Air Products, NASA break ground on nitrogen plant

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--Air Products and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) participated in a groundbreaking ceremony for a $16.8m (€11.9m) liquid nitrogen plant in Hampton, Virginia, the company said on Thursday.

The plant for NASA’s National Transonic Facility at the Langley Research Center is scheduled for a 2008 start-up, Air Products. It will be owned by NASA and operated by NASA's on-site support contractor.

Air Products said it won a competitive procurement for a turn-key, fixed price contract, evaluation completed in September 2006.

NASA's National Transonic Facility contains several high-tech operations, including the largest cryogenic wind tunnel in the world. The facility uses liquid nitrogen to produce a high-quality, high-altitude test environment for aircraft development and refinement.