NASA
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The sun rising behind the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center
More info on the blog at: edrosack.com/2021/02/07/minwr-2-5-21/
Imagine a giant skyscraper, but hollow and filled with people making rockets. That's what the VAB is. To really get a sense of the size of this thing, look at the outline of the man standing in the distance, his body backlit by the door.
The VAB, or Vehicle Assembly Building, is the worlds largest single-story building, and it's where NASA assembles many of the rockets, including the mighty Saturn V. It's also the tallest building in the US that's not in a downtown area. It's situated at Launch Complex 39 at the Kennedy Space Center, and it's awesome dot com.
The thing is so big that it even has its own weather system. In fact, on humid days it can even rain inside the building! In my photo below, you are really only seeing part of it. Off to the right, they are fueling up the Atlantis for its upcoming mission. Staring through the girders from another angle, you can easily see the giant orange tank going through its pre-launch ordeal.
Getting into this place was very difficult. I felt privileged to even get through the various security screenings and get the governmental approval to go inside. They let in little groups of us from the Tweetup, and I have to thank Stephanie Schierholz for making it all happen. It's one of the mysterious places on earth I've always wanted to visit, so I was very excited to be inside. My next goal is to get back inside and get up higher... perhaps even get in while they are prepping the next rocket.
I have many more shots of this building that I'll be sharing in coming weeks and months... you guys know how I like to keep these threads and stories open for a long time!
This photograph is a view of stacking the major components of the S-IC (first) stage of the Saturn V vehicle at the Boeing vertical assembly building at the Michoud Assembly Facility. This view shows the Saturn V first stage thrust structure being placed for the final assembly. The Saturn IB and Saturn V first stages were manufactured at Michoud, located in New Orleans, Louisiana. The prime contractors, Chrysler and Boeing, jointly occupied Michoud. The basic manufacturing building boasted 43 acres under one roof. By 1964, NASA added a separate engineering and office building, vertical assembly building, and test stage building. By 1966, other changes to the site included enlarged barge facilities and other miscellaneous support buildings. All of this took place leading up to the Apollo 11 mission on July 16, 1969-launching astronauts to the Moon. NASA is returning America to the Moon in the next five years. This time we won't go alone, but in a way that reflects the world today-with government, industry, and international partners in a global effort to build and test the systems needed for challenging missions to Mars and beyond.
Image credit: NASA
The Vertical Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center by sunset. It is among one of the largest buildings in the world by volume, such that it's not uncommon to get "rain" inside the building due to moisture condensing near the ceiling nearly 500 feet up. The building was used for the final assembly of the Saturn V moon rocket and more recently for stacking the space shuttle to its external tank and solid rocket boosters. In the future, it may be used for the final assembly of NASA's new Space Launch System rocket or perhaps large commercial rockets. One little known fact is that it also contains the remains of the orbiter Columbia and some pieces from the Challenger accident.
The transporter carried the 363-foot-high Apollo 12 Saturn V space vehicle from the VAB's High Bay 3 at the start of the 3.5 mile rollout to Launch Complex 39A. The transporter carried the 12.8 million pound load along the crawlerway at speeds under one mile per hour.
Credit: NASA
Image Number: 69PC-0529
Date: September 8, 1969
Viação Águia Branca | 50140
Domínio: FPR-0229
Marcopolo Paradiso G7 1800 Double-Decker
Mercedes-Benz O-500 RSDD BLue-Tec 5
Linha: São Paulo (SP) x Vitória da Conquista (BA)
Internet: www.aguiabranca.com.br
Lewis Tank Transport Volvo FH AB08 VAB, M18 Langham Interchange, Rawcliffe Bridge, East Yorkshire 01-10-17.
The "véhicule de l'avant blindé" (VAB) VTT is a french APC used since 1976 untill today. It was made in the context of the cold war to transport troops on the european theater, moreover it was amphibious to cross rivers quickly. This version can transport up to 12 soldiers and uses a 7.62 or 12.7 machinegun to provide fire support to the infantry, it also has trapdoors on the roof that can be used as air protection emplacements by soldiers. The vehicle is still massively used today by the french army (3500) because of its robustness, but it will soon be replaced by the new VBMR griffon.
