Katie Mortensen, a mechanical engineering technician, machines test article materials inside the Prototype Development Laboratory at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 21, 2020. The prototype laboratory designs, fabricates, and tests prototypes, test articles and test support equipment. It has a long history of providing fast solutions to complex operations problems. The lab’s teams of engineers use specialized equipment to produce exacting, one-of-a-kind items made from a range of materials depending on the design. The lab supports projects at Kennedy and at the agency level.
Spencer Wells, a mechanical engineering technician, welds a part of a camera enclosure which will be used at Launch Complex 39B inside the Prototype Development Laboratory at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 21, 2020. The prototype laboratory designs, fabricates, and tests prototypes, test articles and test support equipment. It has a long history of providing fast solutions to complex operations problems. The lab’s teams of engineers use specialized equipment to produce exacting, one-of-a-kind items made from a range of materials depending on the design. The lab supports projects at Kennedy and at the agency level.
Spencer Wells, a mechanical engineering technician, welds a part of a camera enclosure which will be used at Launch Complex 39B inside the Prototype Development Laboratory at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 21, 2020. The prototype laboratory designs, fabricates, and tests prototypes, test articles and test support equipment. It has a long history of providing fast solutions to complex operations problems. The lab’s teams of engineers use specialized equipment to produce exacting, one-of-a-kind items made from a range of materials depending on the design. The lab supports projects at Kennedy and at the agency level.
From left, mechanical engineering technicians Katie Mortensen and Jim Niehoff machine test article material inside the Prototype Development Laboratory at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 21, 2020. The prototype laboratory designs, fabricates, and tests prototypes, test articles and test support equipment. It has a long history of providing fast solutions to complex operations problems. The lab’s teams of engineers use specialized equipment to produce exacting, one-of-a-kind items made from a range of materials depending on the design. The lab supports projects at Kennedy and at the agency level.
Spencer Wells, a mechanical engineering technician, examines the interior of a camera enclosure for Launch Complex 39B inside the Prototype Development Laboratory at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 21, 2020. The prototype laboratory designs, fabricates, and tests prototypes, test articles and test support equipment. It has a long history of providing fast solutions to complex operations problems. The lab’s teams of engineers use specialized equipment to produce exacting, one-of-a-kind items made from a range of materials depending on the design. The lab supports projects at Kennedy and at the agency level.
Tim Evans, a mechanical engineering technician, uses a computer numerical control (CNC) machine to machine a part for a Launch Pad 39B camera enclosure inside the Prototype Development Laboratory at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 21, 2020. The prototype laboratory designs, fabricates, and tests prototypes, test articles and test support equipment. It has a long history of providing fast solutions to complex operations problems. The lab’s teams of engineers use specialized equipment to produce exacting, one-of-a-kind items made from a range of materials depending on the design. The lab supports projects at Kennedy and at the agency level.
RoboSimian, a limbed robot developed by engineers at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, competed in the DARPA Robotics Challenge Trials in Florida in December 2013.
Engineers from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory carry RoboSimian, a robot developed at JPL, at the DARPA Robotics Challenge Trials in Florida in December 2013.
RoboSimian, a limbed robot developed by engineers at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, competed in the DARPA Robotics Challenge DRC Trials in Florida in December 2013.
Limbed robot RoboSimian was developed at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, seen here with Brett Kennedy, supervisor of the JPL Robotic Vehicles and Manipulators Group, and Chuck Bergh, a senior engineer in JPL Robotic Hardware Systems Group.
Langley’s newly built Measurement Systems Laboratory will serve as the primary research and development location for six branches within the Research and Engineering Directorates. The ribbon cutting will take place in April 2022.
The team developing NASA Mars Science Laboratory calls this test rover Scarecrow because the vehicle does not include a computer brain. Mobility engineers use this test rover to evaluate mobility and suspension performance.
THE 2013 ASTRONAUT CANDIDATE CLASS VISITED THE THRUST VECTOR CONTROL TEST LAB AT MARSHALL'S PROPULSION RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT LABORATORY WHERE ENGINEERS ARE DEVELOPING AND TESTING THE SPACE LAUNCH SYSTEM'S GUIDANCE, NAVIGATION AND CONTROL SOFTWARE AND AVIONICS HARDWARE.
NASA Kennedy Space Center's Engineering Director Pat Simpkins, at left, talks with Michael E. Johnson, a project engineer; and Emilio Cruz, deputy division chief in the Laboratories, Development and Testing Division, inside the Prototype Development Laboratory. A banner signing event was held to mark the successful delivery of a liquid oxygen test tank, called Tardis. Engineers and technicians worked together to develop the tank and build it at the lab to support cryogenic testing at Johnson Space Center's White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The 12-foot-tall, 3,810-pound aluminum tank will be shipped to White Sands for testing.
