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By NASA
5 min read
New NASA Mission to Reveal Earth’s Invisible ‘Halo’
A new NASA mission will capture images of Earth’s invisible “halo,” the faint light given off by our planet’s outermost atmospheric layer, the exosphere, as it morphs and changes in response to the Sun. Understanding the physics of the exosphere is a key step toward forecasting dangerous conditions in near-Earth space, a requirement for protecting Artemis astronauts traveling through the region on the way to the Moon or on future trips to Mars. The Carruthers Geocorona Observatory will launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida no earlier than Tuesday, Sept. 23.
Revealing Earth’s invisible edge
In the early 1970s, scientists could only speculate about how far Earth’s atmosphere extended into space. The mystery was rooted in the exosphere, our atmosphere’s outermost layer, which begins some 300 miles up. Theorists conceived of it as a cloud of hydrogen atoms — the lightest element in existence — that had risen so high the atoms were actively escaping into space.
But the exosphere reveals itself only via a faint “halo” of ultraviolet light known as the geocorona. Pioneering scientist and engineer Dr. George Carruthers set himself the task of seeing it. After launching a few prototypes on test rockets, he developed an ultraviolet camera ready for a one-way trip to space.
Apollo 16 astronaut John Young is pictured on the lunar surface with George Carruthers’ gold-plated Far Ultraviolet Camera/Spectrograph, the first Moon-based observatory. The Lunar Module “Orion” is on the right and the Lunar Roving Vehicle is parked in the background next to the American flag. NASA In April 1972, Apollo 16 astronauts placed Carruthers’ camera on the Moon’s Descartes Highlands, and humanity got its first glimpse of Earth’s geocorona. The images it produced were as stunning for what they captured as they were for what they didn’t.
“The camera wasn’t far enough away, being at the Moon, to get the entire field of view,” said Lara Waldrop, principal investigator for the Carruthers Geocorona Observatory. “And that was really shocking — that this light, fluffy cloud of hydrogen around the Earth could extend that far from the surface.” Waldrop leads the mission from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where George Carruthers was an alumnus.
The first image of UV light from Earth’s outer atmosphere, the geocorona, taken from a telescope designed and built by George Carruthers. The telescope took the image while on the Moon during the Apollo 16 mission in 1972. G. Carruthers (NRL) et al./Far UV Camera/NASA/Apollo 16 Our planet, in a new light
Today, the exosphere is thought to stretch at least halfway to the Moon. But the reasons for studying go beyond curiosity about its size.
As solar eruptions reach Earth, they hit the exosphere first, setting off a chain of reactions that sometimes culminate in dangerous space weather storms. Understanding the exosphere’s response is important to predicting and mitigating the effects of these storms. In addition, hydrogen — one of the atomic building blocks of water, or H2O — escapes through the exosphere. Mapping that escape process will shed light on why Earth retains water while other planets don’t, helping us find exoplanets, or planets outside our solar system, that might do the same.
NASA’s Carruthers Geocorona Observatory, named in honor of George Carruthers, is designed to capture the first continuous movies of Earth’s exosphere, revealing its full expanse and internal dynamics.
“We’ve never had a mission before that was dedicated to making exospheric observations,” said Alex Glocer, the Carruthers mission scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “It’s really exciting that we’re going to get these measurements for the first time.”
Download this video from NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio.
Journey to L1
At 531 pounds and roughly the size of a loveseat sofa, the Carruthers spacecraft will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket along with NASA’s IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe) spacecraft and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s SWFO-L1 (Space Weather Follow On – Lagrange 1) space weather satellite. After launch, all three missions will commence a four-month cruise phase to Lagrange point 1 (L1), a location approximately 1 million miles closer to the Sun than Earth is. After a one-month period for science checkouts, Carruthers’ two-year science phase will begin in March 2026.
