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added Category:Apollo program facilities using HotCat

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{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name = Space Environment Simulation Laboratory
| nrhp_type = nhl
| image = Apollo Command Service Module in vacuum chamber.jpg
| caption = The [[2TV-1]] Apollo spacecraft in Chamber A 1968
| location = [[Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center]], [[Houston, Texas]]
| coordinates = {{coord|29|33|38|N|95|5|17|W|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin = Texas#USA
| area = less than one acre
| built = {{start date|1965}}
| designated_nrhp_type = October 3, 1985<ref name="nhlsum">{{cite web|url=https://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1927&ResourceType=Structure|title=Space Environment Simulation Laboratory, Chambers A and B|access-date=2008-06-25|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090113234628/https://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1927&ResourceType=Structure|archive-date=2009-01-13|df=}}</ref>
| added = October 3, 1985<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2008a}}</ref>
| refnum = 85002810
}}

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 [[Outer space|space]]. Built in 1965, it was initially used to test [[Apollo Program]] spacecraft and equipment in a space environment, and continues to be used by [[NASA]] for testing equipment. It was designated a [[National Historic Landmark]] in 1985.<ref name="nhlsum"/>

==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]], and have configurable lighting systems for simulating sunlight from a variety of angles.<ref name=nhlform>{{cite web |url={{NHLS url|85002810}} |title=Nomination form — Space Environment Simulation Laboratory (SESL) |publisher=National Park Service |author=Harry A. Butowsky |date=May 15, 1984 |accessdate=2018-01-10}}</ref>

===Chamber A===
Chamber A is the larger of the two chambers. It has a diameter of {{convert|45|ft|m}}, 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]]. There are two man-sized [[airlock]]s, one at ground level, and one at {{convert|31|ft|m}}. 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.<ref name=nhlform/>

NASA remodeled and upgraded the chamber to test the [[James Webb Space Telescope]]. {{As of|2013}}, it is the largest high-vacuum, [[Cryogenics|cryogenic]]-optical test chamber in the world, {{convert|55|ft|m}} in diameter by {{convert|90|ft|m}} tall. It is equipped with a gaseous [[helium]] shroud capable of lowering temperatures to {{convert|11|K|F C|lk=in}}. Additional test support equipment includes [[Mass spectrometry|mass spectrometers]], [[Thermographic camera|infrared cameras]] and [[Professional video camera|television cameras]] were installed to monitor testing.<ref>{{cite web |title=NASA Readies Famous "Chamber A" to Welcome the James Webb Space Telescope |url=https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/webb/news/chamber-a.html |author=Rob Gutro |date=January 23, 2013 |access-date=2018-06-25}}</ref>

===Chamber B===
Chamber B is smaller, with a diameter of {{convert|20|ft|m}}, 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.<ref name=nhlform/>

==Gallery==
<gallery class="center" perrow="5">
Image:Apollo thermal-vacuum PLSS test.jpg| A thermal vacuum test of the [[Apollo/Skylab A7L|Apollo A7L]] spacesuit system in 1968
Image:S98 15754.jpg | [[TransHab]] test article in 1998
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[List of National Historic Landmarks in Texas]]
*[[National Register of Historic Places listings in Harris County, Texas]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Space Environment Simulation Laboratory}}
*[https://crgis.ndc.nasa.gov/historic/Space_Environment_Simulation_Lab Space Environment Simulation Lab at NASA CRGIS]
*{{HAER |survey=TX-109-B |id=tx1124 |title=NASA Johnson Space Center, Building No. 32, Space Environment Simulation Laboratory, Chambers A & B, 2101 NASA Parkway, Houston, Harris County, TX |photos=28 |dwgs=7 |data=46 |cap=4}}

{{National Register of Historic Places in Texas}}
{{NASA centers}}
{{Spaceflight landmarks}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Buildings and structures in Houston]]
[[Category:Historic American Engineering Record in Texas]]
[[Category:Johnson Space Center]]
[[Category:National Historic Landmarks in Texas]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Houston]]
[[Category:1965 establishments in Texas]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1965]]
[[Category:Apollo program facilities]]

Space Environment Simulation Laboratory - Revision history

imported>Doomhope: added Category:Apollo program facilities using HotCat