To Mars and beyond: NASA’s Infinity Science Center, Pearlington, MS

The first (S-IC) stage of a Saturn V launch vehicle towers above me at the Infinity Science Center. It was intended for the last planned Apollo mission, Apollo 19, canceled due to the Vietnam War. Thirteen other S-IC rocket boosters lie on the ocean floor just off Cape Canaveral, Florida.

I recently read Tom Wolfe’s 1979 book, The Right Stuff, about the military test pilots who became the astronauts of Project Mercury, the first manned space program. The New York Times calls the book “technically accurate, learned, cheeky, risky, touching, tough, compassionate, and nostalgic.” It left me wanting to learn the rest of the story. Then, a couple of weeks ago, I made a discovery. The Mississippi Welcome Center on Interstate 10, where I was staying overnight, was adjacent to the Stennis Space Center, NASA’s premier rocket test facility.

This welcome center in Pearlington, MS takes top prize in hospitality for traveling RVers. Each individual parking spot has its own picnic table, water spigot, and trash can. Oddly, there are posted signs as you enter saying “No Overnight Parking,” but these spaces are for that purpose.

Although it wasn’t open that day, NASA has a first-class, interactive museum there called the Infinity Science Center. Open Thursday through Sunday this time of year, it features a 3-D theater, exhibits on hurricanes, carnivorous plants, the Mississippi Delta, the history of Stennis, and, of course, many artifacts, videos, activities, and displays related to the space program.

Fifteen people at a time can “dive” in this Deep Ocean Explorer simulator, viewing the creatures that inhabit the artificial coral reef that forms on an offshore oil rig. I failed miserably at our emergency mission to make a repair on the structure 1,200 meters down, using the individual joysticks at my station. Not enough video game experience I suppose!

I stayed at the welcome center again yesterday when Infinity was open. A steady downpour followed me from the campground across the Lake Pontchartrain Bridge. Flashes of brilliant lightning warned of worse weather to follow. I was relieved to pull into Infinity’s huge parking lot, which has long rows of RV and bus parking spots. For $21, I spent more than four hours there, including watching two movies, Incredible Predators and Journey to Space. The latter is a must-see introduction to future NASA space exploration and research.

The first use of a Saturn V launch vehicle in 1967 was for the unmanned Apollo 4 mission. This command module is one of many artifacts at Infinity. Some of the most fascinating were an Apollo Lunar Lander used in training; exhibits on spacesuit construction, the critically important space shuttle heat resistant tiles, and astronaut food; and lots of video footage from over the years.

An astronaut’s living space inside the International Space Station’s Destiny Module includes a zippered bag to sleep in, a “pillow” you strap your head to, laptop for emailing home, and velcro and elastic to hold everything from highlighters to underwear. A good supply of clean socks is valuable, as the astronauts do not wear shoes on the ISS.

There was no doubt that I was getting the rest of the story. In particular, the story of the future and Space Launch System (SLS), NASA’s new heavy-lift rocket. I spent a lot of time studying a display on RS-25 engines, which are assembled and tested at Stennis. These are the engines that powered space shuttles for three decades. Now they will launch the 4-person Orion spacecraft on Artemis missions, first returning to the moon and later journeying to Mars. The four astronauts of the Artemis II mission, who will “venture around the Moon,” have already been chosen.