Artist’s concept of the five Sun-Earth Lagrange points in space. At Lagrange points, the gravitational pull of two large masses counteract, allowing spacecraft to reduce fuel consumption needed to remain in position. The L1 point of the Earth-Sun system affords an uninterrupted view of the Sun and will be home to three new heliophysics missions in 2025: NASA’s Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP), NASA’s Carruthers Geocorona Observatory, and NOAA’s Space Weather Follow-On – Lagrange 1 (SWFO – L1). NASA’s Conceptual Image Lab/Krystofer Kim From L1, roughly four times farther away than the Moon, Carruthers will capture a comprehensive view of the exosphere using two ultraviolet cameras, a near-field imager and a wide-field imager.
“The near-field imager lets you zoom up really close to see how the exosphere is varying close to the planet,” Glocer said. “The wide-field imager lets you see the full scope and expanse of the exosphere, and how it’s changing far away from the Earth’s surface.”
The two imagers will together map hydrogen atoms as they move through the exosphere and ultimately out to space. But what we learn about atmospheric escape on our home planet applies far beyond it.
“Understanding how that works at Earth will greatly inform our understanding of exoplanets and how quickly their atmospheres can escape,” Waldrop said.
By studying the physics of Earth, the one planet we know that supports life, the Carruthers Geocorona Observatory can help us know what to look for elsewhere in the universe.
The Carruthers Geocorona Observatory mission is led by Lara Waldrop from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The Space Sciences Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley leads mission implementation, design and development of the payload in collaboration with Utah State University’s Space Dynamics Laboratory. The Carruthers spacecraft was designed and built by BAE Systems. NASA’s Explorers and Heliophysics Projects Division at the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the mission for the agency’s Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
By Miles Hatfield
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
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Last Updated Sep 18, 2025 Related Terms
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By European Space Agency
Video: 00:01:43 An essential part of ESA’s Space Safety programme is dedicated to getting and keeping Earth’s orbits clean from space debris. In the long run, the Agency aspires to stimulate a true circular economy in space, minimising the impact of spaceflight on Earth and its resources where possible. As part of ESA’s Zero Debris approach, new ESA missions will be designed for safe operations and disposal to stop the creation of new debris by 2030.
ESA has now taken another important step on the road towards sustainability in space with its first in-orbit servicing mission RISE, planned for launch in 2029.
RISE is a commercial in-orbit servicing mission that will demonstrate that it can safely rendezvous and dock to a geostationary client satellite, extending the life of geostationary satellites that need support with attitude and orbit control, but are otherwise in working order.
After verifying that it meets all the performance standards in a first demonstration, prime contractor, operator and co-founder D-Orbit will start commercial life extension services for geostationary satellites.
ESA’s RISE mission marks a promising step towards enhancing in-orbit services and technologies, such as refuelling, refurbishment and assembling – all essential elements for creating a circular economy in space.
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By European Space Agency
Image: Part of the Gibson Desert in Western Australia is featured in this image, captured by the Φsat-2 mission in June 2025. View the full article
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By NASA
Explore This Section Earth Earth Observer Editor’s Corner Feature Articles Meeting Summaries News Science in the News Calendars In Memoriam Announcements More Archives Conference Schedules Style Guide 13 min read
The Earth Observer Editor’s Corner: July–September 2025
NOTE TO READERS: After more than three decades associated with or directly employed by NASA, Steve Platnick [GSFC—Deputy Director for Atmospheres, Earth Sciences Division] stepped down effective August 8, 2025. Steve began his civil servant career at GSFC in 2002, but his GSFC association went back to 1993, first as a contractor and then as one of the earliest employees of the Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology (JCET). During his time at NASA, Steve played an integral role in the sustainability and advancement of NASA’s Earth Observing System platforms and data. He was actively involved in the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Science Team, where he helped advance several key components of the MODIS instrument. He was also the NASA Lead/co-Lead for the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP), Atmosphere Discipline from 2012–2020 where he focused on operational cloud optical and microphysical products.
In 2008, Steve became the Earth Observing System (EOS) Senior Project Scientist. In this role, he led the EOS Project Science Office that supported airborne sensors, ground networks, and calibration labs. The Kudos article titled “Steve Platnick Steps Down from NASA After 34 Years of Service” includes a more detailed account of Steve’s career and includes a list of awards he has received.
