Stennis Space Center A-1, A-2 and B test stands were built in the early 1960s to test the first and second stages of the Apollo Saturn V rocket that safely transported Americans to the moon. This Thursday at 4:30 eastern / 20:30 UTC the RS-25 engine will fire up on the A-1 Stand (foreground) in preparation of taking astronauts and scientific payload to multiple destinations in deep space. Awesome. Credit: NASA / c. 2004 #SLSFiredUp #JourneyToMars #NASA #progress #enginetesting #rocketscience #smokeandfire #heritage #nasahistory #mississippi #aerialshot nasastennis nasa_marshall nasa