UC Berkeley Space Sciences Lab

The Laboratory began its operations in January 1960 with the appointment of its first director, Professor Samuel Silver. Starting life in a corner of the old Leuschner Observatory on the main campus, the active interest of faculty members in the space sciences led to a rapid deployment of the physical and biological research programs. The modest quarters were soon inadequate for the group of research associates and graduate students. An especially large project on space physiology initiated by Professors Hardin B. Tobias required much more space than available on campus, forcing the Laboratory to move to the Ford Assembly Building in Richmond, California, a property acquired by the University several years earlier. The space physics program directed by Professor Kinsey A. Anderson and involving experiments carried by balloons, rockets, and satellites quickly outgrew its quarters requiring a move off campus as well. The Laboratory rented a store at 2119 University Avenue, just west of the University, and converted it into a figurative beehive of research activities. At the peak of its use, the "Market" (or the "Shoe Store") as this facility was known, housed electronic shops, the machine shop, the data processing equipment, environmental test equipment, and research projects on the moon and the planets, the interplanetary medium, and the upper atmosphere of the earth. Also housed here were social scientists who were studying the physical scientists and the problems of organization and administration of research. In its early years, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration followed the policy of funding university research on an individual project basis. Webb became the Administrator of NASA, that the agency formulated a broad and far-reaching program of space research and exploration. The Office of Grants and Research Contracts instituted two programs: the Sustaining Grant Program and the Facilities Program. The Berkeley campus was one of the first universities to receive grants under these two programs. The Sustaining Grant, which provided the Space Sciences Laboratory with a core of funds for interdisciplinary research in the physical, biological, engineering, and social sciences, gave the Laboratory a foundation on which to build faculty programs and to generate new areas of graduate training through research. The grant was invaluable in developing the space sciences program on the Berkeley campus. The NASA Facilities Grant precipitated the construction of SSL's original buildings. The growth of multiple programs represented the fulfillment of one of laboratory's goals, namely to stimulate faculty and student participation in space research. But the second major objective, that of developing the multidisciplinary substance and unique character of space research, could not be realized in a physically fragmented laboratory. With the construction of the new buildings, that goal was finally achieved. The building grant was awarded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1962 and the building dedicated on Thursday, October 27, 1966. SSL employs about 400 people in scientific, technical, and administrative positions, including professors, research scientists, students, engineers, technicians, and programmers. Most of the staff works at the Silver Laboratory and Addition building, located in a wooded site near the crest of the Berkeley hills overlooking the Berkeley campus. The rest are located in several campus departments and at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. SSL has the following facilities for space related research: 1) A high bay: a 60 foot high open area with two cranes that allows assembly of large scientific instruments or payloads for high altitude balloons or spacecraft; 2) An 11-meter diameter dish antenna for communication with spacecraft, sending up commands and bringing down the data; 3) A Mission Operations Center and Science Operations Center (MOC/SOC) for the operation of spacecraft and their scientific instruments; 4) Vacuum test and calibration facilities; 5) Fabrication facilities, including five Class 1000 clean rooms, vacuum chambers, clean benches, computers, testing equipment, and electronics equipment located in the clean rooms to fabricate space instruments; 6) Five cosmochemistry labs to test lunar samples, meteorites, and other space material to assist in understanding the age of the solar system. SSL is a national leader in Science Education. Its programs include the Center for Science Education @ Space Sciences Laboratory which aims to:
• Improve teaching and learning of science, mathematics, and technology
• Facilitate and increase scientists' involvement in education and public outreach
• Increase the participation of underserved groups in space science
• Adapt space science research discoveries for broad audiences
• Provide easy and equitable access to space science resources
• Increase the scientific literacy of the general public, and the Science Education Gateway, a national consortium of scientists, museums, and educators, working together to bring the latest science to students, teachers, and the general public. SSL also has a CalSpace Center of Excellence, funded jointly by the campus, California Space Institute (a UC Multi Campus Research Unit, and SSL & UCB funds).