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Johnson Space Center

JSC B29 Flow Rig

JSC B29 Flow Rig setup
JSC B29 Flow Rig setup
  • Used for testing air filters and dust testing
  • Basic flow rig with flow meter and speed controls. Used with ISS dust filter, but can be adjusted for other filters. May need to 3D print adaptor. Adjustable flow rate.
  • Dust fed into left-hand side. Can adjust pipe diameters.
  • Recent test
    • Testing filter performance due to accumulated dust for 4BCO2 System (user: Anthony Bullion)
    • Orion smoke eater filter – designed to clean cabin of the gases and particulate matter
  • Only available for testing within EC3
    • Not able to accommodate customers and not certified in any way. Will not be interested in customers.
  • Location: JSC B29, Flight Lab in Room 148
  • POC: Sarah Skrobarczyk | Stephanie Casper

JSC B21 Geology/Science Simulation Environment

JSC B21 Geology Science Simulation Environment
JSC B21 Geology Science Simulation Environment
  • Simulation environment utilizing virtual reality and sand boxes containing regolith simulant for simulating crew activities
  • 14' x 20'
  • Location: JSC B21, H-3PO PACES Laboratory Space in B21 Highbay
  • POC: Omar Bekdash

JSC Energy Systems Test Area (ESTA) Lunar Environment Test Facility

JSC Energy Systems Test Area (ESTA) Lunar Environment Test Facility
JSC Energy Systems Test Area (ESTA) Lunar Environment Test Facility
The ESTA facility enables a range of lunar environmental testing and research needs. The facility encompasses:
  • 15-foot dusty thermal vacuum chamber
  • Dust containment and preparation room
  • Component test lab with dust box
Multiple, simultaneous development and testing activities. Available for CLPS, HLS, EVA, ISRU, universities, research institutions.

POC: Mike Reddington

JSC ESTA 15-foot Dusty Thermal Vacuum Chamber

JSC ESTA 15-foot Dusty Thermal Vacuum Chamber
JSC ESTA 15-foot Dusty Thermal Vacuum Chamber
  • 15’ diameter spherical chamber with ~78” diameter clear entry
  • Environment Capability
    • Vacuum: 1x10-6 torr (ultimate)
      • Pumping, rotary piston pumps, roots blowers & two 36” diameter diffusion pumps
    • Atmosphere: Air or GN2 repressurization
    • Thermal Range: -196°C (-320°F) to +120°C (248°F) thermal shroud temperatures
    • High channel count data feedthroughs
    • High power feedthroughs available
    • Max chamber load: 4,000 lb
    • Test article operation on 48” x 96” regolith bed in chamber with surface interactions with regolith to depths down to ~6”
  • Previous tests: used for fuel cell, electric APU during Shuttle, Cryogenic propellant storage, Apollo lunar rover tire
POC: Mike Reddington

JSC ESTA Dust Containment and Preparation Room

JSC ESTA Dust Containment and Preparation Room
JSC ESTA Dust Containment and Preparation Room
  • Enclosed 750 ft2 room sealed and equipped with HEPA fan filtration unit for dust containment and negative pressure maintenance.
  • Particulate monitoring and audible alarm to ensure air quality is maintained.
  • Provides room for regolith bin loading and preparation.
  • Provides room for test article preparation and pre-conditioning prior to transfer to the 15’ chamber.
  • Smaller test article testing possible with desktop ambient dust box and small vacuum bell jars.

JSC ESTA Component Test Lab

JSC ESTA Component Test Lab JSC ESTA Component Test Lab
JSC ESTA Component Test Lab
  • Multiple 1'-2' vacuum bell jars suitable for testing with simulant
  • Ambient 2' x 2' x 3' dust box for quick and easy functional testing with fan-blown simulant
  • On-site expertise available for successful vacuum operations with prepared simulant samples and test articles
POC: Mike Reddington

JSC B34 Tumbler

JSC B34 rotary drum tumbler
JSC B34 rotary drum tumbler
  • Rotary drum tumbler
  • The test system is a 16 inch diameter by 20 inch length rotary drum tumbler cylinder arranged to be belt driven by a ¼ HP motor at a rate of 13 RPM.
  • Samples placed inside and tumbled for a duration
  • Not operational. Needs maintenance. But still usable
  • Used by VIPER team (Emily McBryan)
  • Previous user: Robert Trevino – used it with JSC-1A, had pressurized cylinder simulating upper arm
  • POC: Amy Ross - B34 Lab Manager

JSC Lighting Environment Test Facility (LETF)

