Groundbreaking for the largest new laboratory at NASA Langley Research Center is scheduled for Tuesday, April 11, beginning at 2 p.m.
State and local officials and community leaders who plan to participate in the event include Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, and Hampton Mayor Donnie Tuck, along with other officials and community leaders.
News media who wish to attend the event should contact Michael Finneran at michael.p.finneran@nasa.gov or 757-864-6110.
A $95.6-million contract to build the laboratory at NASA Langley in Hampton, Virginia, was awarded in December 2016 to the W.M. Jordan Co. in Newport News by the U.S. General Services Administration. The lab is scheduled for completion in 2019.
The contract is the largest awarded for NASA Langley in recent history. The 175,000-square-foot (16,258 square meters) lab will be the biggest of the new facilities built so far as part of NASA Langley’s 20-year revitalization plan. The plan calls for demolition of aging structures and construction of new, energy efficient facilities and the rehab of aging buildings.
The Measurement Systems Laboratory will be a world-class facility for research and development of new measurement concepts, technologies, and systems that will enable NASA to achieve its mission in space exploration, science, and aeronautics.
The lab will have about 40 modular research labs for research and development functions such as electronics, lasers, clean rooms, and instrumentation. The facility will allow the consolidation of many laboratories that currently are dispersed throughout the center.
For an artist concept, go to https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/langley/nasa-langley-measurement-systems-laboratory