Adam Swanger, NASA engineer, is inside the Cryogenics Test Laboratory at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 21, 2020. Established in 2000, the Cryogenics Test Laboratory provides a one-of-a kind capability for research, development and application of cross-cutting technologies to meet the needs of industry and government. The test lab provides cryogenic expertise, experimental testing, technical standards development, prototype construction and practical problem-solving for technology development with research institutions and commercial partners.
Jared Sass, NASA engineer, monitors a test inside the Cryogenics Test Laboratory at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 21, 2020. Established in 2000, the Cryogenics Test Laboratory provides a one-of-a kind capability for research, development and application of cross-cutting technologies to meet the needs of industry and government. The test lab provides cryogenic expertise, experimental testing, technical standards development, prototype construction and practical problem-solving for technology development with research institutions and commercial partners.
Jared Sass, NASA engineer, monitors a test inside the Cryogenics Test Laboratory at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 21, 2020. Established in 2000, the Cryogenics Test Laboratory provides a one-of-a kind capability for research, development and application of cross-cutting technologies to meet the needs of industry and government. The test lab provides cryogenic expertise, experimental testing, technical standards development, prototype construction and practical problem-solving for technology development with research institutions and commercial partners.
Inside the Prototype Development Laboratory at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, engineers and technicians hold a banner marking the successful delivery of a liquid oxygen test tank called Tardis. From left, are Todd Steinrock, chief, Fabrication and Development Branch, Prototype Development Lab; David McLaughlin, electrical engineering technician; Phil Stroda, mechanical engineering technician; Perry Dickey, lead electrical engineering technician; and Harold McAmis, lead mechanical engineering technician. Engineers and technicians worked together to develop the tank and build it at the lab to support cryogenic testing at Johnson Space Center's White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The 12-foot-tall, 3,810-pound aluminum tank will be shipped to White Sands for testing.
NASA Kennedy Space Center's Engineering Director Pat Simpkins signs the banner marking the successful delivery of a liquid oxygen test tank, called Tardis, in the Prototype Development Laboratory at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Engineers and technicians worked together to develop the tank and build it to support cryogenic testing at Johnson Space Center's White Stands Test Facility in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The 12-foot-tall, 3,810-pound aluminum tank will be shipped to White Sands for testing.
NASA Kennedy Space Center's Engineering Directorate held a banner signing event in the Prototype Development Laboratory to mark the successful delivery of a liquid oxygen test tank, called Tardis. Engineers and technicians worked together to develop the tank and build it to support cryogenic testing at Johnson Space Center's White Stands Test Facility in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The 12-foot-tall, 3,810-pound aluminum tank will be shipped to White Sands for testing.
Lead Test Engineer John Kobak (right) and a technician use an oscilloscope to test the installation of a Pratt and Whitney RL-10 engine in the Propulsion Systems Laboratory at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Lewis Research Center. In 1955 the military asked Pratt and Whitney to develop hydrogen engines specifically for aircraft. The program was canceled in 1958, but Pratt and Whitney decided to use the experience to develop a liquid-hydrogen rocket engine, the RL-10. Two of the 15,000-pound-thrust RL-10 engines were used to power the new Centaur second-stage rocket. Centaur was designed to carry the Surveyor spacecraft on its mission to soft-land on the Moon. Pratt and Whitney ran into problems while testing the RL-10 at their facilities. NASA Headquarters assigned Lewis the responsibility for investigating the RL-10 problems because of the center’s long history of liquid-hydrogen development. Lewis’ Chemical Rocket Division began a series of tests to study the RL-10 at its Propulsion Systems Laboratory in March 1960. The facility contained two test chambers that could study powerful engines in simulated altitude conditions. The first series of RL-10 tests in early 1961 involved gimballing the engine as it fired. Lewis researchers were able to yaw and pitch the engine to simulate its behavior during a real flight.
A researcher in the Supercharger Research Division at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Aircraft Engine Research Laboratory measures the blade thickness on a supercharger. Superchargers were developed at General Electric used to supply additional air to reciprocating engines. The extra air resulted in increased the engine’s performance, particularly at higher altitudes. The Aircraft Engine Research Laboratory had an entire division dedicated to superchargers during World War II. General Electric developed the supercharger in response to a 1917 request from the NACA to develop a device to enhance high-altitude flying. The supercharger pushed larger volumes of air into the engine manifold. The extra oxygen allowed the engine to operate at its optimal sea-level rating even when at high altitudes. Thus, the aircraft could maintain its climb rate, maneuverability and speed as it rose higher into the sky. NACA work on the supercharger ceased after World War II due to the arrival of the turbojet engine. The Supercharger Research Division was disbanded in October 1945 and reconstituted as the Compressor and Turbine Division.
