Twenty-Five-Foot Space Simulator
Twenty-Five-Foot Space Simulator | |
![]() Mariner 10 in the Twenty-Five-Foot Space Simulator | |
Location | Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California |
---|---|
Coordinates | 34°12′9.8″N 118°10′22.4″W / 34.202722°N 118.172889°W |
Area | less than one acre |
Built | 1961 |
Architect | NASA |
NRHP reference No. | 85002812 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | October 3, 1985[1] |
Designated NHL | October 3, 1985[2] |
The Twenty-Five-Foot Space Simulator is a chamber for testing spacecraft in space-like conditions, including extreme cold, high radiation, and near-vacuum pressure. Built in 1961, it is located at the
spacecraft.The first facility of its type, the chamber served as an example for other countries seeking to establish space programs.[3] It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1985 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.[2][1]
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.[3] 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
See also
- List of National Historic Landmarks in California
- Space Environment Simulation Laboratory, built in 1965 at the Johnson Space Center in Texas
References
- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
- ^ a b "Twenty-Five-Foot Space Simulator". National Historic Landmarks Quioklinks. National Park Service. Archived from the original on December 13, 2010. Retrieved March 18, 2012.
- ^ a b c 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)