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Altitude Wind Tunnel Image Gallery

Image Gallery for the Altitude Wind Tunnel (AWT) website: www.nasa.gov/altitude-wind-tunnel/. The AWT was the nation’s first wind tunnel capable of studying full-scale engines under realistic flight conditions, played a significant role in the development of early U.S. jet engines. In the 1960s, the tunnel was converted into one of the country’s first large vacuum tanks, named the Space Power Chambers (SPC), to support the Centaur rocket program.

A P&W J57 engine is tested with a General Electric nozzle for a noise reduction study conducted in the Altitude...
Pratt & Whitney J57 with a General Electric nozzle tested in the Altitude Wind Tunnel
A P&W J57 engine was tested with a Douglas standard nozzle and faring for a noise reduction study conducted in...
J57 on stand in AWT test section
A P&W J-57 engine is tested with a 31 tube nozzle assembly in the Altitude Wind Tunnel (AWT) (3/13/1957).
Closeup view of J57 with 31-tube nozzle
A P&W J57 engine is tested in the Altitude Wind Tunnel (AWT) with a Greatex No. 2 nozzle for a...
Pratt & Whitney J57 engine installed in the Altitude Wind Tunnel with a Greatex No.2 nozzle.
A P&W J57 engine is tested with a Coanda nozzle and ejector in the Altitude Wind Tunnel (AWT). The ejector...
Pratt & Whitney J57 with a General Electric nozzle tested in the Altitude Wind Tunnel
Lewis' B-57B flight tested the noise-reducing ejector that was tested in the Altitude Wind Tunnel (AWT) (5/25/1959).
B-57B in hangar with ejector on engine.
Scaffolding is set up inside the Altitude Wind Tunnel (AWT) to facilitate the removal of tunnel components and installation of...
Scaffolding in AWT tunnel section.
Lewis mechanic examines the Big Joe capsule's nitrogen tanks in the Altitude Wind Tunnel (AWT) shop. The heatshield has been...
Mechanic with Big Joe capsule.
The Big Joe capsule mock-up is mounted on the MASTIF to test the control systems using the maneuvers it would...
View from above of MASTIF in AWT.
An Atlas missile lifts off from Cape Canaveral with the Big Joe boilerplate capsule on September 28, 1959.
Atlas launch of Mercury capsule
Scott Carpenter examining setup for capsule separation tests.
The Mercury capsule, its rockets are seen at the right, was affixed to the simulated boosters at the left for...
A technican prepares a simulated Redstone vehicle for separation test
Qualification tests of the Mercury capsule's retrorockets on a retrograde thrust stand inside the Altitude Wind Tunnel (AWT) (4/15/1960).
Researcher examines capsule retrorockets in AWT
Lewis technician prepare the Mercury spacecraft's retrograde rocket pack for testing in the Altitude Wind Tunnel (AWT) in September 1960.
Technician with capsule retropackage.
A pilot tests out the Multi Axis Space Test Inertial Facility inside the Altitude Wind Tunnel (AWT) in October 1959.
View of the MASTIF rig from above
Robert Miller and James Useller with John Glenn. The men were the driving forces behind the creation and operation of...
Three men standing casually on platform.
Scott Carpenter operating the MASTIF on March 2, 1960.
Man in rotating test rig.
Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom with the MASTIF inside the wide end of the Altitude Wind Tunnel (AWT) (2/23/1960).
Two men talking with test rig in background.
A Mercury capsule with its escape tower being placed on a booster for a test firing of the escape system...
Lifting of Mercury capsule at launch pad.
Testing of the escape tower rockets for the Mercury capsule inside the Altitude Wind Tunnel return leg (1960),
Men on catwalks viewing Mercury capsule.
Engineers on platform work on capsule mounted on tunnel wall
A technician examines the escape tower for the Mercury capsule as it is mounted in the Altitude Wind Tunnel (AWT)...
Researcher examines setup for Mercury capsule escape rocket test
Close-up of the three rockets used to propel the Mercury capsule away from the launch pad in the event of...
Closeup view of escape tower rockets
Removal of the Altitude Wind Tunnel (AWT)'s outer shell in preparation for the installation of a large bulkhead and the...
Removal of insulation from Tunnel shell.
A crane inserts a 31 foot diameter bulkhead into the Altitude Wind Tunnel (AWT) to divide the interior space into...
Crane lowers bulkhead into AWT
Construction of the SPC No. 1 control room underneath the former Altitude Wind Tunnel (AWT) test section (10/4/1961).
Construction of control room.
Installation of the 31-foot diameter bulkhead near the southeast corner which separated the two SPC chambers within the former wind...
Bulkhead Erected in the new Space Power Chamber
The 30 foot diameter, 100 foot long SPC No. 1 in the east leg of the former Altitude Wind Tunnel...
Interior of vacuum chamber in the east leg of the AWT
This 27-foot diameter bulkhead at the north end of Space Power Chamber No. 1 and overhead cranes permitted movement of...
Man standing in large oval doorway.
NASA envisioned using Space Power Chamber No. 1 to study small space hardware like this, but transfer of the Centaur...
Two men move satellite with crane in chamber.
Southwest corner of the 51-foot diameter Space Power Chamber No. 2 after the removal of the tunnel's turning vanes, cooling...
Interior of SPC No. 2
Tanking test of the Atlas-Centaur 3 vehicle prior to its June 30, 1964 launch attempt.
Man looking at rocket on launch pad.
A Centaur second-stage rocket being assembled and readied at a General Dynamics factory for launch from Cape Canaveral. (11/8/1962)
Centaur lifted horizontally by crane in factory
A 100 foot crane was used to remove the 22.5 foot diameter dome from the Space Power Chamber No. 1...
Crane lifts cap off the top of SPC No. 1 dome
Installation of Centaur vehicle into Space Power Chamber No. 1, which could simulate the vacuum at an altitude of about...
A 100 foot crane is used to lower a Centaur 6A into the SPC No. 1.
A 100-foot crane lowers a Centaur 6A into the Space Power Chamber No. 1 for a series of systems tests...
Crane lowers Centaur into test chamber
A Centaur 6A rocket is lowered through opened dome into the Space Power Chamber No. 1 for a series of...
Crane lowering a Centaur rocket into the Space Power Chamber No.1
A Centaur 6A rocket is lowered into Space Power Chamber No.1 to test its auxiliary propulsion, hydraulic, pneumatic, and electrical...
View from below as Centaur is lowered into chamber
The Centaur rested on this approximately 9-foot tall triangular stand inside Space Power Chamber No. 1 (1/16/1964).
Centaur stand lowered into Space Power Chamber No.1
A 42-foot tall copper liquid nitrogen-cooled baffle was erected around the Centaur in Space Power Chamber No. 1 to simulate...
View of large cooling shroud inside SPC No. 1