Lead chemist Philip Howard poses for a photo inside NASA Engineering’s Analytical Laboratories at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 7, 2021. One of seven branches in the NASA Laboratories, Development, and Testing Division, the Analytical Laboratories branch provides microscopic imagery and analysis through the use of a wide variety of microscopic techniques to identify contaminants and other urgent problems associated with aerospace flight hardware, ground support equipment, and related facilities.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- – Inside a laboratory in the Engineering Development Laboratory, or EDL, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, research scientist Michael Johansen, in the blue polo shirt, describes dust mitigation technology to a group of Society of Physics students. About 800 graduate and undergraduate physics students toured Kennedy facilities. A group of about 40 students toured laboratories in the Operations and Checkout Building and the EDL during their visit. The physics students were in Orlando for the 2012 Quadrennial Physics Congress. Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Inside a laboratory in the Engineering Development Laboratory, or EDL, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, research physicist Phil Metzger describes lunar excavators and soil processing technologies to a group of Society of Physics students. About 800 graduate and undergraduate physics students toured Kennedy facilities. A group of about 40 students toured laboratories in the Operations and Checkout Building and the EDL during their visit. The physics students were in Orlando for the 2012 Quadrennial Physics Congress. Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Inside a laboratory in the Engineering Development Laboratory, or EDL, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, research scientist Michael Hogue, in the green plaid shirt, describes several technologies to a group of Society of Physics students. About 800 graduate and undergraduate physics students toured Kennedy facilities. A group of about 40 students toured laboratories in the Operations and Checkout Building and the EDL during their visit. The physics students were in Orlando for the 2012 Quadrennial Physics Congress. Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston
Chemists Misle Tessema (left) and Macy Mullen (right) discuss scanning electron microscope operations inside NASA Engineering’s Analytical Laboratories at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 7, 2021. One of seven branches in the NASA Laboratories, Development, and Testing Division, the Analytical Laboratories branch provides microscopic imagery and analysis through the use of a wide variety of microscopic techniques to identify contaminants and other urgent problems associated with aerospace flight hardware, ground support equipment, and related facilities.
Lead chemist Philip Howard pours liquid nitrogen into the Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer to cool the detector in NASA Engineering’s Analytical Laboratories at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 7, 2021. One of seven branches in the NASA Laboratories, Development, and Testing Division, the Analytical Laboratories branch provides microscopic imagery and analysis through the use of a wide variety of microscopic techniques to identify contaminants and other urgent problems associated with aerospace flight hardware, ground support equipment, and related facilities.
Chemist Athela Frandsen from NASA Engineering’s Analytical Laboratories at Kennedy Space Center in Florida loads a sample into a scanning electron microscope on July 7, 2021. One of seven branches in the NASA Laboratories, Development, and Testing Division, the Analytical Laboratories branch provides microscopic imagery and analysis through the use of a wide variety of microscopic techniques to identify contaminants and other urgent problems associated with aerospace flight hardware, ground support equipment, and related facilities.
Chemist David Rinderknecht analyzes a sample on the stereomicroscope inside NASA Engineering’s Analytical Laboratories at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 7, 2021. One of seven branches in the NASA Laboratories, Development, and Testing Division, the Analytical Laboratories branch provides microscopic imagery and analysis through the use of a wide variety of microscopic techniques to identify contaminants and other urgent problems associated with aerospace flight hardware, ground support equipment, and related facilities.
Senior analytical chemist Janelle Coutts injects a sample for gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis inside NASA Engineering’s Analytical Laboratories at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 7, 2021. One of seven branches in the NASA Laboratories, Development, and Testing Division, the Analytical Laboratories branch provides microscopic imagery and analysis through the use of a wide variety of microscopic techniques to identify contaminants and other urgent problems associated with aerospace flight hardware, ground support equipment, and related facilities.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Inside a laboratory in the Engineering Development Laboratory, or EDL, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, research physicist Phil Metzger describes lunar excavators and soil processing technologies to a group of Society of Physics students. About 800 graduate and undergraduate physics students toured Kennedy facilities. A group of about 40 students toured laboratories in the Operations and Checkout Building and the EDL during their visit. The physics students were in Orlando for the 2012 Quadrennial Physics Congress. Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston
ISS018-E-018995 (10 Jan. 2009) --- Astronaut Sandra Magnus, Expedition 18 flight engineer, works with the Lab-on-a-Chip Application Development-Portable Test System (LOCAD-PTS) experiment in the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station. LOCAD-PTS is a handheld device for rapid detection of biological and chemical substances onboard the station.
iss064e010944 (Dec. 8, 2020) --- NASA astronaut and Expedition 64 Flight Engineer Victor Glover is pictured inside Japan's Kibo laboratory module installing research gear that will develop a biological model to study the effects of spaceflight on musculoskeletal disease. The investigation could lead to drugs that will prevent the progression of the disease.
