Space Environment Simulation Laboratory
a.k.a. Space Environment Simulator Laboratory
Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Houston, TXThe Space Environment Simulation Laboratory (SESL) has a significant association with the manned spacecraft program of the United States. The SESL was designed, built, and used to conduct thermal-vacuum testing for all United States manned spacecraft of the Apollo era. The large size of both chambers in the SESL meant that full-scale flight hardware could be tested for a variety of design and development problems involving such factors as operating temperatures, fluid leak rates, changes in absorptive or emissive properties of thermal coatings, and other materials. This testing was absolutely essential to manrate flight hardware. The safety of the astronauts and the success of the manned space program depended on information that resulted from these tests in the SESL.
Since it was constructed in 1965, the SESL has tested all Apollo command and service modules, Apollo lunar modules, spacesuits for extra-vehicular activity, the Skylab/Apollo telescope mount system, various Space Shuttle systems, the Apollo/Soyuz docking module, and various large scale scientific satellite systems such as the parabolic reflector subsystem of the Applications Technology Satellite. The thermal vacuum testing done at the SESL since 1965 has been a significant factor contributing to the success of both the manned and unmanned space programs of the United States.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1985.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.