This 2,800-acre complex of test stands and other field test facilities was a major rocket engine and nuclear energy R&D facility located in the Simi Hills, northwest of Los Angeles, until its closure in 2006. It was established by North American Aviation in 1949, and early V-2 rockets were tested here (by the German rocket pioneer Wernher Von Braun), as well as Atlas rockets, used for ICBMs and the Apollo space program. Later Rocketdyne operated the site, along with, at various times, the Air Force, NASA, and the U.S. Department of Energy. Boeing acquired Rockwell International (the parent company of Rocketdyne) in 1996, and is now the manager. A half century of rocket engine and nuclear energy research has left the site with widespread contamination, and environmental remediation has been the main activity at the site since its closure.