The model that I built is the basic version used during "opération Daguet" which is the french participation during the gulf war, it is a heavily modified brickmania VAB with a desert camoflage called "Daguet". It has a bunch of trapdoors and hatches on the sides and on the roof but also 2 doors at the back to mount or dismount troops as long with a machine gun emplacement on the roof. There is enough space inside to put a driver, a copilot/gunner and a few men behind but they are very cramped to be honest since i put a motor section on a part of the left side. I've also made an optionnal attachement with an ATGM launcher in the back of the roof.
I've also made a few french soldiers in a "Daguet" camoflage to go with it, I chose to give them russian helmets since they have a similar shape as the french F1 helmets that were used at the time.
I'm sorry for that long period of inactivity but to be honest I don't think that it'll get better in the future, I do have a bunch of vehicles in LDD files (AMX-30, SA330 Puma, mirage 2000, ARL-44 acl1) but they are actually heavily inspired from other people (as close as I could to what they have done since I thought they looked really good) or, for the AMX, a modified brickmania kit or not even finished for the ARL44. But I also lost a bit of interest in building stuff, I mean first it's expensive so I have to limit my expenses for other hobbies, and then I started collecting historical items a few month ago (I could post a few of them here but I doubt that i will interest a lot of people tbh x) ) but it's exepnsive too so it's hard to conciliate both. To finish even if I passed my exams I'm going to start studies that will definitely drain my free time and my will to spend time in designing stuff. I'll try to build the models I have mentionned earlier but I doubt that I'll do it anytime soon.
Anyway I hoped you liked this one and the few soldiers too.
Engineers and technicians inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida stacked the first segment of the Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket boosters onto mobile launcher 1.
Comprising 10 segments total – five segments for each booster – the SLS solid rocket boosters arrived via train to NASA Kennedy in September 2023 from Northrop Grumman’s manufacturing facility in Utah. The booster segments underwent processing in the spaceport’s Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility before being transferred to the NASA’s iconic VAB for stacking operations.
Credits: NASA/Glenn Benson
#Artemis #NASAMarshall #Space #NASASLS #NASA #NASAMichoud #NASAKennedy #Artemis #ArtemisII
“Orbiter Columbia move from VAB to Complex 39-A.”
A really nice view of the December 29, 1980 rollout of the STS-1 stack. Looks to have been taken from atop the VAB.
Also at:
www.capcomespace.net/dossiers/espace_US/shuttle/1960-80/1...
Credit: the excellent “CAPCOM ESPACE” website
aviationintel.com/the-white-elephants-what-happened-to-th...
Credit: AVIATIONINTEL website
Almost last, but NOT least. With the kind of value-added & obscure information that I really like, Not the SLS crap, scroll past that, and you'll come across the image: 😉
www.nasaspaceflight.com/2018/08/boeing-sls-core-hardware-...
Credit: the superlative NASA SPACEFLIGHT website
Last, and definitely LEAST:
You’re not gonna believe this - BUT - the image was not, I say again, NOT to be found at the NASA imagery website – at least not by me, despite multiple valid & logical keyword searches.
I know, right?! Who'd a thunk it?
A view from inside bay three of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) shows the Space Shuttle Discovery washed in white xenon light as it makes a nighttime departure from the VAB on its way to Pad 39B. Discovery was rolling out to fly mission STS-26. The primary payload was the TDRS-C satellite. First motion in the Shuttle's move from the VAB toward the pad came at 12:50 a.m. July 4, 1988.
Credit: NASA
Image Number: 88PC-0675
Date: July 4, 1988
The VAB HOT is a French anti-tank armoured fighting vehicle. It was developed in the 1970s by Saviem/Renault and Euromissile. The VAB HOT entered service in 1980 and is used by anti-tank squadrons and companies at regimental and divisional levels respectively.
It is also known as the VAB Mephisto, after its MEPHISTO weapons system.
Among other things, it took part in Operation Daguet with the coalition forces.
Instructions for this model are available on Rebrickable now !
rebrickable.com/users/Spartane/mocs/
///
VAB MEPHISTO
Le VAB HOT est un véhicule blindé de combat antichar français. Il est développé dans les années 1970 par Saviem/Renault et Euromissile. Le VAB HOT est entré en service en 1980 et sert au sein des escadrons et compagnies anti-char respectivement à l'échelle régimentaire et divisionnaire.