Workers sign the banner marking the successful delivery of a liquid oxygen test tank, called Tardis, in the Prototype Development Laboratory at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Engineers and technicians worked together to develop the tank and build it at the lab to support cryogenic testing at Johnson Space Center's White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The 12-foot-tall, 3,810-pound aluminum tank will be shipped to White Sands for testing.
Inside the Prototype Development Laboratory at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers in the lab hold a banner marking the successful delivery of a liquid oxygen test tank called Tardis. Engineers and technicians worked together to develop the tank to build it at the lab to support cryogenic testing at Johnson Space Center's White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The 12-foot-tall, 3,810-pound aluminum tank will be shipped to White Sands for testing.
A liquid oxygen test tank was completed in the Prototype Development Laboratory at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A banner signing event marked the successful delivery of the tank called Tardis. Engineers and technicians worked together to develop the tank and build it at the lab to support cryogenic testing at Johnson Space Center's White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The 12-foot-tall, 3,810-pound aluminum tank will be shipped to White Sands for testing.
Interior View of FCTB/EDL
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Interior View of FCTB/EDL
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Interior View of FCTB/EDL
Exterior View of FCTB/EDL
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Interior View of FCTB/EDL
Interior View of FCTB/EDL
Interior View of FCTB/EDL
Interior View of FCTB/EDL
Interior View of FCTB/EDL
Interior View of FCTB/EDL
Interior View of FCTB/EDL
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Exterior View of FCTB/EDL
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Ohio Senator John Glenn, at left, enjoys a tour of the Engineering Development Laboratory at Kennedy Space Center. Standing with Senator Glenn is Design Engineer David Kruhm of NASA Advanced Development and Shuttle Upgrades. Senator Glenn arrived at KSC on Jan. 20 to tour KSC operational areas and to view the launch of STS-89. Glenn, who made history in 1962 as the first American to orbit the Earth, completing three orbits in a five-hour flight aboard Friendship 7, will fly his second space mission aboard Space Shuttle Discovery this October. Glenn is retiring from the Senate at the end of this year and will be a payload specialist aboard STS-95
General Henry “Hap” Arnold, Commander of the US Army Air Forces during World War II, addresses the staff at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Aircraft Engine Research Laboratory on November 9, 1944. Arnold told the employees assembled in the hangar, “You’ve got a dual task. You’ve got a job ahead of you to keep the army and the navy air forces equipped with the finest equipment that you can for this war. You also have the job of looking forward into the future and starting now those developments, those experiments, that are going to keep us in our present situation—ahead of the world in the air. And that is quite a large order, and I leave it right in your laps.” Arnold served on the NACA’s Executive Committee in Washington from 1938 to 1944 and had been a strong advocate for the creation of the new engine research facility in Cleveland. Arnold believed in continual research and development. He pressed the nation’s aviation leaders to pursue the new jet engine technology, while simultaneously pushing to increase the performance of the nation’s largest piston engine for the B–29 Superfortress program. The general’s hectic wartime agenda limited his visit to the Cleveland laboratory to just a few hours, but he toured several of the NACA’s new test facilities including the Static Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Icing Research Tunnel, and a B–24 Liberator in the hangar.
Draftsmen in the Materials and Stresses Building at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory create a template for a compressor using actual compressor blades. The Compressor and Turbine Division contained four sections of researchers dedicated to creating better engine components. The Materials and Thermodynamics Division studied the strength, durability, heat transfer characteristics, and physical composition of various materials. The two divisions were important to the research and development of new aircraft engines. The constant battle to increase the engine’s thrust while decreasing its overall weight resulted in additional stress on jet engine components, particularly compressors. As speed and maneuverability were enhanced, the strain on the engines and inlets grew. For decades NACA Lewis researchers continually sought to improve compressor blade design, develop stronger composite materials, and minimize flutter and inlet distortions.
Senior Software Engineer Taylor Whitaker (right) and Software Engineering intern Ashten Akemoto create a mobility routine for Astrobotic’s CubeRover – a lightweight, modular planetary rover – using the company’s ground software at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 30, 2022. Astrobotic – a Pittsburgh-based space robotics company – is using the spaceport’s Swamp Works facility and the Granular Mechanics and Regolith Operations Laboratory to conduct mobility testing of their rover. The laboratory’s regolith bin, which holds approximately 120 tons of lunar regolith simulant, will help depict how the company’s CubeRover would perform on the Moon. NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research program provided the funding for initial development, and a $2 million Tipping Point award from the agency has provided additional funding for continued development into a more mature rover.
Robotics Software Engineer II Chris Rampolla (right) and Software Engineering intern Ashten Akemoto issue commands to Astrobotic’s CubeRover using the company’s ground software during mobility testing at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 30, 2022. Astrobotic – a Pittsburgh-based space robotics company – is using the spaceport’s Swamp Works facility and the Granular Mechanics and Regolith Operations Laboratory to conduct mobility testing of their rover. The laboratory’s regolith bin, which holds approximately 120 tons of lunar regolith simulant, will help depict how the company’s CubeRover would perform on the Moon. NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research program provided the funding for initial development, and a $2 million Tipping Point award has provided additional funding for continued development into a more mature rover.
