Most of these were built decades ago at a time when the countrys space program was of national importance.
Out of the five still-standing facilities, four have seen no use in the recent past.
Two are slated for demolition, one is not fully functional and one has never been used.
One of its most recent customers was SpaceX.
It takes about eight hours to pump down to this level.
A cryogenic cold shroud brings the temperature down to minus one hundred sixty degree centigrade.
Space Power Facility building.
The SPF is not the most extreme vacuum chamber but its definitely the largest.
The SPF, on the other hand, is big enough to swallow a spacecraft.
In 2013, BBC physically demonstrated one of the most famous thought experiments inside the SPF.
Here is the video of the experiment.
The four other large hardware-testing facilities in the complex are lying disused and consuming the NASAs limited resources.
Excess infrastructure is along-standing issuewith NASA, and the problem is not unique to Plum Brook.
There is unused or underutilized infrastructure across NASAs many complex of centers throughout the United States.
The interior of the Space Power Facility.
The Centaur Standard Shroud at the Space Power Facility.
