Get to know ‘RAFT’ The World’s Loudest Room

Talking about the loudest room in the world, many people might imagine a place with resonant music or powerful instruments, but the room we’re going to talk about is the place to test sound for space technology. It’s located at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Sandusky, Ohio, called the Reverberant Acoustic Test Facility (RATF).

Incredible Structure and Design

The RATF is 57 feet (17.36 meters) tall and has amazingly wide and long dimensions of 37.5 feet (11.43 meters) and 47.5 feet (14. 47 meters) respectively, the walls are made of thick concrete to accommodate the potential noise from rocket launch and space equipment testing. The room is packed with 36 speakers designed to make sounds at an alarming level of 163 decibels.

Important sound tests for space exploration

Using such a loud volume is no joke. The room is designed to test the spacecraft’s hardware to ensure it can handle the annoying and violent noises generated during the rocket launch. The sounds generated by these speakers vary in frequencies from 25 hertz to 10,000 hertz. The largest speaker produces sound at a frequency of 25 hertz, slightly higher than the lowest frequency that humans can hear.

This test is important to assess the durability and operation of space equipment under conditions where noise may affect the operation of devices or equipment within the ship. Space exploration not only faces severe conditions due to lack of air to breathe but also addresses noise that may cause problems to the systems inside the ship.

Danger due to too loud

If you ever wonder what will happen if you’re stuck in a RATF while the speaker is running? The answer is a serious risk. The 160-decibel sound is capable of puncturing the human eardrum immediately. Pressure waves from this loud sound can cause nausea, loss of balance, or even suffocation, which can cause serious long-term health effects.

Excessive noise also affects the human body in many ways, such as causing damage to nerve cells in the ears or can lead to permanent deafness. In case of a loud noise of 170 dB, lung paralysis can occur. Therefore, tests in this room require strict control and safety measures necessary to prevent potential dangers.

The world’s noisiest room that NASA has built for space research is not only an important place to develop technology but also an example of integrating modern science and technology with complex applications and high risks. This room has proved how important rigorous testing and preparation for space exploration is. Knowledge of noise and the ability to handle loud noise is essential for safe and effective exploration of new worlds in space.

References from
iac-australia / guinnessworldrecords