...There are multiple federal and university research units associated with the aerospace field that operate in the Central Gulf Coast region. ...They can be grouped into a number of broad categories: aerospace engineering and design; materials engineering; medical/human factors;
weapons systems/technologies, including warheads; power technologies; navigation/guidance systems; command and control; equipment performance; and remote sensing. ...There are several unique federal aerospace-related facilities in the region. One of the largest is the Air Armament Center at
Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, which accounts for the largest number of federal R&D dollars spent in the Central Gulf Coast. It is co-located at Eglin with the Air Force Research Lab/Munitions Directorate. Another location along the Gulf Coast that expends a large number of federal research dollars is John C. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. The NASA operation, established in the early 1960s, is where NASA tests rocket engines and conducts RDT&E in the field of earth sciences. Stennis is also home to several other federal operations involving RDT&E and applied technologies. The defense department has both the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command and a field unit of the Naval Research Lab at Stennis Space Center. Several universities also perform RDT&E at the Stennis facility.