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Santa Susana Field Laboratory Virtual Tour

The Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL) is located on approximately 2,850 acres in the Simi Hills in Ventura County, California, with the San Fernando Valley to the east and the Simi Valley to the north. SSFL is divided into four administrative areas—Area I, Area II, Area III, and Area IV—and two "undeveloped areas."

Area II was the proving ground for numerous rocket engines and components designed and developed by Rocketdyne for NASA, the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Army's Army Ballistic Missile Agency. Area II was sub-divided into four test areas, Alfa, Bravo, Coca and Delta, with multiple test stands and support facilities in each.

These test areas reflect the most intense research and development era of rocket propulsion in our nation. Some of the major rocket engine programs that used Area II for testing include the Redstone, Atlas and Jupiter engines, the predecessor to the Saturn V's F-1 engine, the E-1, components of the F-1 engine, the upper stage engines for the Saturn V, the J-2 and the testing and development of the Space Shuttle Main Engine.

Project Information

Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) undertook Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) documentation of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory in 2011. The virtual tour of the 400+ acre Area II test facility displays 360-degree panoramas of the various test areas, surrounding landscape, and inside the aging test stands themselves. Alongside the panoramas, viewers can explore additional content such as interactive 3D models, point clouds, measured drawings, large format photographs, and flyover videos which all provide important context for understanding the site. While the documentation project focused on six rocket test stands in the Alfa, Bravo, and Coca Test Areas, the team also took steps to capture and highlight the nature of the surrounding Simi Hills. The virtual tour, along with large-format photography, measured and interpretive drawings, and a historical report, is intended to be a comprehensive resource available to all.

The field documentation team consisted of HDP architects Thomas M. Behrens, Anne E. Kidd, Dana Lockett, Alex Matsov, and John Wachtel. The topography and test stands were modelled by Anne E. Kidd, Jeremy T. Mauro, and John Wachtel. The fly-through animation was rendered using 3ds Max by John Wachtel. The video editing was accomplished using Blender by John Wachtel.

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Last updated: October 31, 2023