Steve’s departure leaves a vacancy in the author’s chair for “The Editor’s Corner” – another role Steve filled as EOS Senior Project Scientist. Barry Lefer [NASA Headquarters—Associate Director of Research, Earth Science Division] graciously agreed to serve as guest author of the editorial in the current compilation. I want to thank Steve for all his support for The Earth Observer over the years and thank Barry for stepping in as the author of “The Editor’s Corner” for the time being.
–Alan Ward, Executive Editor, The Earth Observer
I begin this editorial with news of a successful Earth science launch. At 5:40 PM Indian Standard Time (IST), or 8:10 AM Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), on July 30, 2025, the joint NASA–Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Synthetic Aperture Radar, or NISAR, mission launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on India’s southeastern coast aboard an ISRO Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) rocket 5. The ISRO ground controllers began communicating with NISAR about 20 minutes after launch, at just after 8:29 AM EDT, and confirmed it is operating as expected.
NISAR will use two different radar frequencies (L-band SAR and S-band SAR) to penetrate clouds and forest canopies. Including L-band and S-band radars on one satellite is an evolution in SAR airborne and space-based missions that, for NASA, started in 1978 with the launch of Seasat. In 2012, ISRO began launching SAR missions starting with Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT-1), followed by RISAT-1A in 2022, to support a wide range of applications in India.
Combining the data from these two radars will allow researchers to systematically and globally map Earth – measuring changes of our planet’s surface down to a centimeter (~0.4 inches). With this detailed view, researchers will have an unprecedented ability to observe and measure complex processes from ecosystem disturbances to natural hazards to groundwater issues. All NISAR science data will be freely available and open to the public.
Following the successful launch, NISAR entered an approximately 90-day commissioning phase to test out systems before science operations begin. A key milestone of that phase was the completion of the deployment of the 39-ft (12-m) radar antenna reflector on August 15 – see Video. The process began on August 9, when the satellite’s boom, which had been tucked close to its main body, started unfolding one joint at a time until it was fully extended about four days later. The reflector assembly is mounted at the end of the boom. On August 15, small explosive bolts that held the reflector assembly in place were fired, enabling the antenna to begin a process called the bloom – its unfurling by the release of tension stored in its flexible frame while stowed like an umbrella. Subsequent activation of motors and cables pulled the antenna into its final, locked position.
Video: NISAR mission team members at NASA JPL, working with colleagues in India, executed the deployment of the satellite’s radar antenna reflector on Aug. 15, 2025. About 39 feet (12 meters) in diameter, the reflector directs microwave pulses from NISAR’s two radars toward Earth and receives the return signals. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech The radar reflector will be used to direct and receive microwave signals from the two radars. By interpreting the differences between the L-band and S-band measurements, researchers will be able to discern characteristics about the surface below. As NISAR passes over the same locations twice every 12 days, scientists can evaluate how those characteristics have changed over time to reveal new insights about Earth’s dynamic surfaces.
With the radar reflector now in full bloom, scientists have turned their attention to tuning and testing the radar and preparing NISAR for Science Operations, which are anticipated to start around the beginning of November. Congratulations to the NISAR team on a successful launch and deployment of the radar reflector. Along with the science community, I am excited to see what new discoveries will result from the data collected by the first Earth System Observatory mission.
Turning now to news from active missions, the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission has collected over 10 years of global L-band radiometry observations that have resulted in surface soil moisture, vegetation optical depth (VOD), and freeze/thaw state estimates that outperform past and current products. A decade of SMAP soil moisture observations has led to scientific achievements, including quantifying the linkages of the three main metabolic cycles (e.g., carbon, water, and energy) on land. The data have been widely used by the Earth system science community to improve drought assessments and flood prediction as well as the accuracy of numerical weather prediction models.
SMAP’s Early Adopter program has helped connect SMAP data with people and organizations that need it. The program has increased the awareness of SMAP mission products, broadened the user community, increased collaboration with potential users, improved knowledge of SMAP data product capabilities, and expedited the distribution and uses of mission products for a suite of 16 products available. For example, the L-band VOD, which is related to water content in vegetation, is being used to better understand water exchanges in the soil–vegetation–atmosphere continuum.
