All piloted space missions since the Mercury program have been launched from here, including Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, and Space Shuttle flights. The Center also manages the testing and launch of unpiloted space vehicles from an array of launch complexes, and conducts research programs in areas of life sciences related to human spaceflight. Oldest of NASA's field centers, LaRC is located in Hampton, Virginia, and focuses primarily on aeronautical research. Established in 1917 by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, the Center currently devotes two-thirds of its programs to aeronautics, and the rest to space. LaRC researchers use more than 40 wind tunnels to study improved aircraft and spacecraft safety, performance, and efficiency.
Aeronautical research includes work on advanced materials and structures for aircraft.
Space-related research focuses primarily on power and propulsion. Another significant area of research is in energy and power sources for spacecraft, including the Space Station, for which LeRC is developing the largest space power system ever designed. The MSFC, located in Huntsville, Alabama, is responsible for developing spacecraft hardware and systems, and is perhaps best known for its role in building the Saturn rockets that sent astronauts to the Moon during the Apollo program. This Center, located on Mississippi's Gulf Coast, is NASA's prime test facility for large liquid propellant rocket engines and propulsion systems. The main mission of the Center is to support testing, on a regular basis, of the Space Shuttle's main propulsion system.