A-3 Test Stand at Stennis Space Center

Structural steel not only facilitates activity on Earth--it has also helped NASA develop space rockets! The A-3 Test Stand, containing 2,161 steel members in all, is a 235-ft-tall structure at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. While NASA was engaged in its Constellation Program, this test stand allowed engineers to test J-2X engines under vacuum conditions simulating high-altitude operations.

Read more about the steel's role in testing NASA rocket engines in "To Infinity and Beyond," an August 2009 article in Modern Steel Construction magazine.