Twenty-Five-Foot Space Simulator

The first facility of its type, the chamber served as an example for other countries seeking to establish space programs. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1985 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Description

The Twenty-Five-Foot Space Simulator is a stainless-steel cylinder 85 feet (26 m) in height and 27 feet (8.2 m) in diameter. A doorway 15 feet (4.6 m) wide and 25 feet (7.6 m) high provides access for bringing test objects and equipment into the chamber; a personnel access door is built into the larger doorway. Its walls and floor are lined with cooling shrouds that help provide a controllable temperature range from −320 °F (−195.6 °C) to 200 °F (93 °C). A series of lamps, lenses, and mirrors can irradiate the chamber with a directed beam of simulated solar energy in a variety of patterns and strengths. The chamber can be depressurized to 5×10⁻⁷ torr. Test objects can be mounted with a number of attachment points and methods. The chamber is mounted on a seismically isolated foundation. The chamber requires about 75 minutes to achieve a space-like environment, and about 21⁄2 hours to return to a normal environment.

Next to the chamber is a clean room in which equipment can be prepared for testing.