  • Size:
    • Dark room is 25’x25’ with a 17’ ceiling.
    • The dark room is at the end of a 300’ long tunnel which is 20’ wide with a 17’ ceiling.
    • Full control of the lighting in this entire facility.
    • Dark room is painted black.
    • Outside the dark room, the black paint is extended another 25’ into the tunnel.
  • Environmental Conditions: 
    • Standard AC/shirtsleeve.
    • Lighting test equipment can monitor light sources through a chamber window for lamps inside vacuum chambers at B33’s site location.
  • They have a lot of special equipment for measuring the effects of light.
  • They maintain “orbital simulators” that can illuminate a target at 125,000 lux. Target size is typically 3’ to 5’ in diameter. At 125,000 lux +/- 10,000 lux. They have different lamps that can be used, but prefer to use a Light Emitting Plasma lamp that has very low IR, which helps reduce heating effects on illumination targets.
  • Location: JSC B14
  • POC: Toni Clark

JSC XI Small Vacuum Chambers

JSC XI small vacuum chamber
JSC XI small vacuum chamber
  • Uses for chamber
    • Space Suit material examination and outgassing via UV Lamp illumination
    • Outgassing experiments
    • Ion mobility measurements of Mars regolith systems

JSC B36 PEARL Chamber

  • The focus of the Planetary Exploration and Astromaterials Research Lab (PEARL) is to develop unique and custom vacuum extraterrestrial microenvironments to constrain lunar polar ice simulant geochemistry. These experimental studies are crucial to the establishment of cold storage requirements for NASA’s future lunar sample return missions.
  • Chamber not currently dirty but could become dirty chambers if needed
  • POC: Ernie Lewis

JSC EC Advanced Materials Lab (AML)

  • The laboratory is equipped to evaluate various materials and structures, including fibrous structures (textiles), coated fibrous structures, polymer films, composites, foams, elastomers, papers, metals, and adhesives.
  • Provide test services that comply with industry and government standards, including ASTM, ISO, AATCC, and Federal test standards.
  • The laboratory can provide a wide range of services from quick response standard testing to custom designed test programs.
  • Numerous test devices exist in this lab (File: JSC-AML User Test Planning Guide.pdf)
  • Location: JSC B7, Room 2023
  • POC: Joe Settles

AML Flex & Fold Testers & Cryogenic Chamber (AST Thermal Chamber)

JSC EC Advanced Materials Lab flex and fold testers and cryogenic chamber
JSC EC Advanced Materials Lab flex and fold
testers and cryogenic chamber
  • The laboratory is equipped with four different types of flexing or folding test machines
  • CSI (Model SC-15) Flex and Fold Machine
    • Subjects fabrics, thin films, or paper products to flexing or folding actions to assess their durability and break down resistance to mechanical cycling. It has a cycling rate of 39 cycles per minute.
  • B&R/TMI Testoflexer
    • Determines the number of flexing cycles that a material can withstand before it cracks in the creases, powders, or peels off in the folds.
  • M.I.T. Folding Endurance Tester
    • Estimate the ability of paper or textile to withstand repeated bending, folding, and creasing.
  • Kohler-Molin Model Folding Endurance Tester
    • Developed for endurance testing of papers and fatigue testing of textiles, polymers, and thin sheet materials.
  • Cryogenic Chamber
    • 60cm x 45 cm area with glove ports to access the materials at temperature 120 K (-156C)
    • Temperature range -170 C to 700 C.
    • VIPER plans to evaluate for fractures and breaks after folding material specimens
    • Clean and dirty samples can be tested
  • Location: JSC B7, Advanced Materials Lab (AML) in Room 2023
  • POC: Joe Settles

AML Abrasion & Wear Testers

JSC Advanced Materials Lab abrasion and wear testers
JSC Advanced Materials Lab abrasion and wear testers
  • There are seven different abrasion testers in the laboratory.
  • Assesses the wear resistance of textile or other fibrous structures.
  • Martindale Abrasion Test Rig used by VIPER team (Emily McBryan)
    • Subjected specimens to abrading material under 1 psi loading
      • Abrading material was 150 grit sandpaper (similar to upper end of particulate sizes of JSC-1A)
    • Cyclic testing performed
  • Location: JSC B7, Advanced Materials Lab (AML) in Room 2023
  • POC: Joe Settles