Dr. von Braun encouraged his laboratory directors and other managers at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) to adopt a "hands-on" approach to managing the technical challenges they confronted in developing the Saturn rockets for the Marned Lunar Landing Program. He is shown here asking a question about welding in an MSFC manufacturing and engineering laboratory. This photograph was made on or about October 17, 1967.
iss073e0886423 (Oct. 17, 2025) --- NASA astronauts (from left) Jonny Kim and Mike Fincke, both Expedition 73 flight engineers, pose for a fun portrait during research and maintenance activities inside the International Space Station's Destiny laboratory module. Fincke shows off a pair of research cassettes housing samples for the Pharmaceutical In-space Laboratory experiment that explores growing protein crystals in microgravity. Results may promote the development of new pharmaceuticals and advanced therapies in weightlessness.
Twelve scientific specialists of the Peenemuende team at the front of Building 4488, Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Alabama. They led the Army's space efforts at ABMA before transfer of the team to National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA), George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). (Left to right) Dr. Ernst Stuhlinger, Director, Research Projects Office; Dr. Helmut Hoelzer, Director, Computation Laboratory: Karl L. Heimburg, Director, Test Laboratory; Dr. Ernst Geissler, Director, Aeroballistics Laboratory; Erich W. Neubert, Director, Systems Analysis Reliability Laboratory; Dr. Walter Haeussermarn, Director, Guidance and Control Laboratory; Dr. Wernher von Braun, Director Development Operations Division; William A. Mrazek, Director, Structures and Mechanics Laboratory; Hans Hueter, Director, System Support Equipment Laboratory;Eberhard Rees, Deputy Director, Development Operations Division; Dr. Kurt Debus, Director Missile Firing Laboratory; Hans H. Maus, Director, Fabrication and Assembly Engineering Laboratory
The grand opening of NASA’s new, world-class laboratory for research into future space transportation technologies located at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama, took place in July 2004. The state-of-the-art Propulsion Research Laboratory (PRL) serves as a leading national resource for advanced space propulsion research. Its purpose is to conduct research that will lead to the creation and development of innovative propulsion technologies for space exploration. The facility is the epicenter of the effort to move the U.S. space program beyond the confines of conventional chemical propulsion into an era of greatly improved access to space and rapid transit throughout the solar system. The laboratory is designed to accommodate researchers from across the United States, including scientists and engineers from NASA, the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, universities, and industry. The facility, with 66,000 square feet of useable laboratory space, features a high degree of experimental capability. Its flexibility allows it to address a broad range of propulsion technologies and concepts, such as plasma, electromagnetic, thermodynamic, and propellant propulsion. An important area of emphasis is the development and utilization of advanced energy sources, including highly energetic chemical reactions, solar energy, and processes based on fission, fusion, and antimatter. The Propulsion Research Laboratory is vital for developing the advanced propulsion technologies needed to open up the space frontier, and sets the stage of research that could revolutionize space transportation for a broad range of applications.
A new, world-class laboratory for research into future space transportation technologies is under construction at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, AL. The state-of-the-art Propulsion Research Laboratory will serve as a leading national resource for advanced space propulsion research. Its purpose is to conduct research that will lead to the creation and development of irnovative propulsion technologies for space exploration. The facility will be the epicenter of the effort to move the U.S. space program beyond the confines of conventional chemical propulsion into an era of greatly improved access to space and rapid transit throughout the solar system. The Laboratory is designed to accommodate researchers from across the United States, including scientists and engineers from NASA, the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, universities, and industry. The facility, with 66,000 square feet of useable laboratory space, will feature a high degree of experimental capability. Its flexibility will allow it to address a broad range of propulsion technologies and concepts, such as plasma, electromagnetic, thermodynamic, and propellantless propulsion. An important area of emphasis will be development and utilization of advanced energy sources, including highly energetic chemical reactions, solar energy, and processes based on fission, fusion, and antimatter. The Propulsion Research Laboratory is vital for developing the advanced propulsion technologies needed to open up the space frontier, and will set the stage of research that could revolutionize space transportation for a broad range of applications.