The SMAP Active–Passive (AP) algorithm – based on data from SMAP and the European Copernicus Program Sentinel-1 C-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) – will be adapted to work with L-band data from the newly launched NISAR mission. The result will be estimates of global soil moisture at a spatial resolution of 1 km (0.62 mi) or better approximately once per week.
In addition, the data collected during the SMAP mission would be continued and further enhanced by the European Union’s Copernicus Imaging Microwave Radiometer (CIMR) mission if it launches. This proposed multichannel microwave radiometry observatory includes L-band and four other microwave channels sharing a large mesh reflector – like the one used with SMAP. The plan calls for CIMR to follow a similar approach as SMAP for RFI detection and meet the instrument thermal noise and data latency of SMAP for next-mission desired characteristics.
To learn more about what SMAP has accomplished see “A Decade of Global Water Cycle Monitoring: NASA Soil Moisture Active Passive Mission.”
NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) has been the “gold standard” for atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) observations from space for over a decade. The data returned from OCO-2 provide insights into plant health, forest management, forecasting crop yields, fire-risk models, and anticipating droughts.
OCO-3, constructed from spare parts left after OCO-2, was launched to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2019, where it has operated for over five years. OCO-3 extends the global CO2 measurement record while adding new capabilities made possible by being on ISS (e.g., detailed views of urban and tropical regions).
The overarching OCO mission hasn’t just about been about data and hardware. Although both those elements are parts of the story, the human stories woven through the mission’s successes and setbacks are really what holds the mission together. The feature, “A Tapestry of Tales: 10th Anniversary Reflections from NASA’s OCO-2 Mission,” sheds light on some of these personal stories from the OCO-2 and OCO-3 missions.
The individual tales contained in this article reveal the grit and determination behind the scenes of the success of OCO-2 and OCO-3, from the anxiety and excitement surrounding the launch of OCO-2, to moments of fieldwork in the Nevada desert, to internships where wildfire responders turned to OCO-2 data to improve fire-risk models. Taken together, these stories form a “tapestry” that reveals how the OCO-2 and OCO-3 missions continue to illuminate the dynamics of Earth’s atmosphere – one breath at a time.
These personal perspectives underscore that science is not just numbers; it’s people pushing boundaries, navigating failure, and inspiring ways to make our planet safer and healthier. In a time such as this, this is an important reminder.
The joint NASA–U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Landsat program has been a cornerstone of Earth observation for over 50 years. On July 13, Landsat 9 collected its millionth image: a stunning shot of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska – see Figure. Landsat 9, the most recent satellite in the Landsat series, orbits Earth alongside Landsat 8. Together, these satellites collect invaluable data about Earth’s changing land surface every eight days.
Figure: This Landsat 9 image showing the Beaufort Sea shoreline off Alaska and Canada is just one of the scenes captured and processed on July 13, 2025— the same day the USGS EROS archive reached a milestone of one million Landsat 9 Level-1 products. This false color image was made with bands 6, 5, and 4 from the Operational Land Imager. This remote area allows the pristine wilderness environment to support a diverse wildlife and unique ecosystem that includes various species of mammals, birds, and fish. Landsat Level-1 products from Landsat 1 through Landsat 9 can be downloaded at no charge from a number of systems – visit the Landsat Data Access webpage to learn more. Credit: Public Domain After collecting more than 3.3 million images over the course of more than 26 years in orbit, Landsat 7 was decommissioned on June 4, 2025. A YouTube video released at the time of decommissioning provides a concise visual summary of the Landsat 7 mission’s achievements – and the technical challenges overcome. In addition, The Earth Observer did a feature for the 20th anniversary of Landsat 7 in the July–August 2019 issue, called “The Living Legacy of Landsat 7: Still Going Strong After 20 Years in Orbit” [Volume 31, Issue 4, pp. 4–14] that is a useful resource to learn more about the history and achievements (through 20 years) of the mission.
One of the strengths of the Landsat program is its potential for data integration with other satellites. The Harmonized Landsat and Sentinel-2 (HLS) product exemplifies this collaborative approach by combining data from Landsat 8 and 9 with data from the European Space Agency’s Copernicus Sentinel-2 A, B, and C missions. Whereas Landsat alone has a repeat time of eight days (i.e., combining Landsat 8 and 9 data); the combined HLS dataset provides imagery for the same location on Earth every 1.6 days – enabling researchers to monitor short-term changes in Earth’s land surface much more effectively than using Landsat or Sentinel-2 data alone.
