The lab's purpose is to explore, investigate, and pursue advanced and theoretical propulsion technologies that are intended to allow human exploration of the solar system in the next 50 years with the ultimate goal of interstellar travel by the turn of the century. The 30x40 ft floor of the lab facility floats on large pneumatic piers in order to isolate it from any seismic activity. The pneumatic piers were originally built for the Apollo program and used to perform work involving inertial measurement units (IMU) before being brought out of retirement.