One-Million-Liter Test Sphere

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One-Million-Liter Test Sphere - Wikipedia

Coordinates: 39°26′3.36″N 77°25′44.52″W / 39.4342667°N 77.4290333°W

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One-Million-Liter Test Sphere
U.S. National Register of Historic Places


Show map of Maryland Show map of the United States
Nearest city	Frederick, Maryland
Coordinates	39°26′3.36″N 77°25′44.52″W / 39.4342667°N 77.4290333°W / 39.4342667; -77.4290333
Area	less than one acre
Built	1951 (1951)
NRHP reference No.	77000696^[1]
Added to NRHP	November 23, 1977

The One-Million-Liter Test Sphere—also known as the Test Sphere, the Horton Test Sphere, the Cloud Study Chamber, Building 527, and the "Eight Ball" (or "8-ball")—is a decommissioned biological warfare (BW) chamber and testing facility located on Fort Detrick, Maryland, US.^[2] It was constructed and utilized by the U.S. Army Biological Warfare Laboratories as part of its BW research program from 1951 to 1969. It is the largest aerobiology chamber ever constructed and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

The structure

The stainless steel test sphere, a cloud chamber used to study static microbial aerosols, is a four-story high, 131-ton structure. Its 1-inch-thick (25 mm), carbon steel hull was designed to withstand the internal detonation of "hot" biological bombs without risk to outsiders. It was originally contained within a cubical brick building.^[3]

Its purpose was the study of infectious agent aerosols and testing of pathogen-filled munitions. The device was designed to allow exposure of animals and humans to carefully controlled numbers of organisms by an aerosol (inhalational) route. Live, tethered animals were inserted into the chamber along with BW bombs for exposure tests. Human volunteers breathed metered aerosols of Q fever or tularemia organisms through ports along the perimeter of the sphere.

History (1947–1969)

Herbert G. Tanner, the head of Camp (now Fort) Detrick's Munitions Division, had envisioned an enclosed environment where biological tests could be conducted on site, rather than at remote places like Dugway Proving Ground, Utah and Horn Island, Mississippi.

The facility was constructed during 1947 and 1948 and became operational at Camp Detrick in 1950.

The test sphere was utilized during the Operation Whitecoat studies (1954–73), the first exposure taking place on January 25, 1955.

History (1969-present day)

The test sphere has not been used since 1969, when the US offensive BW program was disestablished by President Nixon. The brick building housing the test sphere was destroyed by fire in 1974. However, the chamber itself was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.^[4]

References

^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
^ Guillemin, Jeanne (2005), Biological Weapons: From the Invention of State-sponsored Programs to Contemporary Bioterrorism, Columbia University Press, pg 97.
^ James P. Godsey (n.d.). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: One-Million-Liter Test Sphere" (PDF). Maryland Historical Trust. Retrieved 2016-01-01.
^ "Maryland - Frederick County - Vacant / Not In Use". National Register of Historic Places. Retrieved 24 October 2023.

External links

Photos of the "Eight Ball" [1][2][3]
One-Million-Liter Test Sphere, Frederick County F-3-46, including photo from 2001, at Maryland Historical Trust

v t e United States biological weapons program
Weaponized agents	Anthrax Botulism Brucellosis Q fever Enterotoxin type B Rice blast Tularemia VEE Wheat stem rust
Researched agents	AHF BHF Bird flu CHIKV Dengue fever EEE Glanders Hantavirus Lassa fever Melioidosis VND Plague Potato blight Psittacosis Ricin RVF Rinderpest Smallpox Typhus WEE Yellow fever
Munitions	E120 bomblet E133 cluster bomb E14 munition E23 munition E48 particulate bomb E61 bomb E77 balloon bomb E86 cluster bomb E96 cluster bomb Flettner rotor bomblet M114 bomb M115 bomb M143 bomblet M33 cluster bomb
Operations and testing	Operation Sea-Spray Operation Big Buzz Operation Big Itch Operation Dark Winter Operation Dew Operation Drop Kick Operation LAC Operation Magic Sword Operation May Day Operation Polka Dot Operation Whitecoat Project 112 Project Bacchus
Facilities	U.S. Army Biological Warfare Labs Building 101 Building 257 Building 470 Deseret Test Center Dugway Proving Ground Fort Detrick Fort Douglas Fort Terry Granite Peak Installation Horn Island Testing Station One-Million-Liter Test Sphere Pine Bluff Arsenal Plum Island Animal Disease Center Vigo Ordnance Plant
Related topics	Biological agent Biological warfare Entomological warfare Soviet biological weapons program Korean War bio-warfare allegations List of topics U.S. biological weapons program U.S. biological defense program U.S. bio-weapons ban War Bureau of Consultants War Research Service

v t e U.S. National Register of Historic Places in Maryland
Topics	Contributing property Keeper of the Register Historic district History of the National Register of Historic Places National Park Service Property types
Lists by county	Allegany Anne Arundel Baltimore County Calvert Caroline Carroll Cecil Charles Dorchester Frederick Garrett Harford Howard Kent Montgomery Prince George's Queen Anne's Somerset St. Mary's Talbot Washington Wicomico Worcester
Lists by city	Baltimore: (Central North and Northwest West and Southwest East and Northeast South and Southeast)
Other lists	Bridges National Historic Landmarks
Category:National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Portal:National Register of Historic Places

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The structure

History (1947–1969)

History (1969-present day)

See also

References

External links