The grand opening of NASA’s new, world-class laboratory for research into future space transportation technologies located at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama, took place in July 2004. The state-of-the-art Propulsion Research Laboratory (PRL) serves as a leading national resource for advanced space propulsion research. Its purpose is to conduct research that will lead to the creation and development of innovative propulsion technologies for space exploration. The facility is the epicenter of the effort to move the U.S. space program beyond the confines of conventional chemical propulsion into an era of greatly improved access to space and rapid transit throughout the solar system. The laboratory is designed to accommodate researchers from across the United States, including scientists and engineers from NASA, the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, universities, and industry. The facility, with 66,000 square feet of useable laboratory space, features a high degree of experimental capability. Its flexibility allows it to address a broad range of propulsion technologies and concepts, such as plasma, electromagnetic, thermodynamic, and propellant propulsion. An important area of emphasis is the development and utilization of advanced energy sources, including highly energetic chemical reactions, solar energy, and processes based on fission, fusion, and antimatter. The Propulsion Research Laboratory is vital for developing the advanced propulsion technologies needed to open up the space frontier, and sets the stage of research that could revolutionize space transportation for a broad range of applications.
A Wright Aeronautical R–2600 Cyclone piston engine installed in the Engine Propeller Research Building, or Prop House, at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Aircraft Engine Research Laboratory. The R–2600 was among the most powerful engines that emerged during World War II. The engine, which was developed for commercial applications in 1939, was used to power the North American B–25 bomber and several other midsize military aircraft. The higher altitudes required by the military caused problems with the engine's cooling and fuel systems. The military requested that the Aircraft Engine Research Laboratory analyze the performance of the R–2600, improve its cooling system, and reduce engine knock. The NACA researchers subjected the engine to numerous tests in its Prop House. The R–2600 was the subject of the laboratory's first technical report, which was written by members of the Fuels and Lubricants Division. The Prop House contained soundproof test cells in which piston engines and propellers were mounted and operated at high powers. Electrically driven fans drew air through ducts to create a stream of cooling air over the engines. Researchers tested the performance of fuels, turbochargers, water-injection and cooling systems here during World War II. The facility was also investigated a captured German V–I buzz bomb during the war.
A Republic P-47G Thunderbolt is tested with a large blower on the hangar apron at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Aircraft Engine Research Laboratory in Cleveland, Ohio. The blower could produce air velocities up to 250 miles per hour. This was strong enough to simulate take-off power and eliminated the need to risk flights with untried engines. The Republic P-47G was loaned to the laboratory to test NACA modifications to the Wright R-2800 engine’s cooling system at higher altitudes. The ground-based tests, seen here, were used to map the engine’s normal operating parameters. The P-47G then underwent an extensive flight test program to study temperature distribution among the engine’s 18 cylinders and develop methods to improve that distribution.
JSC2003-E-34753 (16 April 2003) --- Components of Japan's primary contribution to the International Space Station, the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM), Kibo, are seen in this view at the Tsukuba Space Center. Clockwise from left are the JEM Pressurized Module (PM) (an on-orbit laboratory), the JEM Experiment Logistics Module - Pressurized Section (an experiment and logistics storage module), the JEM PM Engineering Model (used for pre-flight development and testing), and the JEM Exposed Facility (an unpressurized platform for space environment experiments). The laboratory module was transported by truck and then by barge to Yokohama Harbor, Yokohama, Japan where it was loaded on a container ship bound for Port Canaveral, Florida. The Kibo laboratory, built by the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA), is expected to arrive at the Kennedy Space Center for module integration tests with Node 2 and pre-launch processing in early June. Photo Credit: NASA
Ruth Jones, right, acting deputy director of NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility, chats with Diana Zorzon, left, a systems engineer in Marshall’s Spacecraft and Vehicle Systems Department, and Wayne Gamwell, an engineer in the System Requirements, Verification and Validation Branch of Marshall’s Materials and Processes Laboratory, during a networking session between speaker presentations. The seminar, titled “Enable the Mission: Be the Ideal Team Player,” was organized by Marshall's Organization and Leadership Development Office in the Office of Human Resources.
Engineers from NASA's Glen Research Center demonstrate the access to one of the experiment racks plarned for the U.S. Destiny laboratory module on the International Space Station (ISS). This mockup has the full diameter, full corridor width, and half the length of the module. The mockup includes engineering mockups of the Fluids and Combustion Facility being developed by NASA's Glenn Research Center. (The full module will be six racks long; the mockup is three racks long). Photo credit: NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)
Carolyn Mizell, chief of the Research and Technology Management Office at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is photographed at the multiuser spaceport’s headquarters building on June 30, 2022. Mizell has worked in a wide variety of roles in over 30 years at Kennedy, including KSC Deputy Chief Technologist, chair of the Research and Technology Management Board, space shuttle instrumentation system engineer, lead for Design Engineering Hazardous Gas Detection and Optical Instrumentation Laboratories, and project manager of multiple research and development projects.
iss062e120658 (April 2, 2020) --- NASA astronaut and Expedition 62 Flight Engineer conducts cardiac research in the Life Sciences Glovebox located in the Japanese Kibo laboratory module. The Engineered Heart Tissues investigation could promote a better understanding of cardiac function in microgravity which would be useful for drug development and other applications related to heart conditions on Earth.
iss062e115369 (March 26, 2020) --- NASA astronaut and Expedition 62 Flight Engineer Jessica Meir conducts cardiac research in the Life Sciences Glovebox located in the Japanese Kibo laboratory module. The Engineered Heart Tissues investigation could promote a better understanding of cardiac function in microgravity which would be useful for drug development and other applications related to heart conditions on Earth.