Il est connu également sous le nom VAB Mephisto pour l’appellation de son système d’armes MEPHISTO, Module Elévateur Panoramique Hot Installé Sur Tourelle Orientable.
Il participera entre autre à l'opération Daguet avec les forces coalisées.
Ce petit modèle que j'ai fait peut accueillir deux soldats à l'avant du véhicule, toutes les portes s'ouvrent (avant et arrières) ainsi que les trappes de toit. Evidemment il peut rouler et son système d'armement peut se rétracter et se masquer dans le véhicule comme c'est le cas en réalité, le système peut aussi tourner à 360°.
Les plans sont disponibles dès maintenant sur ma page Rebrickable ! rebrickable.com/users/Spartane/mocs/
The "véhicule de l'avant blindé" (VAB) VTT is a french APC used since 1976 untill today. It was made in the context of the cold war to transport troops on the european theater, moreover it was amphibious to cross rivers quickly. This version can transport up to 12 soldiers and uses a 7.62 or 12.7 machinegun to provide fire support to the infantry, it also has trapdoors on the roof that can be used as air protection emplacements by soldiers. The vehicle is still massively used today by the french army (3500) because of its robustness, but it will soon be replaced by the new VBMR griffon.
The model that I built is the basic version used during "opération Daguet" which is the french participation during the gulf war, it is a heavily modified brickmania VAB with a desert camoflage called "Daguet". It has a bunch of trapdoors and hatches on the sides and on the roof but also 2 doors at the back to mount or dismount troops as long with a machine gun emplacement on the roof. There is enough space inside to put a driver, a copilot/gunner and a few men behind but they are very cramped to be honest since i put a motor section on a part of the left side. I've also made an optionnal attachement with an ATGM launcher in the back of the roof.
I've also made a few french soldiers in a "Daguet" camoflage to go with it, I chose to give them russian helmets since they have a similar shape as the french F1 helmets that were used at the time.
I'm sorry for that long period of inactivity but to be honest I don't think that it'll get better in the future, I do have a bunch of vehicles in LDD files (AMX-30, SA330 Puma, mirage 2000, ARL-44 acl1) but they are actually heavily inspired from other people (as close as I could to what they have done since I thought they looked really good) or, for the AMX, a modified brickmania kit or not even finished for the ARL44. But I also lost a bit of interest in building stuff, I mean first it's expensive so I have to limit my expenses for other hobbies, and then I started collecting historical items a few month ago (I could post a few of them here but I doubt that i will interest a lot of people tbh x) ) but it's exepnsive too so it's hard to conciliate both. To finish even if I passed my exams I'm going to start studies that will definitely drain my free time and my will to spend time in designing stuff. I'll try to build the models I have mentionned earlier but I doubt that I'll do it anytime soon.
Anyway I hoped you liked this one and the few soldiers too.
The Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) is one of the largest buildings in the world. It was originally built for assembly of Apollo/Saturn vehicles and was later modified to support Space Shuttle operations. High Bays 1 and 3 are used for integration and stacking of the complete Space Shuttle vehicle. High Bay 2 is used for external tank (ET) checkout and storage and as a contingency storage area for orbiters. High Bay 4 is also used for ET checkout and storage, as well as for payload canister operations and solid rocket boster (SRB) contingency handling.
A striking 1962/63 North American Aviation (NAA) artist’s concept – by Gary Meyer – of rollout of the Apollo Saturn rocket. Note that the Vertical Assembly Building (VAB), which is what I think it would’ve been referred to as of this time, has three exit/entry openings. Also, the interesting pillar-supported docks along the canal/turning basin near the VAB.
Yet again, having seen this, in black & white, countless times, in (I think) multiple documents/publications, I expected at least a couple of Google image search results. Nope, not a one. Fortunately, it’s featured in the wonderful NAA/NASA film from the time, entitled “The Apollo Mission”. My sincerest thanks to Peter Duncan & “FREE HIGH RESOLUTION PUBLIC DOMAIN SPACE PHOTOS” here on Flickr, for finding and pointing out to me where it now resides. No surprise actually…the wonderful Internet Archive website:
archive.org/details/Jeff_Quitney_me/20171201-The+Apollo+M...
