What will happen to Plum Brook Station?
Plum Brook Station remains an active NASA testing facility. Each of the five Plum Brook test facilities is available to all of the NASA centers and also to customers in government and the private sector, both domestic and international. The Space Power Facility ( SPF ) at Plum Brook Station will be used to conduct integrated environmental testing of the Orion crew exploration vehicle, the eventual successor to the Space Shuttle. Extensive modifications to the facility have been taking place and are expected to continue through 2011. The tests are designed to demonstrate the ability of Orion hardware to meet specified performance standards in simulated environmental conditions such as those experienced during launch, in-orbit operations and re-entry. Thermal, acoustic and mechanical vibration – and electromagnetic compatibility testing – will be conducted on Orion’s full assembly. Testing is expected to continue until 2014.
