Spacecraft Magnetic Test Facility

The Spacecraft Magnetic Test Facility is a research building at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center housing specialized equipment for calibrating space instruments. Inside stands a large coil system designed to generate and cancel magnetic fields for testing under space-like conditions.

The facility was built in 1966 when NASA needed to expand its capabilities for testing spacecraft instruments. It was later recognized as a National Historic Landmark to honor its important role in space exploration history.

Scientists and engineers worked here for decades calibrating magnetic instruments that flew on hundreds of space missions. The facility was essential for developing measurement tools that made planetary exploration and Earth observation possible.

The building sits on the Goddard Space Flight Center campus near Washington D.C. and is part of a larger research campus with multiple laboratory buildings. The site requires special permission for visitors to enter.

The coil system can mimic orbital magnetic conditions with extreme precision by almost completely canceling Earth's magnetic field effects. This allowed scientists to test instruments in ways that predicted how they would behave once in space.

Location: Maryland

Inception: 1966

GPS coordinates: 39.00670,-76.82530

Latest update: December 12, 2025 09:08