The Historic Rocket Engine Test Facility (RETF)
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RETF Buildings and Structures

The Rocket Engine Test Facility (RETF) was located within the South 40 area of the NASA Glenn Research Center . Because of the experimental nature of the testing that took place at RETF, the facility was constructed on a site built a safe distance away from the main facilities at NASA. Most of the buildings in the RETF were constructed in 1957, with a few additional components added over the next fifteen years.

The main buildings in the RETF complex were:

Building 202.
This building was the primary facility where the engines were tested. The key components in this building were:

1. Test cell : Rocket engines were tested in this section of the building. The cell was equipped with large doors and blast shutters that could open during testing to simulate natural weather conditions. In the event of catastrophic engine failure and explosion, the sheathing panels would have blown away, relieving pressure within the cell while preserving the structure of the cell.
2. Fuel pit : Fuel was stored in mounted tanks in this room.
3. Ox pit : Liquid oxygen was stored at this location and then combined with the fuel to provide the propellant.
4. Service wing : This wing contained a terminal/observation room, an office, and a small machine shop.
5. Scrubber/silencer : This device removed combustion by-products from the exhaust of the rocket engine and lessened noise levels by directing the hot gas exhaust through a heavy spray of water.
6. Detention tank : This tank held the wastewater left over from the scrubber/silencer operation.
7. Pump house : This building contained the pump that transferred the wastewater to the treatment basins.
8. Treatment basins : These basins contained chemicals that were added to treat the wastewater before it was transported to a municipal sewage treatment center.

500,000-Gallon Water Reservoir.
This large reservoir supplied water to the scrubber/silencer to remove by-products from the engine exhaust. The reservoir was located on top of the hillside to allow the water to be fed by gravity to the scrubber/silencer.

Gas Storage Tanks.
These tanks stored gasoline for the testing that took place in the early years of RETF when gasoline was used as a fuel. In later years, the research focused on liquid hydrogen as a fuel.

Building 100.
This building housed the operations-and-control room, as well as the equipment used to record the data from the testing sensors. Building 100 was located on flat ground, 1,600 feet north of the test stand so that engineers could test the rockets from a safe distance.

The Observation Blockhouse.
Constructed in 1957, this building was a plain concrete-reinforced bunker located approximately 260 feet north of Building 202. The blockhouse held test observers during engine testing, protecting them from any debris that might result from explosive engine failures.

Building 205.
Known as the Propellant Transfer and Storage Area, this facility was constructed circa 1962-1965. It housed a compressor and an automated control system used to pressurize helium gas. At RETF, pressurized helium was used to force liquid oxygen through the piping system and into the test engines.

Building 206.
Constructed in 1968, this facility was known as the Cryogenic Vaporizer Facility. It housed a liquid-nitrogen vaporizer and a gaseous-nitrogen compressor. Liquid nitrogen was fed through a pump/compressor and pressurized. The pressurized liquid then flowed through pipes to the vaporizer where air was pulled over the pipes. The liquid nitrogen within the pipes boiled and formed high-pressure nitrogen gas, which was then piped to the RETF complex.

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