Fast Field Trips: Magnetic Test Facility

From the creator

Dave Sheppard and Carolina Chism take us on a tour of the historic Magnetic Test Facility, located deep in the woods miles away from Goddard's main campus. This facility is where we test magnetometers for everything from Apollo rovers to modern Mars missions. Magnetometers use electric currents to measure magnetic fields on Earth and elsewhere. The Magnetic Test Facility is built of non-magnetic materials, with massive coils to zero out Earth's magnetic field. It sits about 2 miles away from the rest of Goddard, surrounded by trees to help protect it from magnetic interference from things like power lines, and other tech. Earth's magnetic field plays a role in making our planet habitable, protecting us from some of the Sun's harsh radiation. Understanding our own magnetic field, the way it interacts with the solar wind, and magnetic spots on other planetary bodies will help us explore the Moon and beyond. Video description: 0:00 Two people walk into a building. Text: "Inside the Magnetic Test Facility." 0:01 They walk up wooden stairs. 0:03 Wood ceiling, crossed with curved metal bars. 0:05 Looking through the bars. 0:09 Flying over white buildings among trees. 0:13 Carolina Chism, Instrument Engineer. 0:18 People working in the coil. 0:19 Archival shots of people in the coil. 0:21 Black & white photo of someone working. 0:22 Dave Shepherd, Lead Engineer, Planetary Magnetospheres Lab. 0:24 Someone working on a small instrument. 0:26 Diagram of a vector magnetometer.

Published 2025-08-28 · Watch on YouTube ↗
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