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 Aerial view of Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1942 |
| Preceding agencies |
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| Jurisdiction | Federal government of the United States |
| Headquarters | Brook Park,Ohio, U.S. 41°24′46″N81°51′45″W / 41.412843°N 81.862399°W /41.412843; -81.862399 |
| Agency executive |
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| Parent agency | NASA |
| Child agency |
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| Website | nasa.gov/glenn |
NASA John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field is aNASA center within the cities ofBrook Park andCleveland betweenCleveland Hopkins International Airport and the Rocky River Reservation ofCleveland Metroparks, with a subsidiary facility inSandusky, Ohio. Its director is James A. Kenyon. Glenn Research Center is one of ten majorNASA facilities, whose primary mission is to develop science and technology for use in aeronautics and space. As of May 2012[update], it employed about 1,650 civil servants and 1,850 support contractors on or near its site.
In 2010, the formerly on-site NASA Visitors Center moved to theGreat Lakes Science Center in theNorth Coast Harbor area ofdowntown Cleveland.
The installation was established in 1942 as part of theNational Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and was later incorporated into theNational Aeronautics and Space Administration as a laboratory for aircraft engine research.
It was first named theAircraft Engine Research Laboratory after funding was approved in June 1940. It was renamed theFlight Propulsion Research Laboratory in 1947, theLewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory (LFPL) in 1948 (afterGeorge W. Lewis, the head of NACA from 1919 to 1947), and theNASA Lewis Research Center in 1958.
On March 1, 1999, the center was officially renamed theNASA John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field, in honor ofJohn Glenn, who was a fighter pilot, astronaut (the first American to orbit the Earth) and a politician.
As early as 1951, researchers at the LFPL were studying the combustion processes inliquid rocket engines.[1]
The 6,400-acre (2,600 ha)NASA John H. Glenn Research Center at the Neil A. Armstrong Test Facility or justNeil A. Armstrong Test Facility, formerly theNASA John H. Glenn Research Center at Plum Brook Station or justPlum Brook Station, in southernErie County, Ohio, nearSandusky, is also part of Glenn (41°20′59.4″N82°39′01.8″W / 41.349833°N 82.650500°W /41.349833; -82.650500).[2] It is located about 50 miles (80 km) from the main campus. It specializes in very large scale tests that would be hazardous on the main campus.[3]
As of 2015,[update] the station consisted of five major facilities:[4]
ThePlum Brook Reactor was decontaminated and decommissioned under a 2008 cost-plus-fee contract valued at more than $33.5 million.[5]
In 2019 the U.S. senators from Ohio,Rob Portman andSherrod Brown, proposed to rename Plum Brook Station afterNeil Armstrong.[6] The legislation[7] was signed into law on December 30, 2020, and Plum Brook Station was renamed the Neil A. Armstrong Test Facility.[8][2]
The B-2 Spacecraft Propulsion Research Facility is the world's only facility capable of testing full-scale, upper-stage launch vehicles and rocket engines under simulated high-altitude conditions. The Space Power Facility houses the world's largest space environment vacuum chamber.[9]
The icing Research Tunnel is awind tunnel capable of simulating atmospheric icing condition to test the effect of ice accretion on aircraft wings and body as well as to test anti-icing systems for aircraft.
The Zero Gravity Research Facility is a verticalvacuum chamber used for dropping experiment payloads for testing inmicrogravity. It enables the investigation of the behavior of components, systems, liquids, gases, and combustion when dropped in vacuum.
The facility consists of a concrete-lined shaft, 28 feet (8.5 m) in diameter, that extends 510 feet (160 m) below ground level. An aluminum vacuum chamber, 20 feet (6.1 m) in diameter and 470 feet (140 m) high, is contained within the concrete shaft. The pressure in this vacuum chamber is reduced to 13.3newtons per square meter (1.3×10−4atm) before use.
The facility also includes a smaller drop tower with a free fall time of 2.2 seconds and a much lower cost per drop. It is used for theDropping in a Microgravity Environment (DIME) andWhat if No Gravity (WING) educational programs.
The facility was designated aNational Historic Landmark in 1985. It has been the world's largest microgravity facility since the 2003 closing of theJapan Microgravity Centre.
NASA Glenn does research and technology development on jet engines, producing designs that reduce energy consumption, pollution, and noise. The chevrons it developed for noise reduction appear on many commercial jet engines today, including those used on theBoeing 787 Dreamliner.[10]
The Glenn Research Center, along with companies it has hired, are credited with the following:
NASA Glenn's core competencies are:[14]
The Glenn Research Center is home to the Lewis' Educational and Research Collaborative Internship Program (LERCIP).[15] It provides internships for high school and college students and high school teachers. The high school program is an eight-week internship for sophomores and juniors with interests in science, technology, engineering, math, or professional administration. The college level consists of a 10-week internship and is open to college students at all levels. Only residents of the Cleveland area are eligible for high school LERCIP, but college LERCIP is open to students nationwide. Interns work closely with their NASA mentors and are involved in the daily activities of the center. They are expected to be available to work 40 hours a week for the duration of the internship. The LERCIP Teacher program is a 10-week internship for educators in STEM fields.
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TheDropping In Microgravity Environment is an annual contest held yearly by the center. Teams of high school students write proposals for experiments to be performed in the Drop Tower. The winners travel to the center, perform their experiments, and submit a research report to NASA.[16]
After 2004, NASA had been shifting its focus towards space exploration as mandated by theVision for Space Exploration. Because of this, it was perceived by some that regional NASA centers like Glenn, which focus on research and technology, were becoming more and more marginalized in terms of resources and relevance.[17] However, on May 13, 2006, it was announced that NASA Glenn Research Center had secured management of theCrew Exploration Vehicle's service module, which promised to generate billions of dollars and hundreds of jobs for the center. This work secured the center's future in the near term, and signalled a shift in priority for the center from aeronautical research to space exploration, aligning itself closer with NASA's new mission.
Another change of direction created uncertainty in 2010, however, whenPresident Obama andCongress declared the end of the Vision for Space Exploration and sought to chart a new course[clarification needed] for human space flight and NASA. However, the 2015 budget for NASA made substantial increases to projects in which the Research Center participates, such as aeronautics research, planetary science and space technology, and some of that funding was expected to flow down to the center.[18]
The Visitor Center closed in September 2009 with many displays shifted to theGreat Lakes Science Center, and new ones created there. This move was done to reduce the public relations budget and to provide easier access to the general public, especially the under-served community. It was hoped that putting the displays at the much more visited science center will bring the NASA Glenn facility more public exposure.[19] In fact, this proved true: compared to the 60,000 visitors per year at its former site, the Glenn Visitor Center enjoyed 330,000 visitors in the first year at the Great Lakes Science Center. The new display area at the science center is referred to as the Glenn Visitor Center.[20]
The NASA Glenn Research Center also offers public tours of its research facilities on the first Saturday of each month. Reservations must be made in advance.
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