And finally, immense & heartfelt gratitude to Jeff Quitney for continuing to make this, and so many other fantastic visual historical resources available - FOR FREE!!! Bravo Sir, BRAVO!!!
space.stackexchange.com/questions/37888/why-did-the-verti...
The "véhicule de l'avant blindé" (VAB) VTT is a french APC used since 1976 untill today. It was made in the context of the cold war to transport troops on the european theater, moreover it was amphibious to cross rivers quickly. This version can transport up to 12 soldiers and uses a 7.62 or 12.7 machinegun to provide fire support to the infantry, it also has trapdoors on the roof that can be used as air protection emplacements by soldiers. The vehicle is still massively used today by the french army (3500) because of its robustness, but it will soon be replaced by the new VBMR griffon.
The model that I built is the basic version used during "opération Daguet" which is the french participation during the gulf war, it is a heavily modified brickmania VAB with a desert camoflage called "Daguet". It has a bunch of trapdoors and hatches on the sides and on the roof but also 2 doors at the back to mount or dismount troops as long with a machine gun emplacement on the roof. There is enough space inside to put a driver, a copilot/gunner and a few men behind but they are very cramped to be honest since i put a motor section on a part of the left side. I've also made an optionnal attachement with an ATGM launcher in the back of the roof.
I've also made a few french soldiers in a "Daguet" camoflage to go with it, I chose to give them russian helmets since they have a similar shape as the french F1 helmets that were used at the time.
I'm sorry for that long period of inactivity but to be honest I don't think that it'll get better in the future, I do have a bunch of vehicles in LDD files (AMX-30, SA330 Puma, mirage 2000, ARL-44 acl1) but they are actually heavily inspired from other people (as close as I could to what they have done since I thought they looked really good) or, for the AMX, a modified brickmania kit or not even finished for the ARL44. But I also lost a bit of interest in building stuff, I mean first it's expensive so I have to limit my expenses for other hobbies, and then I started collecting historical items a few month ago (I could post a few of them here but I doubt that i will interest a lot of people tbh x) ) but it's exepnsive too so it's hard to conciliate both. To finish even if I passed my exams I'm going to start studies that will definitely drain my free time and my will to spend time in designing stuff. I'll try to build the models I have mentionned earlier but I doubt that I'll do it anytime soon.
Anyway I hoped you liked this one and the few soldiers too.
On September 8, 2018, the ML moved into High Bay 3 in NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building, where it will stay 7 months for fit tests. (Pics: Michael Seeley / We Report Space)
“Views of erection of Saturn S-IVB stage in High Bay no. 2 VAB.”
Note the removed decals of some of the letters of “UNITED”, in both of the columns on the side of the S-II stage. Note also what appears to be the partial application/possibly removed letters composing “STATES”, again in both columns. Also associated with some of the removed lettering, and at/along the level of the work platform surrounding the stage, are roughly rectangularly-outlined taped/sealed areas of work? Repair? Who knows.
Finally, note also similarly taped areas outlining/highlighting the two Auxiliary Propulsion Modules and smaller doohicky protruding from the Aft Stage of the S-IVB.
Reference/context:
www.alternatewars.com/SpaceRace/Saturn/S-IVB_Structure_Sa...
Credit: “Alternate Wars” website
The ‘red’ structure behind the vehicle is of course the Launcher Umbilical Tower (LUT).
Speaking of…another HUGE loss. Easily would've been designated as a National Historical Landmark, not to mention tourist draw = revenue generator.
YET ANOTHER HUGE IRRETRIEVABLE MISTAKE:
www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=13643
Credit: SpaceRef website
www.collectspace.com/news/news-020404a.html
Credit: SpaceRef website
launiusr.wordpress.com/2011/08/22/whatever-happened-to-th...
Credit: Roger Launius’s Blog
The "véhicule de l'avant blindé" (VAB) VTT is a french APC used since 1976 untill today. It was made in the context of the cold war to transport troops on the european theater, moreover it was amphibious to cross rivers quickly. This version can transport up to 12 soldiers and uses a 7.62 or 12.7 machinegun to provide fire support to the infantry, it also has trapdoors on the roof that can be used as air protection emplacements by soldiers. The vehicle is still massively used today by the french army (3500) because of its robustness, but it will soon be replaced by the new VBMR griffon.
