Demolition of MSFC facilities makes way for NASA’s next era
When two historic test stands were demolished last weekend, it was part of a larger reno project at the Marshall Space Flight Center.
The project targeted inactive structures to help create “an interconnected campus ready for the next era of space exploration,” Marshall officials said.
The Propulsion and Structural Test Facility and the Dynamic Test Facility, which were part of the area’s space legacy, were brought down Jan. 10 with coordinated implosions.
Around mid-December, crews began the demolition of the nearly 60-year-old Neutral Buoyancy Simulator.
The facility, which was closed in 1997, provided a simulated zero-gravity environment for astronauts and to test space hardware. It was one of the few places in the world that could recreate weightlessness or near-weightlessness.
“Each one of these structures helped NASA make history,” said MSFC Acting Director Rae Ann Meyer. “While it is hard to let them go, they’ve earned their retirement. The people who built and managed these facilities and empowered our mission of space exploration are the most important part of their legacy.”
During the implosion and after, people were expressing on social media their disappointment that the iconic test stands could not be preserved.
However, Meyer said that was not a consideration.
“These structures are not safe,” she said. “Strategic demolition is a necessary step in shaping the future of NASA’s mission to explore, innovate, and inspire. By removing these structures that we have not used in decades, we are saving money on upkeep of facilities we can’t use.
“We also are making these areas safe to use for future NASA exploration endeavors and investments.”
The Propulsion and Structural Test Facility – also known as the “T-tower” due to its shape – was built in 1957 by the Army Ballistic Missile Agency and transferred to NASA when Marshall was founded in 1960. There, engineers tested components of the Saturn launch vehicles, the Army’s Redstone Rocket, and shuttle solid rocket boosters.
It was last used for space shuttle solid rocket motor tests in the 1990s.
Built in 1964, the Dynamic Test Stand initially was used to test fully assembled Saturn V rockets. In 1978, engineers integrated all space shuttle elements for the first time, including the orbiter, external fuel tank, and solid rocket boosters.
The Marshall landmark was last used in the early 2000s for microgravity testing.
So, as “all good things must come to an end,” this era of space history in Huntsville wraps up.
But the next era will dawn in a few weeks when Artemis-2 and its crew of four launch from Cape Canaveral, carried by a Marshall-designed, -tested and -managed SLS rocket.
For the first time in about a half century, Americans will orbit the moon, marking another step in a planned return to the lunar surface and another milestone in the legacy of the Marshall Space Flight Center and its people.
