The Spacecraft Magnetic Test Facility, also known historically as the Attitude Control Test Facility, is an experimental spacecraft test facility at the Goddard Space Flight Center in

Greenbelt, Maryland Greenbelt is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, and a suburb of Washington, D.C. At the 2020 census, the population was 24,921. Greenbelt is the first and the largest of the three experimental and controversial New D ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. It was built in 1966 to allow the evaluation of magnetic movement in crewed and uncrewed

spacecraft A spacecraft is a vehicle or machine designed to fly in outer space. A type of artificial satellite, spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, Earth observation, meteorology, navigation, space colonization, p ...

, and for the precision calibration of magnetometers used in space flight. The building is constructed of non-magnetic materials and contains a

magnetic coil An electromagnetic coil is an electrical conductor such as a wire in the shape of a coil (spiral or helix). Electromagnetic coils are used in electrical engineering, in applications where electric currents interact with magnetic fields, in de ...

system that allows the cancellation of the

Earth's magnetic field Earth's magnetic field, also known as the geomagnetic field, is the magnetic field that extends from Earth's interior out into space, where it interacts with the solar wind, a stream of charged particles emanating from the Sun. The magnetic ...

. This unique building was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1985. The facility is currently managed by the Goddard Mechanical Systems Division.

Description and history

The Spacecraft Magnetic Test Facility is located about east of the main campus of the Goddard Space Flight Center, in Building 310-20 on the north side of Good Luck Road. The building is a single-story structure, square, and is built entirely out of nonmagnetic materials. The building contains a diameter 3-axis Braunbek coil with four loops on each axis. The coil cancels the

within a central spherical volume. Fluctuations in the ambient field are removed by a servo control, producing stability to half a

nanotesla The tesla (symbol: T) is the unit of magnetic flux density (also called magnetic B-field strength) in the International System of Units (SI). One tesla is equal to one weber per square metre. The unit was announced during the General Conferenc ...

. An artificial magnetic vector can be produced and rotated at a variable rate.

Helmholtz coil A Helmholtz coil is a device for producing a region of nearly uniform magnetic field, named after the German physicist Hermann von Helmholtz. It consists of two electromagnets on the same axis, carrying an equal electric current in the same direc ...

s are used for perm/ deperm operations. A monorail hoist is provided to move equipment in and out of the test area.

HEPA HEPA (, high-efficiency particulate air) filter, also known as high-efficiency particulate absorbing filter and high-efficiency particulate arrestance filter, is an efficiency standard of air filters. Filters meeting the HEPA standard must s ...

filtration and air conditioning are provided. A turntable in diameter within the chamber is used for precision placement of the test object. The facility was built in 1966, and has been used to determine and minimize the magnetic movement of uncrewed spacecraft and to calibrate flight magnetometers since the early years of the United States space program. It is able to (within certain limits) emulate the magnetic conditions found in orbital and interstellar space. It saw significant use until the 1990s. Its instruments are also capable of profiling the magnetic characteristics of the test objects. The facility's main difficulties have been with deteriorating current amplifiers, with replacements made in the 1970s and 1980s altering its performance characteristics. GoddardMagTestFacility2019

References

External links

Goddard Mechanical Systems Division facilities
*, including photo in 1985, at Maryland Historical Trust {{authority control National Historic Landmarks in Maryland Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland Buildings and structures in Prince George's County, Maryland National Register of Historic Places in Prince George's County, Maryland

Description and history

See also

References

External links