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Bruce Murray Space Image Library

Mule and Rocket Test Stand, 1967

Mule and Rocket Test Stand, 1967
Mule and Rocket Test Stand, 1967 In this photograph, a "one horsepower" mule and plow works to dig a trench in front of a test stand with a Saturn S-IC stage in place for a future firing at the Mississippi Test Facility, now known as NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center (SSC). The S-IC stage produced the equivalent of 160 million horsepower when running at full strength.Not surprisingly, testing large rocket engines tends to draw noise complaints, so the location of the facility proved ideal due to its isolation as well as its proximity to other NASA facilities along the Gulf Coast. The nature of the soil in the area, though, meant that using bulldozers to dig the shallow pipe trenches to support the test stands would cause more problems than the machinery would solve. The mule and plow provided a simple and proven solution. NASA