AML Air Permeation Machines

JSC Advanced Materials Lab air permeation machine
JSC Advanced Materials Lab air permeation machine
  • Air permeation tester developed to measure air permeability of flat materials, such as paper, fabric, open non-woven, and foam products. It also measures the pressure drop at a given air velocity for air filtration materials.
  • Test standard ASTM D737
  • Air permeability performed by VIPER team (Emily McBryan)
  • Location: JSC B7, Advanced Materials Lab (AML) in Room 2023
  • POC: Joe Settles

AML Dry Cleaner Tumbler

JSC Advanced Materials Lab dry cleaner tumbler
JSC Advanced Materials Lab dry cleaner tumbler
  • A.K.A. Dry Cleaner
  • Chamber that rotates at 1 cycle/second
  • Commercial equipment
  • Ready to use
  • Used by VIPER team (Emily McBryan)
    • Specimen bags filled with simulant were tumbled in chamber for a duration then evaluated
    • Cyclic testing performed
  • Location: JSC B7, Advanced Materials Lab (AML) in Room 2023
  • POC: Joe Settles

JSC B7 IVA/EVA Glovebox for Dust Testing

JSC B7 Glove Box
JSC B7 Glove Box
  • In development
    • 2’ x 2’ x 3’
    • Internal cabin exposure glovebox
  • No pressurization
  • Future user: Matt Johnson, Brian Troutman ECLSS Gateway
  • Note that an identical EVA Glovebox will also be created. Additionally, if a user needed their own Glovebox, this lab can quickly develop an additional Glovebox for low cost.
  • Location: JSC B7, Advanced Materials Lab (AML) in Room 2023
  • POC: Joe Settles

JSC Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL)

Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory lunar testing
Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory lunar testing
  • 202' x 102' x 40‘; 6.2 million gallons of water
  • NBL Lunar Testing
    • Example: Module for Experimental Package Deployment, Geology Sampling
    • NBL EVA Simulation includes environment, decision support systems, biometrics, EVA Tasks, suit and mask, geology sampling
  • Rocks/simulants can be placed in the NBL for testing
  • Location: Sonny Carter Training Facility near NASA Johnson Space Center
  • POC: John Haas

JSC Active Response Gravity Offload System (ARGOS)

Active Response Gravity Offload System ARGOS
Active Response Gravity Offload System ARGOS
  • Dynamic, robotic system that simulates a reduced gravity environment for human and robotic payloads over a large test area
  • Can be used for a variety of Lunar EVA training activities
    • Spacesuit testing, geologic sampling, tool development, lander ops development, procedure development, lighting simulation, high fidelity tasks, dynamic motion activities, integrated VR, robotic integration.
  • Offload up to 750 pounds
  • Vertical speed 11 ft/s unsuited and 4.5 ft/s suited; Horizontal speed 6 ft/s
  • Test volume: 38’ x 19’ x 18’
  • Three degrees of active translation
  • Three degrees of passive rotation with gimbal/harness
  • Open air space allows for high fidelity mockups and hardware to be used
  • ARGOS integrates with XX/EC for suit support, SD for medical support, CX/SK for test support
  • POC: Paul Valle

JSC Rock Yard

JSC Rock Yard
JSC Rock Yard
  • Lunar Yard - three craters of varied size and depth
  • Mars Yard - mostly flat area with rocks of varying sizes
  • Mount Kosmo - small, steep hill with a variety of hill climbing terrain
  • Facilities
    • Power Panels - AC power including x circuits with 110 volts and y circuits with 220 volts. Each 110 circuit has multiple outlets
    • Silo - lockable storage with power
    • Trailer - workspace that is powered by the power panel includes light and interior outlets, very limited air conditioning
  • POC: Susan Ward

JSC B36 Simulant Development Lab

  • The Simulant Development Lab, an ARES/XI Lab, will create Lunar dust simulants needed for testing. It will also serve as a safe space to perform Lunar dust studies.
  • Up and running: September 2020
  • Equipment
    • A jaw crusher (large and small) (to reduce particle sizes)
    • A pulverizer (to reduce particle sizes even smaller)
    • A jar mill (to reduce particle sizes even smaller)
    • A sieve shaker to separate particles by size
    • A mixer
    • A drying oven
    • Large and small gloveboxes
    • Optical microscope for dust/equipment analysis
    • Vibration table
  • Simulant test beds
    • Simulant test beds can be created for various users to perform testing in the lab.
  • POC: John Gruener | Sarah Deitrick

Jacobs Sand-blast Cabinet

  • Sand-blast cabinet that could be converted to a glove box
  • Establishing standards for dust exposure to various types of mechanisms
  • Location: Jacobs building J1
  • POC: Robert Wilkes