Environmental Testing Laboratory in 1955
Photograph Number P-506

JPL Employee Leonard Marsh wore an "arctic suit" while working in the Environmental Testing Laboratory temperature chamber in June 1955. It was 40 degrees below zero during this test, and the chamber was capable of reaching temperatures of -100 to +300 degrees Fahrenheit. Before the space simulator (Building 150) was built in 1961, various chambers were used to simulate temperature extremes, humidity and the vacuum of space. Equipment might be shaken, vibrated, spun in a centrifuge, or dropped, to observe and record how it reacted to these forces.

For more information about the Environmental Testing Laboratory, read articles from the June 1955 and November 1959 issues of Lab-Oratory: "Component Developments Conducts Brisk Equipment Tests" and "Vibrations from the Shake Room". To learn more about the test facilities, or about the history of JPL, contact the JPL Archives.

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