This collection of webpages was created to document some of the historic facilities formerly located at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio.
Since its establishment in the early 1940s, NASA’s Glenn Research Center has utilized its state-of-the-art test facilities to conduct a wide range of research. As requirements change and newer technologies emerge, however, the use of some facilities has diminished. As part of NASA’s effort to decrease its physical footprint, the center has been removing its under-utilized facilities, including several that have made major technological contributions. The webpages listed below document these former historic facilities and their impact.
Historic Former Facilities
Altitude Wind Tunnel
The Altitude Wind Tunnel (AWT) was the nation’s only wind tunnel capable of studying full-scale engines under realistic flight conditions. In 1961, the tunnel was converted into one of the country’s first large vacuum tanks to support the Centaur rocket program.
Cyclotron
The Cyclotron Facility was built in the 1950s to study effects of radiation on materials for nuclear aircraft engines. Medical researchers later used the cyclotron to study the effect of fast neutrons on cancerous tumors.
Plum Brook Reactor Facility
The 60-MW Plum Brook Reactor Facility (PBRF) conducted over 70 experiments in support of NASA's nuclear propulsion research, first for aircraft then rockets.
Propulsion Systems Laboratory
The Propulsion Systems Laboratory No. 1 and 2 (PSL) was the NACA’s most powerful facility for testing full-scale aircraft engines at simulated flight altitudes. The facility was later used to study liquid rocket and larger jet engines.
Rocket Engine Test Facility
The Rocket Engine Test Facility (RETF) was a National Historic Landmark which played an integral part in the development of high-energy liquid propellants.
Rocket Laboratory
The Rocket Laboratory was critical to the development of high-energy liquid propellants in the 1940s and 1950s and subsequently tested an array of thrusters, combustors and alternative fuels.
Rocket Systems Area
The Rocket Systems Area included 11 different facilities to test turbopumps, engine components, and propellant tanks for liquid-hydrogen propulsion systems.
Special Projects Laboratory
The Special Projects Laboratory (SPL), which was originally named the Jet Propulsion Static Laboratory (JPSL), made significant contributions to the center’s propulsion and materials research for over 70 years.
Glenn History and Mitigation
Glenn Historic Preservation
NASA Glenn has worked with the Ohio State Historic Preservation Office to mitigate the loss of some of its historic facilities.
The NASA Glenn History Office documents the research, facilities, and people who have contributed to the center’s extensive history and manages the Glenn History Collection.
