Photo above: Space Environments Complex (SEC) aerial view. Photo: Glenn Research Center

"The Space Power Facility at NASA Glenn Research Center's Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, houses the world's largest vacuum chamber," the official website says.

"It measures 100 feet in diameter and is a towering 122 feet tall. The facility is currently undergoing construction to support Orion crew exploration vehicle testing in 2010."

"The Space Power Facility (SPF) is a vacuum chamber built by NASA in 1969. It stands 122 feet (37 m) high and 100 feet (30 m) in diameter, enclosing a bullet-shaped space. It is the world's largest thermal vacuum chamber. It was originally commissioned for nuclear-electric power studies under vacuum conditions, but was later decommissioned. It was subsequently recommissioned for use in testing spacecraft propulsion systems. Recent uses include testing the airbag landing systems for the Mars Pathfinder and the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, under simulated Mars atmospheric conditions.

"The facility was designed and constructed to test both nuclear and non-nuclear space hardware in a simulated Low-Earth-Orbiting environment. Although the facility was designed for testing nuclear hardware, only non-nuclear tests have been performed throughout its history. Some of the test programs that have been performed at the facility include high-energy experiments, rocket-fairing separation tests, Mars Lander system tests, deployable Solar Sail tests and International Space Station hardware tests.

"The facility can sustain a high vacuum (10−6 torr, 130 μPa); simulate solar radiation via a 4 MW quartz heat lamp array, solar spectrum by a 400 kW arc lamp, and cold environments (−320 °F (−195.6 °C)) with a variable geometry cryogenic cold shroud. The facility is available on a full-cost reimbursable basis to government, universities, and the private sector." (Wikipedia)

"The Space Power Facility (SPF) is the world’s largest vacuum chamber measuring 30 meters tall and 37 meters across. It is used to simulate conditions existing in outer space so that rocket hardware could be tested before they are actually sent into space. It does that by pumping out the nearly 30 tons of air contained in the chamber until there is only about 20 milligrams left. It takes about eight hours to pump down to this level. Inside, an array of quartz heat lamp simulates solar radiation and a 400 kilowatt arc lamp simulates the solar spectrum. A cryogenic cold shroud brings the temperature down to minus one hundred sixty degree centigrade," the Amusing Planet says.

"The SPF is not the most extreme vacuum chamber but it’s definitely the largest. Some vacuum chambers can achieve ultra vacuum conditions where air pressure goes down to as low as 100 nanopascals, or about 2,500 times lower than the strongest vacuum achieved by the SPF, but those vacuum chambers are generally small, and used for things like X-Ray spectroscopy and gravitational wave detectors. The SPF, on the other hand, is big enough to swallow a spacecraft.

"The airbag landing systems for the Mars Pathfinder were tested inside this vacuum chamber, and the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, were stress-tested under simulated Mars atmospheric conditions here. In 2013, the most exciting private space venture, SpaceX, utilized the services of the SPF to test their payload fairing—the nose cone that protects a spacecraft from pressure and heat during launch through the atmosphere."

"Plum Brook Station is located on 6,400 acres of land near Sandusky, Ohio, about 50 miles west of the main Glenn Research Center campus. It has served a number of functions over the years, and some facilities have been decommissioned, including the Plum Brook Nuclear Reactor, which NASA once used for space-related nuclear energy research and development," the Atlas Obscura reports.

"The Space Power Facility, meanwhile, is the largest vacuum chamber in the world. It’s used for testing full-scale space hardware, including parts of rockets, Mars landers, and space stations. It was also used to shoot some scenes from the 2012 Marvel movie The Avengers.

"The only real success story in terms of actual customers was, and still is, the Space Power Facility. The cavernous vacuum chamber continues to attract a steady stream of customers, including SpaceX, which has tested both its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft at the facility. NASA also used the Space Power Facility to test its Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle."

"The Space Power Facility is presumed to be the world’s largest high-vacuum test chamber and is designed to qualify vehicles and equipment for outer space conditions," the National Institute of Standards and Technology says.

"The interior of the aluminum chamber measures 30.5 meters (100 feet) in diameter and 37.2 meters (122 feet) from floor to the top of the dome. The facility is located at the NASA Plum Brook Station near Sandusky, Ohio and is managed by the NASA John H. Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. This set of evaluation measurements and analysis were intended to quantify the electromagnetic characteristics of this chamber while empty.

"The experimental data that we collected includes an extensive set of point to point signal propagation and attenuation (insertion loss) measurements, direct measurements of electric fields generated in the chamber by a high power radio frequency source, shielding effectiveness of the aluminum shell, and environmental ambient radio frequency signals. These measurements spanned the frequency spectrum from below 100 MHz to 40 GHz."

"The SEC Vacuum Chamber, known as the Space Power Facility (SPF), is the world’s largest vacuum chamber with a volume of 22,653 m³ (800,000 ft³) and measures 30.5 m (100 ft) in diameter and 37.2 m (122 ft) high with 15.24-m (50-ft) by 15.24-m (50-ft) loading doors on each side leading to high bays," the Glenn Research Center says.

"The chamber features all-aluminum construction, including a removable polar crane with an 18.1 t (20 ton) critical lift trolley and a 9.1 t (10 ton) auxiliary hook. The chamber’s unique size and capabilities has made it the ideal facility for conducting tests such as full-scale rocket-fairing separation tests, Mars Lander system tests, deployable solar sail and solar array tests, International Space Station (ISS) radiator deployment tests, and high-energy experiments.

"The vacuum chamber was designed and constructed to test both nuclear and nonnuclear space hardware in a simulated space environment. Although the facility was designed for testing nuclear hardware, only non-nuclear tests have been performed throughout its history."

Photos: World's Largest Vacuum Chamber: world record in Sandusky, Ohio. Photos 3-8: Glenn Research Center