Virgin Orbit

In a moment when the nation is rethinking how we memorialize historical figures who represent different values than our society today, an important NASA facility located in Mississippi is receiving national attention over its name.

Stennis Space Center is a NASA engine test facility located just north of Interstate I-10 in Hancock County, Mississippi. The NASA site is 39 miles east of NASA’s neighboring Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Louisiana. It’s not uncommon for engineers and project managers from nearby Slidell, Louisiana, to work at the Mississippi test facility.

The NASA site takes its name from the late Senator John Cornelius Stennis, a celebrated U.S. senator from Mississippi who served in Congress for over 41 years. Mr. Stennis can be described as a proponent of racial segregation based on the senator’s statements and voting record on civil rights policy while in office.

The issue of Stennis Space Center’s name has since been raised to NASA leadership. Today, the possibility of a new name is considered possible, but opposition from statewide and national leadership could be a roadblock.

The team at Virgin Orbit published a statement this week expressing its support for “peaceful protests and demonstrations” following the death of George Floyd.

The 46-year-old African American died from asphyxiation on Memorial Day after being handcuffed by Minneapolis police and pinned down on the street for almost nine minutes with a knee on his neck. Floyd was stopped for allegedly passing a fake $20 bill.

The loss of George Floyd’s life adds to the heartbreaking list of African Americans who have been been killed at the hands of systemic racism in the last decade alone. From Trayvon Martin and Tamir Rice to Michael Brown and Eric Garner.

Prejudice in this country is deadly, and despite NASA’s best framing, this weekend’s historic launch may grab the nation’s attention, but the achievement does nothing toward healing the hearts of all who are heartbroken over each new tragedy.

That sentiment is one reflected in Virgin Orbit’s statement. It’s difficult to focus on the challenges of tomorrow without pausing to recognize the challenges of the day.

Update 5/24/2020 8:37 p.m. EDT: New launch target between 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. EDT on Monday, May 25

Update 5/25/2020 3:56 p.m. EDT: Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket had a clean release from the wing of the Cosmic Girl 747, but the mission terminated shortly after release. Virgin Orbit says the crew and aircraft are safe.

A rocket typically lifts off from a launchpad to move a payload from the ground to somewhere in space, but Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit sees another path to sending orbital vehicles and satellites to low Earth orbit.

How does dropping a rocket into free fall from an airplane named Cosmic Girl before its engines fire off sound?

Virgin Orbit planned to complete the first orbital flight test of its LauncherOne rocket today to demonstrate just that, but a “minor sensor issue” has caused Virgin Orbit to scrub the test flight for Sunday.

The company believes the sensor problem can be resolved with a quick turnaround, however, suggesting a potential Memorial Day orbital flight test for LauncherOne.