The model that I built is the basic version used during "opération Daguet" which is the french participation during the gulf war, it is a heavily modified brickmania VAB with a desert camoflage called "Daguet". It has a bunch of trapdoors and hatches on the sides and on the roof but also 2 doors at the back to mount or dismount troops as long with a machine gun emplacement on the roof. There is enough space inside to put a driver, a copilot/gunner and a few men behind but they are very cramped to be honest since i put a motor section on a part of the left side. I've also made an optionnal attachement with an ATGM launcher in the back of the roof.
I've also made a few french soldiers in a "Daguet" camoflage to go with it, I chose to give them russian helmets since they have a similar shape as the french F1 helmets that were used at the time.
I'm sorry for that long period of inactivity but to be honest I don't think that it'll get better in the future, I do have a bunch of vehicles in LDD files (AMX-30, SA330 Puma, mirage 2000, ARL-44 acl1) but they are actually heavily inspired from other people (as close as I could to what they have done since I thought they looked really good) or, for the AMX, a modified brickmania kit or not even finished for the ARL44. But I also lost a bit of interest in building stuff, I mean first it's expensive so I have to limit my expenses for other hobbies, and then I started collecting historical items a few month ago (I could post a few of them here but I doubt that i will interest a lot of people tbh x) ) but it's exepnsive too so it's hard to conciliate both. To finish even if I passed my exams I'm going to start studies that will definitely drain my free time and my will to spend time in designing stuff. I'll try to build the models I have mentionned earlier but I doubt that I'll do it anytime soon.
Anyway I hoped you liked this one and the few soldiers too.
One of a sequence of pictures I took of a sunrise from the Max Brewer Memorial Parkway bridge. The large building to the left of center is NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building.
I attempted to upload a video made from the sequence, but after a while of processing on flickr, it just disappeared. Maybe it'll show up later, but some status message or an error would be nice.
In case it doesn't show up on flickr, it is here:
NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center in Florida was used to assemble and house American-crewed launch vehicles from 1968 to 2011. AT 3,684,883 cubic meters, it is one of the largest buildings in the world by volume. Inside the facility, High Bay 3 is being upgraded and modified to support processing of the agency's Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
NASA’s crawler-transporter 2, also called CT2, slowly moves along the crawlerway on a test run to Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Fondly referred to as the "workhorses" of the space program, both crawlers, CT1 and CT2, have served the agency's space programs for 50 years. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program at Kennedy has made steady progress on upgrades and modifications to CT2 to be ready to support NASA's Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft, and CT1 to support a variety of other launch vehicles. Photo credit: NASA/Amber Watson
See more:
www.launchphotography.com/STS-133.html
Space Shuttle Discovery rolls out the door of the massive Vehicle Assembly Building for the final time, in preparation for its last mission, STS-133. Rollout began just after sunset with a beautiful-blue twilight backdrop.
The VAB HOT is a French anti-tank armoured fighting vehicle. It was developed in the 1970s by Saviem/Renault and Euromissile. The VAB HOT entered service in 1980 and is used by anti-tank squadrons and companies at regimental and divisional levels respectively.
It is also known as the VAB Mephisto, after its MEPHISTO weapons system.
Among other things, it took part in Operation Daguet with the coalition forces.
Instructions for this model are available on Rebrickable now !
rebrickable.com/users/Spartane/mocs/
///
VAB MEPHISTO
Le VAB HOT est un véhicule blindé de combat antichar français. Il est développé dans les années 1970 par Saviem/Renault et Euromissile. Le VAB HOT est entré en service en 1980 et sert au sein des escadrons et compagnies anti-char respectivement à l'échelle régimentaire et divisionnaire.
Il est connu également sous le nom VAB Mephisto pour l’appellation de son système d’armes MEPHISTO, Module Elévateur Panoramique Hot Installé Sur Tourelle Orientable.
Il participera entre autre à l'opération Daguet avec les forces coalisées.
