The facility, located at NASA's Plum Brook Station of the Glenn Research Center near Sandusky, Ohio, was built in 1968.

Its first major use was for testing stages of the Centaur Rocket, which was used to launch some of America's most important space probes.

[1] NASA's Plum Brook Station is located off Taylor Road, between Bloomingville and Bogart, south of Sandusky, Ohio.

Infrared lamps simulate radiation environments found in space, and the chamber is capable of being having its pressure reduced to the equivalent of 100 miles (160 km) of altitude.

More than ten tests of Centaur rockets here enabled the later successful launches in the Pioneer, Voyager, and Viking programs.