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 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.
See also
- List of National Historic Landmarks in California
- Space Environment Simulation Laboratory, built in 1965 at the Johnson Space Center in Texas
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
- ^ "Twenty-Five-Foot Space Simulator". National Historic Landmarks Quioklinks. National Park Service. Archived from the original on December 13, 2010. Retrieved March 18, 2012.
- ^ Harry A. Butowsky (May 15, 1984). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Twenty-Five Foot Space Simulator" (pdf). National Park Service. and Accompanying 2 photos, exterior and interior, from 1983 (32 KB)