• Question: How do you create a vacuum inside the Large Space Simulator? And is it a real vacuum, with nothing in it?

    Asked by mrsheepy to Alexander on 13 Mar 2014.
    • Photo: Alexander Finch

      Alexander Finch answered on 13 Mar 2014:

      Hi!

      Well, we usually put a satellite in there too 🙂

      The vacuum isn’t completely empty of air – this is basically impossible to do, in fact. But we can get it down to a billionth of the normal air pressure, which is pretty empty! Even though it’s not perfect, it’s good enough for us, since space itself is not a perfect vacuum either – especially for satellites in Earth orbit.

      The vacuum is created by pumping the air out with some powerful air pump 🙂 I’m not sure how exactly this is done – I can ask if you like!

      The other thing I think was cool about it is that super-cold liquid nitrogen is pumped around the walls of the LSS, meaning the walls give off almost no heat. This is very useful as, in space, it is very cold when you’re in a shadow – and we want to be able to simulate that too!

Comments