Uploaded August 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
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.
0:32 Bars of the coil.
0:34 Following Carolina into the coil.
0:40 She points to a "Proton Magnetometer."
0:42 A "Fluxgate Magnetometer."
0:44 A "Zero-Field Magnetometer."
0:52 Carolina & Dave through the coil.
0:56 Black & white photo of the coil. Text: "The Magnetic Test Facility was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1985."
1:00 Black & white picture of a different coil.
1:05 Scientist working on a rover stacked on a video of the rover on the Moon. Text: "Apollo 16 (1972)."
1:11 Forest around the Magnetic Test Facility and the rest of Goddard, about 2 miles away.
1:16 Carolina & Dave talking.
1:19 Juno with its magnetometer.
1:23 People working on MAVEN's Magnetometer & visualization of Mars' magnetic field.
1:2 Visualization of Saturn's magnetic field & Cassini's magnetometer.
1:27 Saturn's magnetic field.
Music: "Popcorn Synth Manoeuvre," "Nebula Nights," Universal Production Music
Ryan Fitzgibbons (eMITS/AMA): Producer, Editor
Katy Mersmann (NASA/GSFC): Videographer, Project Support
Dave Sheppard (NASA/GSFC): Interviewee, Scientist
Carolina Chism (ADNET): Interviewee, Scientist
Francis Reddy (University of Maryland College Park): Drone Videographer
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.
0:32 Bars of the coil.
0:34 Following Carolina into the coil.
0:40 She points to a "Proton Magnetometer."
0:42 A "Fluxgate Magnetometer."
0:44 A "Zero-Field Magnetometer."
0:52 Carolina & Dave through the coil.
0:56 Black & white photo of the coil. Text: "The Magnetic Test Facility was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1985."
1:00 Black & white picture of a different coil.
1:05 Scientist working on a rover stacked on a video of the rover on the Moon. Text: "Apollo 16 (1972)."
1:11 Forest around the Magnetic Test Facility and the rest of Goddard, about 2 miles away.
1:16 Carolina & Dave talking.
1:19 Juno with its magnetometer.
1:23 People working on MAVEN's Magnetometer & visualization of Mars' magnetic field.
1:2 Visualization of Saturn's magnetic field & Cassini's magnetometer.
1:27 Saturn's magnetic field.
Music: "Popcorn Synth Manoeuvre," "Nebula Nights," Universal Production Music
Ryan Fitzgibbons (eMITS/AMA): Producer, Editor
Katy Mersmann (NASA/GSFC): Videographer, Project Support
Dave Sheppard (NASA/GSFC): Interviewee, Scientist
Carolina Chism (ADNET): Interviewee, Scientist
Francis Reddy (University of Maryland College Park): Drone Videographer
