Sunspot provides thermal vacuum testing for both government and private-sector interests. The chamber is a vertically oriented stainless steel cylindrical vessel, with the capability to simulate a wide range of thermal environments.

The Sunspot Thermal Vacuum Testing Facility at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is part of the MSFC Environmental Test Facilities (EFT) complex used to simulate the harsh environments encountered by space-borne craft and components. The ETF replicates those environments in its 27 chambers, which can be configured individually to mimic high vacuums, extreme temperatures, wide humidity swings, and high-altitude conditions.

Sunspot provides thermal vacuum testing for private industry; the U.S. Department of Defense, and a variety of NASA programs, vehicles and missions, including the Hubble Space Telescope, the International Space Station and the James Webb Space Telescope.

Large test articles may be lowered into Sunspot through the top of the chamber via an overhead crane. Access is provided via a 10,000 (ISO Class 7) clean room. The chamber is a vertically oriented stainless steel cylindrical vessel. The overall dimensions are 12 feet in diameter by 15 feet tall, with the internal shroud reducing the test article area to 10 feet in diameter by 12 feet tall.

Available instrumentation includes thermocouples; temperature-controlled, quartz-crystal microbalances; and a residual gas analyzer. A full range of thermal conditions can be simulated, with a full liquid-nitrogen shroud for cooling, to infrared lamps that provide heating capability. The pumping system for Sunspot includes one 52-inch cryopump and one maglev turbopump.

Read more about the Sunspot Thermal Vacuum Testing Facility. 

To arrange testing in this facility, please contact Richard Cooper: richard.a.cooper@nasa.gov or email hq-setmo@mail.nasa.gov.