhibits include NASA, space, planets, stars, weather, earth science, space travel and exploration. Displays include a full-sized International Space Station module, a cutaway model of the Orion spacecraft, and components from a space-flown RS-25 Space Shuttle Main Engine. Outdoor displays include am F-1 rocket engine, a tsunami buoy, U.S. Navy Riverine training boat and the Apollo 19 Saturn V first stage rocket booster (acquired from NASA Michoud Assembly).
The INFINITY Science Center officially opened in April 2012 to replace the old 14,000 square-foot StenniSphere visitors center. |
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INFINITY Science Center is a state-of-the-art science and space educational center open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Individual guests older than 18 years must present a valid photo ID; those younger than 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Foreign nationals must present a valid passport from their country of origin or a permanent residence card, if applicable. Backpacks and large bags are not permitted; all other bags are subject to search. |
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Below: Displays outside the Infinity Science Center |
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Between 1851 and 2013,
875 storms developed into hurricanes
and 286 made landfall in the U.S. |
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The two RV Gypsies saw one small baby alligator in a pond at The Infinity Center |
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The the two RV Gypsies took a 35-minute bus tour of the facilities at The Infinity Space Center, which passed through the restricted gates of the 14,0000-acre research facility. It is practically the only way someone can see inside, unless they are employees. An experienced guide explained some of the history of the site and reveal astonishing facts about some of the ground-breaking scientific work happening at SSC on a daily basis to the two RV Gypsies. It is also home to the largest concentration of oceanographers in the world, most of whom are working at the U.S. Navy's Meteorology and Oceanography Command based here. |
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Below: As the two RV Gypsies traveled on the bus to the base, Karen Duquette took a couple of photos taken from the moving bus of a canal with locks. The guide explained that the old Saturn V rockets used by NASA during the Apollo days were too large and too heavy to be shipped by truck or rail. They were floated on barges up from the Gulf of Mexico. While this part of coastal Mississippi is almost at sea level it is not totally flat so the final part of the journey involved raising the barges as they traveled a few miles inland to the testing complex. |
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The two RV Gypsies got a behind-the-scenes look at America’s largest rocket engine test facility, one of the most unique scientific complexes on Earth. |
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Below: 3 Rocket Engine Test complexes.
Rocket engines are of course extremely powerful and they must be evaluated with very strong and stable structures known as test complexes. Once engines go through testing they are ready for the Space Shuttle. NASA used the same structures to test the first and second stages of Saturn V rockets for the Apollo and Skylab missions in the 1960's and 1970's. |
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The two RV Gypsies with the 3 Rocket Engine Test complexes in the background |
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