Engineers from NASA's Glenn Research Center, demonstrate access to one of the experiment racks planned for the U.S. Destiny laboratory module on the International Space Station. This mockup has the full diameter, full corridor width, and half the length of the module. The mockup includes engineering mockups of the Fluids and Combustion Facility being developed by NASA's Glenn Research Center. (The full module will be six racks long; the mockup is three rack long) Photo credit: NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center
iss062e115343 (March 26, 2020) --- NASA astronaut and Expedition 62 Flight Engineer Jessica Meir conducts cardiac research inside the Life Sciences Glovebox, a biology research facility located in Japan's Kibo laboratory module. The Engineered Heart Tissues investigation is exploring cardiac function in weightlessness that may provide new drug developments for astronauts and Earthlings.
iss062e115355 (March 26, 2020) --- NASA astronaut and Expedition 62 Flight Engineer Jessica Meir conducts cardiac research inside the Life Sciences Glovebox, a biology research facility located in Japan's Kibo laboratory module. The Engineered Heart Tissues investigation is exploring cardiac function in weightlessness that may provide new drug developments for astronauts and Earthlings.
Chemist Trey Barnes prepares a gas sample for injection into a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry system preconcentrator for analyzing trace level gas contaminants inside NASA Engineering’s Analytical Laboratories at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 7, 2021. One of seven branches in the NASA Laboratories, Development, and Testing Division, the Analytical Laboratories branch provides microscopic imagery and analysis through the use of a wide variety of microscopic techniques to identify contaminants and other urgent problems associated with aerospace flight hardware, ground support equipment, and related facilities.
Spacelab was a versatile laboratory carried in the Space Shuttle's cargo bay for special research flights. Its various elements could be combined to accommodate the many types of scientific research that could best be performed in space. Spacelab consisted of an enclosed, pressurized laboratory module and open U-shaped pallets located at the rear of the laboratory module. The laboratory module contained utilities, computers, work benches, and instrument racks to conduct scientific experiments in astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, and engineering. Equipment, such as telescopes, anternas, and sensors, was mounted on pallets for direct exposure to space. A 1-meter (3.3-ft.) diameter aluminum tunnel, resembling a z-shaped tube, connected the crew compartment (mid deck) to the module. The reusable Spacelab allowed scientists to bring experiment samples back to Earth for post-flight analysis. Spacelab was a cooperative venture of the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA. ESA was responsible for funding, developing, and building of Spacelab, while NASA was responsible for the launch and operational use of Spacelab. Spacelab missions were cooperative efforts between scientists and engineers from around the world. Teams from NASA centers, universities, private industry, government agencies and international space organizations designed the experiments. The Marshall Space Flight Center was NASA's lead center for monitoring the development of Spacelab and managing the program.
Spacelab was a versatile laboratory carried in the Space Shuttle's cargo bay for special research flights. Its various elements could be combined to accommodate the many types of scientific research that could best be performed in space. Spacelab consisted of an enclosed, pressurized laboratory module and open U-shaped pallets located at the rear of the laboratory module. The laboratory module contained utilities, computers, work benches, and instrument racks to conduct scientific experiments in astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, and engineering. Equipment, such as telescopes, anternas, and sensors, was mounted on pallets for direct exposure to space. A 1-meter (3.3-ft.) diameter aluminum tunnel, resembling a z-shaped tube, connected the crew compartment (mid deck) to the module. The reusable Spacelab allowed scientists to bring experiment samples back to Earth for post-flight analysis. Spacelab was a cooperative venture of the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA. ESA was responsible for funding, developing, and building of Spacelab, while NASA was responsible for the launch and operational use of Spacelab. Spacelab missions were cooperative efforts between scientists and engineers from around the world. Teams from NASA centers, universities, private industry, government agencies and international space organizations designed the experiments. The Marshall Space Flight Center was NASA's lead center for monitoring the development of Spacelab and managing the program.
Smokeless flame juts from the diffuser of a unique vacuum chamber in which the upper stage rocket engine, the hydrogen fueled J-2, was tested at a simulated space altitude in excess of 60,000 feet. The smoke you see is actually steam. In operation, vacuum is established by injecting steam into the chamber and is maintained by the thrust of the engine firing through the diffuser. The engine was tested in this environment for start, stop, coast, restart, and full-duration operations. The chamber was located at Rocketdyne's Propulsion Field Laboratory, in the Santa Susana Mountains, near Canoga Park, California. The J-2 engine was developed by Rocketdyne for the Marshall Space Flight Center.
