![](\"http:\/\/www.esa.int\/var\/esa\/storage\/images\/esa_multimedia\/images\/2018\/03\/1983_extension_of_test_centre\/17412682-1-eng-GB\/1983_extension_of_Test_Centre_small.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\nExtending part of ESA\u2019s Test Centre in preparation for the construction of ESA\u2019s Large Space Simulator (LSS) back in 1983.\n<\/p>\n
\nThe LSS was an enlargement of a previous thermal vacuum chamber, the Dynamic Test Chamber \u2013 seen here \u2013 which then had a 12-m diameter horizontal lamphouse added to one side to accommodate a Sun simulator and mirror array capable of producing a 6-m diameter beam of sunlight.\n<\/p>\n
\nSome 35 years on the 15-m high 10-m diameter LSS<\/a> remains the largest thermal vacuum chamber in Europe, simulating the vacuum and temperature extremes of orbital space.\n<\/p>\n \nESA\u2019s Test Centre<\/a> at Noordwijk in the Netherlands collects together test facilities to simulate every aspect of the space environment in cleanroom conditions under a single roof.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \nExtending part of ESA’s Test Centre in preparation for the construction of ESA’s Large Space Simulator (LSS) back in 1983.\n<\/p>\n \nThe LSS was an enlargement of a previous thermal vacuum chamber, the Dynamic Test Chamber – seen here – which then had a 12-m diameter horizontal lamphouse added to one side to accommodate a Sun simulator and mirror array capable of producing a 6-m diameter beam of sunlight.\n<\/p>\n \nSome 35 years on the 15-m high 10-m diameter LSS<\/a> remains the largest thermal vacuum chamber in Europe, simulating the vacuum and temperature extremes of orbital space.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n