HLS became one of the most-downloaded NASA data products in fiscal year 2024, with continued growth on the horizon. In February 2025, the program expanded with nine new vegetation indices based on HLS data, with historical processing back to 2013 scheduled for completion by early 2026. Low-latency HLS products will also be available in late 2026. For the full story of how HLS came to be – see the feature: “Harmonized Landsat and Sentinel-2: Collaboration Drives Innovation.”
Following a 13-month hibernation, the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) mission was reinstalled to its original location aboard the ISS and resumed operations on April 22, 2024. Since this storage period, GEDI’s lasers have been operating nominally and the mission has continued to produce high-quality observations of the Earth’s three-dimensional structure, amassing 33 billion land surface returns as of November 27, 2024.
The mission team has been actively processing and releasing post-storage data to the public, with Version 2.1 – GEDI L1B, L2A, L2B, and L4A data products, which include data through November 2024, all available for download. The new L4C footprint-level Waveform Structural Complexity Index (WSCI) product using pre-storage data has also been released. Looking ahead, the team is preparing Version 3.0 (V3) of all data products, which will incorporate post-storage data while improving quality filtering, geolocation accuracy, and algorithm performance.
The 2025 GEDI Science Team Meeting (STM) brought together the mission science team, competed science team, representatives from the distributed active archive centers (DAACs), collaborators, stakeholders, and data users. Notably, it marked the first in-person gathering of the second competed science team, who shared updates on their research projects. The STM held an important space for brainstorming, knowledge-sharing, and discussion as the GEDI mission continues to flourish in its second epoch. To learn more, see “Summary of the 2025 GEDI Science Team Meeting.”
Shifting focus to the boreal forests of North America, the NASA Arctic–Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE) is now in its final year, marking the end of a decade-long scientific endeavor that has transformed our understanding of environmental change in Alaska and western Canada. This ambitious campaign, funded primarily by NASA’s Terrestrial Ecology Program, has successfully progressed through three distinct phases: ecosystem dynamics (2015–2018), ecosystem services (2017–2022), and the current analysis and synthesis phase (2023–present).
As ABoVE approaches its conclusion, the program has grown to encompass 67 NASA-funded projects with over 1000 participating researchers – a testament to the collaborative scale required to address complex Arctic–boreal ecosystem questions. The program’s integrated approach, combining field research, airborne campaigns, and satellite remote sensing, has generated unprecedented insights into how environmental changes in these northern regions affect both vulnerable ecosystems and society.
The recent 11th – and final – ABoVE Science Team Meeting was an opportunity to showcase the program’s evolution from data collection to synthesis, highlighting successful community engagement initiatives, cutting-edge research on carbon dynamics and ecosystem responses, and innovative science communication strategies that have made this complex research accessible to diverse audiences. With synthesis activities now underway, ABoVE is positioned to deliver comprehensive insights that will inform Arctic and boreal research for years to come. To learn more, see “Summary of the 11th and Final ABoVE Science Team Meeting.”
Last but certainly not least, I want to both recognize and congratulate Compton J. Tucker [GSFC—Senior Researcher]. Compton retired from NASA in March 2025 after 48 years of public service, and then in April, was among 149 newly elected members to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) – which is one of the highest honors in American science. This recognition from NAS brings Compton’s career full circle. He came to GSFC as a NAS postdoc before joining NASA as a civil servant. Compton is a pioneer in the field of satellite-based environmental analysis, using data from various Landsat missions and from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) instrument. His research has focused on global photosynthesis on land, determining land cover, monitoring droughts and food security, and evaluating ecologically coupled disease outbreaks. The Kudos, “Compton J. Tucker Retires from NASA and is Named NAS Fellow,” provides more details about Compton’s research achievements and all of the other scientific awards and honors received throughout his career.
Barry Lefer
Associate Director of Research, Earth Science Division
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Last Updated Sep 10, 2025 Related Terms
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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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