Ohio Senator John Glenn, at left, enjoys a tour of the Engineering Development Laboratory at Kennedy Space Center. Standing with Senator Glenn are, left to right, Chief Engineer Hugo Delgado and Design Engineer David Kruhm, both of NASA Advanced Development and Shuttle Upgrades. Senator Glenn arrived at KSC on Jan. 20 to tour KSC operational areas and to view the launch of STS-89. Glenn, who made history in 1962 as the first American to orbit the Earth, completing three orbits in a five-hour flight aboard Friendship 7, will fly his second space mission aboard Space Shuttle Discovery this October. Glenn is retiring from the Senate at the end of this year and will be a payload specialist aboard STS-95
Researchers Robert Cummings, left, and Harold Gold with the small Low Cost Engine in the shadow of the much larger Quiet Engine at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Lewis Research Center. The two engines were being studied in different test cells at the Propulsion Systems Laboratory. Jet engines had proven themselves on military and large transport aircraft, but their use on small general aviation aircraft was precluded by cost. Lewis undertook a multiyear effort to develop a less expensive engine to fill this niche using existing technologies. Lewis researchers designed a four-stage, axial-flow engine constructed from sheet metal. It was only 11.5 inches in diameter and weighed 100 pounds. The final design specifications were turned over to a manufacturer in 1972. Four engines were created, and, as expected, the fabrication and assembly of the engine were comparatively inexpensive. In 1973 the Low Cost Engine had its first realistic analysis in the Propulsion Systems Laboratory altitude tank. The engine successfully operated at speeds up to Mach 1.24 and simulated altitudes of 30,000 feet. NASA released the engine to private industry in the hope that design elements would be incorporated into future projects and reduce the overall cost of small jet aircraft. Small jet and turboprop engines became relatively common in general aviation aircraft by the late 1970s.
A Centaur rocket control room in the Development Engineering Building (DEB) at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Lewis Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. The DEB, completed in the mid-1960s, provided office space for several hundred development engineers outside the center’s main gate. The location of the DEB emphasized the development staff’s separation from the research side of the laboratory. This control room at Lewis was directly linked to Cape Kennedy. The Lewis staff in Cleveland could monitor and back up the Lewis launch team in the actual control room at the Cape. This photograph was taken during the preparations for the Titan-Centaur-Helios launch on December 10, 1974. The panels to the left listed the countdown events for the Centaur rocket. The launch countdown clock can be seen above these panels. The two panels on the right listed events predicted to occur during the flight and the availability of the tracking stations. The clock above the panels indicated the time remaining before the launch window expired. The Launch Vehicles Division was created in 1969 to manage the launches of all Centaur and Agena rockets. The Launch Vehicles Division worked with the engineers to design the payload in a manner that ensured that its size and weight were within Centaur’s parameters. They also developed the proper trajectory analysis for the launch. These trajectories often had to be adjusted if the launch did not occur on the planned date.
The Integrated Powerhead Demonstration engine was fired at 100 percent power for the first time July 12, 2006 at NASA Stennis Space Center's E Test Complex. The IPD, which can generate about 250,000 pounds of thrust, is a reusable engine system whose technologies could one day help Americans return to the moon, and travel to Mars and beyond. The IPD engine has been designed, developed and tested through the combined efforts of Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne and Aerojet, under the direction of the Air Force Research Laboratory and NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center.
LOUISVILLE, Colo. – During NASA's Commercial Crew Development Round 2 CCDev2) activities for the Commercial Crew Program CCP, Sierra Nevada Corp. SNC built a Simulator and Avionics Laboratory to help engineers evaluate the Dream Chaser's characteristics during the piloted phases of flight. Located at Sierra Nevada’s Space Systems facility in Louisville, Colo., it consists of a physical cockpit and integrated simulation hardware and software. The simulator is linked to the Vehicle Avionics Integration Laboratory, or VAIL, which serves as a platform for Dream Chaser avionics development, engineering testing and integration. VAIL also will also be used for verification and validation of avionics and software. Sierra Nevada is one of seven companies NASA entered into Space Act Agreements SAAs with during CCDev2 to aid in the innovation and development of American-led commercial capabilities for crew transportation and rescue services to and from the International Space Station and other low Earth orbit destinations. For information about CCP, visit www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew. Photo credit: Sierra Nevada Corp.
Senior Software Engineer Taylor Whitaker reports the results of a drawbar pull run to Astrobotic staff outside of the Granular Mechanics and Regolith Operations (GMRO) Laboratory’s regolith pit at NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Swamp Works facility on June 30, 2022. Astrobotic – a Pittsburgh-based space robotics company – is using the GMRO lab’s regolith bin, which holds approximately 120 tons of lunar regolith simulant, to depict how the company’s CubeRover would perform on the Moon. NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research program provided the funding for initial development, and a $2 million Tipping Point award from the agency has provided additional funding for continued development into a more mature rover.