The Space Environment Simulation Laboratory (SESL) is a facility in Building 32 at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center that can perform large-scale simulations of the vacuum and thermal environments that would be encountered in

space Space is a three-dimensional continuum containing positions and directions. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions. Modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless ...

. Built in 1965, it was initially used to test

Apollo Program The Apollo program, also known as Project Apollo, was the United States human spaceflight program led by NASA, which Moon landing, landed the first humans on the Moon in 1969. Apollo followed Project Mercury that put the first Americans in sp ...

spacecraft and equipment in a space environment, and continues to be used by

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

for testing equipment. It was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

in 1985.

Description

The Space Environment Simulation Laboratory is a large industrial test facility on the Johnson Space Center grounds in Building 32. Its principal features are two test chambers, one larger and one smaller. Both are cylindrical chambers that have the ability to provide a near

vacuum A vacuum (: vacuums or vacua) is space devoid of matter. The word is derived from the Latin adjective (neuter ) meaning "vacant" or "void". An approximation to such vacuum is a region with a gaseous pressure much less than atmospheric pressur ...

, and have configurable lighting systems for simulating sunlight from a variety of angles.

Chamber A

Chamber A is the larger of the two chambers. It has a diameter of , with a circular floor that can be rotated 180°. Test subject equipment can be maneuvered using four overhead cranes, each with a carrying capacity of 50,000 pounds. Equipment can be lifted into and out of the chamber using 100,000 pound cranes located outside the chamber. In addition to solar lighting arrays, the facility is capable of generating thermal plasma fields of a type experienced in the outer atmosphere and

low Earth orbit A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an geocentric orbit, orbit around Earth with a orbital period, period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an orbital eccentricity, eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial object ...

. There are two man-sized

airlock An airlock is a room or compartment which permits passage between environments of differing atmospheric pressure or composition, while minimizing the changing of pressure or composition between the differing environments. An airlock consist ...

s, one at ground level, and one at . These chambers are used for staging safety personnel during testing involving humans, and can be separately used for small-scale altitude tests involving low air pressures. NASA remodeled and upgraded the chamber to test the

James Webb Space Telescope The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a space telescope designed to conduct infrared astronomy. As the largest telescope in space, it is equipped with high-resolution and high-sensitivity instruments, allowing it to view objects too old, Lis ...

. , it is the largest high-vacuum,

cryogenic In physics, cryogenics is the production and behaviour of materials at very low temperatures. The 13th International Institute of Refrigeration's (IIR) International Congress of Refrigeration (held in Washington, DC in 1971) endorsed a univers ...

-optical test chamber in the world, in diameter by tall. It is equipped with a gaseous

helium Helium (from ) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, non-toxic, inert gas, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. Its boiling point is ...

shroud capable of lowering temperatures to . Additional test support equipment includes mass spectrometers, infrared cameras and television cameras were installed to monitor testing.

Chamber B

Chamber B is smaller, with a diameter of , and is served by two 100,000 pound cranes. Like Chamber A, it has two airlocks; one of them is configured to a water deluge system and other elements needed to simulate oxygen-rich environments encountered on spacecraft. Its solar lighting array is also simpler than that of Chamber A, necessating the use of mirrors to achieve certain lighting angles. The smaller size of the chamber makes it possible to more efficiently perform tests on smaller objects with a more rapid turnaround time.

Gallery

Image:Apollo thermal-vacuum PLSS test.jpg, A thermal vacuum test of the

Apollo A7L The Apollo/Skylab space suit (sometimes called the Apollo 11 Spacesuit because it was most known for being used in the Apollo 11, Apollo 11 Mission) is a class of space suits used in Apollo program, Apollo and Skylab missions. The names for both ...

spacesuit system in 1968 Image:S98 15754.jpg , TransHab test article in 1998

References

External links