The Spiky Simulator That Will Help Find Oceans in Space

Published: Aug. 27, 2018, 7:12 a.m.

The electric-blue chamber looks like a crowd of punk mohawks or the Night King\u2019s jagged skull. In fact, this 4,306-square-foot room is where antennas are torture-tested before being launched into space. Called the Hybrid European Radio Frequency and Antenna Test Zone, or HERTZ, it\u2019s located in Noordwijk, Netherlands. The 33-foot-high steel walls are studded with 18-inch foam pyramids that block external electro\xadmagnetic interference.