Invisible Themepark

Category: Scientific Facilities

Cutaway drawings of nuclear power plants, observatories, and other science-related facilities.

  • Palomar Observatory Cutaway 1947

    Palomar Observatory Cutaway Drawing 1947
    Palomar Observatory Cutaway Drawing 1947

    Famed Palomar Observatory, just outside of San Diego, CA, had not yet been finished at the time this cutaway drawing was published.

    The drawing shows the observatory’s massive 200-inch mirror that, at that moment, was being finished at optical labs at Cal Tech, Pasadena, CA.  The disk of glass was 17 feet in diameter, and waste glass produced during the grinding weighed 2 tons.

    Source:  Popular Mechanics March 1947

  • Atomic Submarine Engine Testing Sphere Cutaway, 1952

    Atomic Submarine Engine Sphere Cutaway 1952
    Atomic Submarine Engine Sphere Cutaway 1952

    This cutaway, drawn by Rolf Klep in 1952, is of a $2 million, 225 foot diameter steel hull built in Schenectady, NY.

    Essentially, it was a spherical proving ground for an atomic engine that would be installed in a submarine.  GE scientists would have:

    1. Built the engine.
    2. Encased that engine in a section of submarine hull.
    3. Submerged that hull section in a water tank.
    4. Built this giant steel hull, with its 1,364 X-ray-checked welds, around everything to contain potential leaks.

    Source: LIFE Dec 15, 1952