![](\"http:\/\/www.esa.int\/var\/esa\/storage\/images\/esa_multimedia\/images\/2016\/06\/sound_horns_in_leaf_wall\/16017083-1-eng-GB\/Sound_horns_in_LEAF_wall_small.jpg\")
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\nIt looks like a giant version of a sound system, and that is precisely what it is. ESA\u2019s Large European Acoustic Facility<\/a> (LEAF) subjects satellites to the same noise a launcher produces as it takes off and flies through the atmosphere.\n<\/p>\n \nLEAF is an integral part of ESA\u2019s test centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, a collection of spaceflight simulation facilities under a single roof. One wall of the chamber \u2013 which stands 11 m wide by 9 m deep and 16.4 m high \u2013 is embedded with a set of enormous sound horns<\/a>. Nitrogen shot through the horns<\/a> can produce a range of noise up to more than 154 decibels, like standing close to multiple jets taking off.\n<\/p>\n \nAs a safety feature, LEAF can operate only once all the doors are closed. Steel-reinforced concrete walls safely contain its noise, coated with epoxy resin to reflect noise to produce a uniform sound field within the chamber<\/a>. The chamber itself is supported on rubber bearing pads to isolate it from its surroundings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \nIt looks like a giant version of a sound system, and that is precisely what it is. ESA’s Large European Acoustic Facility<\/a> (LEAF) subjects satellites to the same noise a launcher produces as it takes off and flies through the atmosphere.\n<\/p>\n \nLEAF is an integral part of ESA’s test centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, a collection of spaceflight simulation facilities under a single roof. One wall of the chamber – which stands 11 m wide by 9 m deep and 16.4 m high – is embedded with a set of enormous sound horns<\/a>. Nitrogen shot through the horns<\/a> can produce a range of noise up to more than 154 decibels, like standing close to multiple jets taking off.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n