Plum Brook Station is a remote test facility for the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. Located on 6,400 acres in the Lake Erie community of Sandusky, Plum Brook is home to three world-class test facilities, which perform complex and innovative ground tests for the international space community.
The Space Power Facility (SPF) houses the world’s largest and most powerful space environment simulation facilities including the Space Simulation Vacuum Chamber measuring 100 ft. in diameter by 122 ft. high. The Reverberant Acoustic Test Facility is the world's most powerful spacecraft acoustic test chamber, which can simulate the noise of a spacecraft launch up to 166 decibels or as loud as the thrust of 20 jet engines. The Mechanical Vibration Facility is the world's highest capacity and most powerful spacecraft shaker system, subjecting test articles to the rigorous conditions of launch.
The Spacecraft Propulsion Research Facility (B-2) is the world's only facility capable of testing full-scale, upper-stage launch vehicles and rocket engines under simulated high-altitude conditions. The engine or vehicle can be exposed for indefinite periods to low ambient pressures, low-background temperatures and dynamic solar heating to simulate the environment of orbital or interplanetary travel.
The Cryogenic Components Laboratory (CCL) is a state-of-the-art facility for research, development and qualification of cryogenic materials, components and systems. CCL specializes in testing materials at very low temperatures by using liquid hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen.