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Outside the Johnsville Centrifuge & Science Museum

NASA has plenty of famous locations — the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (“Houston, we have a problem …”) and the Kennedy Space Center (home of Cape Canaveral’s shuttle launches) come to mind right away. But what about Bucks County?

As it turns out, The Johnsville Centrifuge & Science Museum in Warminster is chock full of interesting history and pioneering science that was essential to America’s space program and technological advancement in general. The black boxes in airplanes? Johnsville developed them. GPS technology? Check. Spy cameras? They were refined at Johnsville. Those lenses that tint automatically when you go outside? Them too. The flat spin from Top Gun? Yes, even that was first simulated at Johnsville. Plus, every astronaut you’ve ever heard of trained there before venturing past our atmosphere.

The Massive Centrifuge Inside the Facility

At the center of these scientific developments, and the museum’s biggest draw, is the facility’s centrifuge — an enclosed capsule, or “gondola,” connected to a massive mechanical arm capable of spinning at speeds surpassing 170 miles per hour. Until recently, Johnsville’s centrifuge (the largest in the world) was used to train astronauts on the outrageous gravitational pull they’d feel when launching into outer space. And the machine itself is incredible to see up close — the engine alone that spins the gondola weighs 180 tons.

Rightfully so, the giant circular room that houses the centrifuge is the focal point of the museum and guided tour. But the rest of exhibits are well worth a visit, too. Beginning with a brief history of the facility in the Mission Briefing Room (the same room where the likes of Neil Armstrong and John Glenn received their training instructions), the tour also includes a few rooms with other artifacts on display, as well as the centrifuge’s control room and flight deck. Finally, perhaps best of all, you can actually sit in the gondola itself. You’ll also briefly pass by the area where test animals were held — make sure you hear the story about the chimpanzee that escaped after a particularly traumatic test run.

Scientific Relics on the Display at the Museum

In addition to special events (the museum recently screened Apollo 13 on the 40th anniversary of the mission), the museum is open from 1:00 until 3:30 on Sunday afternoons. Tours usually run for about an hour, but the dedicated volunteers will surely be happy to talk and share more history with you for as long as you want.

And that’s what makes this place so cool — many of the artifacts now on display were discovered in the storage closets and crawl spaces of the facility, forgotten until these science-buffs-turned-docents dug them up and put them on display. And this dedicated team is growing the museum’s operations all the time. On May 7th, the museum will host it’s Inaugural Spring Gala. Organizers are also working to bring the original gondola back from The Smithsonian Institute (where it’s sitting in storage) and are seeking volunteers to help with restoration efforts.

Ejection Seat Testing Tower... That's Right

The museum is a short walk from the Warminster stop on the R2. Just look for the ejection-seat testing tower — yes, there’s an ejection-seat testing tower. While it may be a bit off the beaten path for Philly residents, a trip to The Johnsville Centrifuge & Science Museum is a great excuse for a day trip out to the suburbs and a one-of-a-kind way to pick up some under-the-radar scientific knowledge.

Johnsville Centrifuge & Science Museum
780 Falcon Circle, Warminster, PA 18974
(267) 250-8841
www.nadcmuseum.org