Inside The World’s Largest Wind Tunnel
Aircraft enter the test section via two 80-foot-tall sliding doors on the far wall. They can be as large as a 737. The air intake on the left is 360×130 ft., and at full speed, it consumes 104 megawatts to move 60 tons of air per second.
The initial parachute system for the Mars rovers was tested here and found to be inadequate as the parachute shredded when opened. JPL will soon be testing a new parachute system here and a helicopter for Mars in a nearby structure.
Here are all the photo pages from our Friday tour: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/sets/72157632625299231
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