something interesting about Sandusky...

i was watching NASA TV about the Mars rover. and it turns out there is a NASA facility in Sandusky! who knew?? not me!!

now to put this back on topic...

i wonder if the NASA geeks head over to CP for "research purposes" on their off days or lunch breaks?? i mean, what better way to get ideas?

or maybe they just go on Physics Day...

can you tell its going to be a LOOONNGGG off-season??

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meleth nin Balan in Andrann

it aint the size of the arrow, its what you do with the bow....

I thought the NASA Plum Brook station was common knowledge. Granted, I lived in the area for almost 30 years ... but it's not exactly a tourist attraction.

The Plum Brook facility is very important to NASA's mission.

For those who are interested, here's the scoop:

NASA owns 6,400 acres in an area south of Bogart Rd and West of Rt. 250 (here's a picture showing the massive area - you can see Cedar Point in the upper right). It is also home to field offices of several federal agencies, including the FBI, USDA, among others. Plum Brook is home to the only facility in the world that simulates the actual flight conditions of space on full-size rocket vehicles, the world’s largest thermal vacuum chamber (conducting tests in a simulated space environment) and the largest clean-air wind tunnel in the country (they can perform tests up to seven times the speed of sound).

There is a 60-megawatt nuclear test reactor which was built in the early 1960's, I believe, and closed around 1973. NASA recently started decommissioning the facility. There are some pictures here (including one of the leftovers from when the area was home to a munitions plant) and here are many stories from space.com.

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Walt Schmidt
Virtual Midway

*** This post was edited by Gemini 1/7/2004 9:16:12 PM ***

thanks Walt!! you rock!!

ive always been mostinterested in space exploration and now that i can connect it to CP (albeit in a VERY convoluted way) its even cooler!! Sandusky is home to CP, the best Meijer's ive ever been to and NASA too?? im in heaven! (am i a geek or what?)

too bad the NASA plot isnt a tourist attraction...

thanks for the photo links too!! i never would have guessed NASA had that many acres out there!!

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meleth nin Balan in Andrann

it aint the size of the arrow, its what you do with the bow....

I grew up in Columbus Park, about 1 mile from the main gate at the Plum Brook substation. They used to test rocket engines in the middle of the night, back in the 1960's. They had tours of the facility every year for many years, and I have been inside almost every major installation at Plum Brook, including the Reactor. Always wanted to check out the powder magazines, but those are off limits. Took a bicycle tour one time. Last tour I went on was about 10 years ago, have some video around somewhere.

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Tank
Magnum: 12

The company I worked for before CP used to deal with Plum Brook and Lewis Research center in Cleveland. Really neat facilities actually..

I've got a pic of me and Sean O'Keefe (NASA Administrator) around here somewhere from when we handed over the chips we did for the Spirit and Opportunity projects.

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June 11th, 2001 - Gemini 100
VertiGo Rides - 82

Yeah, I found that out last summer while eating at Max and Erma's. I was shocked, as well.

-Mr. Ott

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Drag Races: 8

Also a lifelong resident of the Sandusky area, I've been on a couple of tours and the highlight was the space-simulation chamber. It's stainless-steel lined and the concrete is at least 5 feet thick...very cool. A while back, they had a rupture in the hypersonic wind tunnel. It shattered the windows at my friend's house, who's property abuts NASA's.

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--Seth

The property used to (and I presume still is) be home to a great number of deer.

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"You can dream, create, design and build the most wonderful place in the world...but it requires people to make the dreams a reality."

They have certain periods every now and then where a limited number of people are allowed to hunt the deer to keep the population from getting out of control since they're protected from everything in there. I actually used to live on one of the access roads (Scheid)...

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"Distance runners are experts at pain, discomfort, and fear."

*** This post was edited by mantis_man 1/8/2004 3:24:54 PM ***

My grandfather works for NASA and used to work at plumbbrook before it was shut down. We went there the summer before last to cut down tree's for fire wood. It was really creepy there. They had to search our cars before we went in, and there were a TON of deer running all over the place. The buildings were kind of eerie being abandoned and all. And we saw the nuclear reactor building (which is now being decontaminated). It was pretty cool though.

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Guest Service's Host, '03
Don't know yet, '04

Weren't there once little signs in the queue for Demon Drop that were put up by NASA? I haven't really seen them since being a season pass holder (2001-present), but remember from one of my trips during the 1990s.

Why no more NASA/Cedar Point connection?

-Sam
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Avalanche Run - My first Roller Coaster.
Magnum XL-200 - The BEST Roller Coaster!

New Profile Photo, now with Magnum Robert!

Yes, they tested the parachute and the airbags for the rovers landing there. Watched a video in physics class on it. Very interesting I must say. ever knew what the facility was used for until then. Yes the wind tunnel is massive. I was watching the guys walk into the tnnel while it was on and I was like, I wanna do that too! It looked so fun!

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Mike
2003 Totals
Top Thrill Dragster: 6
MF: 26
WT: 16
Raptor: 12

Actually, I don't think there is an actual wind tunnel at Plum Brook. Or is there? You may be referring to the Space Power Facility. It is the world's largest vacuum chamber, and is impressive, to say the least. It is so huge inside, it makes you a little dizzy to look up. It is the large white dome you see from US 250, on your left, when you are heading north.

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Tank
Magnum: 12

I'm pretty sure they have an underground wind tunnel.

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"Distance runners are experts at pain, discomfort, and fear."

Actually, Tank, there is a somewhat large hypersonic wind tunnel at the facility. Like I said before, I remember the day it had a breech and broke my friend's windows. Also, Cleveland news crews were sent out and there were some aerial shots of the rupture in the roof of the wind tunnel.

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--Seth

Hmm... I live in Bellevue but unfortunately never have been there. I thought the whole place was either closed or soon to be closed completely? I guess I must be mistaken, or am I? I'm kinda confused. If it's still open do they still give tours? I travel around there a whole lot b/c my sister lives around there... I'd be really interested to see some of these things! I wanna see the hypersonic wind tunnel.

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'04 Twister ATL
'03 Twister/Sky Ride (Spent month@Disaster too)

I'm pretty sure they don't give tours any more. I went there 2 years ago with my grandpa who works for NASA to cut down some tree's for fire wood. As far as I knew, it was closed, and they just had security to keep unwanted people out. I know that they have taken down the reactor and are working on decontaminating the land where it was. That's all I've heard about it though. They have also taken down the NASA entrance sign to Plumbrook.

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Guest Service's Host, '03
Don't know yet, '04