The Department of Marine Science is located at NASA’s John C. Stennis Space Center (SSC), approximately 75 miles south of The University of Southern Mississippi main campus (which is in Hattiesburg, Miss.). The Stennis Space Center is on the Mississippi-Louisiana border near the coast and is lead center for rocket testing.  More oceanographers and hydrographers work at Stennis Space Center than any other location in the world. All DMS graduate courses are taught at SSC.

Stennis is a unique national resource with its complex of state, federal, and private-sector entities. Engines for the space shuttle are tested here. It is also the repository and processing center for the U.S. Navy’s oceanographic data and is the site of one of the Department of Defense’s four Major Shared Resource Centers for supercomputing. The U.S. Navy activities are coordinated through three important naval operations located at SSC: the Commander of the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command (CNMOC), the Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVOCEANO), and the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL). The naval activities are complemented by other federal marine and environmental research activities including NASA’s programs in remote sensing, technology transfer, and commercialization; NOAA’s National Data Buoy Center and an office of the National Marine Fisheries Service; an office of the U.S. Geological Survey's Water Resources Division; and EPA’s Gulf of Mexico Program and Office of Pesticide Programs.

The combination of these varied organizations in one location not only make SSC a unique facility, it also means that SSC operations play an important role in the nation’s security as well as August 3, 2006 12:55 PM   It also is a unique resource for DMS.  Scientists from the various on-site organizations serve as adjunct faculty members in the department, providing support and projects for students and teaching some classes.   DMS personnel additionally have access to the Maury Library at SSC, which houses one of the largest collections of oceanographic materials in the world.

Because of SSC's primary mission as a rocket test facility, there is a large undeveloped buffer zone around the space center. This buffer zone, as well as the space center itself, is heavily forested -- it is not uncommon to walk outside of a building and see grazing deer, strolling raccoons, or rooting armadillos.  There is a nature trail on site near the Pearl River. The remote location of SSC also means that many common services are provided on-site including banks, cafeteria and snack bar, travel agency, gas station, fitness center, dry cleaners, and day care.

Students, faculty, and staff live in several surrounding areas, the closest of which is about 15 miles from SSC. One can live near the beach in the Mississippi Gulf Coast cities of Waveland, Bay St. Louis, and Pass Christian, Miss.  Other people live across the state line is Slidell, La., which is only a half hour drive from New Orleans.  North of SSC is Picayune, Miss.

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