Resource Conversion Test Facility

The Resource Conversion Test Facility houses the capability to test the full range of fluid and chemical processes associated with the collection, processing, storage, and use of planetary surface resources. A 20-foot-diameter chamber allows testing of integrated subsystems in a simulated Mars environment (pressure, composition, and temperature) with the potential for including dust.  It has the unique capability to withstand over-pressures of up to 150 pounds per square inch for hazardous ISRU testbed operations involving oxygen, hydrogen, and methane.   The facility also houses numerous smaller thermal-vac chambers that can maintain a hard vacuum (for lunar simulation) or Mars Atmosphere with temperature ranging from ambient temperature to -300°F, and thermal chambers for elevated hardware testing.  A second 20-foot diameter thermal-vac chamber has been installed but is inactive at this time.