Twenty-Five-Foot Space Simulator
Mariner 10 in the Twenty-Five-Foot Space Simulator
Twenty-Five-Foot Space Simulator is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area
Twenty-Five-Foot Space Simulator
Twenty-Five-Foot Space Simulator is located in California
Twenty-Five-Foot Space Simulator
Twenty-Five-Foot Space Simulator is located in the United States
Twenty-Five-Foot Space Simulator
LocationJet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
Coordinates34°12′9.8″N 118°10′22.4″W / 34.202722°N 118.172889°W / 34.202722; -118.172889
Arealess than one acre
Built1961 (1961)
ArchitectNASA
NRHP reference No.85002812
Significant dates
Added to NRHPOctober 3, 1985[1]
Designated NHLOctober 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 Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. It has been used to prepare many American space probes for their launches, including the Ranger, Surveyor, Mariner, and Voyager 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 clean room in which equipment can be prepared for testing.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ 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)
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