Ce petit modèle que j'ai fait peut accueillir deux soldats à l'avant du véhicule, toutes les portes s'ouvrent (avant et arrières) ainsi que les trappes de toit. Evidemment il peut rouler et son système d'armement peut se rétracter et se masquer dans le véhicule comme c'est le cas en réalité, le système peut aussi tourner à 360°.
Les plans sont disponibles dès maintenant sur ma page Rebrickable ! rebrickable.com/users/Spartane/mocs/
The Vehicle Assembly Building (originally the Vertical Assembly Building), or VAB, is a large building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC), designed to assemble large pre-manufactured space vehicle components, such as the massive Saturn V and the Space Shuttle, and stack them vertically onto one of three mobile launcher platforms used by NASA. As of March 2022, the first Space Launch System (SLS) rocket was assembled inside in preparation for the Artemis 1 mission.
At 129,428,000 cubic feet (3,665,000 m3) it is one of the largest buildings in the world by volume. The building is at Launch Complex 39 at KSC, 149 miles (240 km) south of Jacksonville, 219 miles (352 km) north of Miami, and 50 miles (80 km) due east of Orlando, on Merritt Island on the Atlantic coast of Florida.
The VAB is the largest single-story building in the world, was the tallest building (526 ft or 160 m) in Florida until 1974, and is the tallest building in the United States outside an urban area.
The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten field centers. Since December 1968, KSC has been NASA's primary launch center of human spaceflight. Launch operations for the Apollo, Skylab and Space Shuttle programs were carried out from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39 and managed by KSC.[4] Located on the east coast of Florida, KSC is adjacent to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS). The management of the two entities work very closely together, share resources and operate facilities on each other's property.
Though the first Apollo flights and all Project Mercury and Project Gemini flights took off from the then-Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the launches were managed by KSC and its previous organization, the Launch Operations Directorate. Starting with the fourth Gemini mission, the NASA launch control center in Florida (Mercury Control Center, later the Launch Control Center) began handing off control of the vehicle to the Mission Control Center in Houston, shortly after liftoff; in prior missions it held control throughout the entire mission.
Additionally, the center manages launch of robotic and commercial crew missions and researches food production and In-Situ Resource Utilization for off-Earth exploration. Since 2010, the center has worked to become a multi-user spaceport through industry partnerships, even adding a new launch pad (LC-39C) in 2015.
There are about 700 facilities and buildings grouped across the center's 144,000 acres (580 km2). Among the unique facilities at KSC are the 525-foot (160 m) tall Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking NASA's largest rockets, the Launch Control Center, which conducts space launches at KSC, the Operations and Checkout Building, which houses the astronauts dormitories and suit-up area, a Space Station factory, and a 3-mile (4.8 km) long Shuttle Landing Facility. There is also a Visitor Complex open to the public on site.
Since 1949, the military had been performing launch operations at what would become Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. In December 1959, the Department of Defense transferred 5,000 personnel and the Missile Firing Laboratory to NASA to become the Launch Operations Directorate under NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center.
President John F. Kennedy's 1961 goal of a crewed lunar landing by 1970 required an expansion of launch operations. On July 1, 1962, the Launch Operations Directorate was separated from MSFC to become the Launch Operations Center (LOC). Also, Cape Canaveral was inadequate to host the new launch facility design required for the mammoth 363-foot (111 m) tall, 7,500,000-pound-force (33,000 kN) thrust Saturn V rocket, which would be assembled vertically in a large hangar and transported on a mobile platform to one of several launch pads. Therefore, the decision was made to build a new LOC site located adjacent to Cape Canaveral on Merritt Island.
NASA began land acquisition in 1962, buying title to 131 square miles (340 km2) and negotiating with the state of Florida for an additional 87 square miles (230 km2). The major buildings in KSC's Industrial Area were designed by architect Charles Luckman. Construction began in November 1962, and Kennedy visited the site twice in 1962, and again just a week before his assassination on November 22, 1963.
On November 29, 1963, the facility was given its current name by President Lyndon B. Johnson under Executive Order 11129. Johnson's order joined both the civilian LOC and the military Cape Canaveral station ("the facilities of Station No. 1 of the Atlantic Missile Range") under the designation "John F. Kennedy Space Center", spawning some confusion joining the two in the public mind. NASA Administrator James E. Webb clarified this by issuing a directive stating the Kennedy Space Center name applied only to the LOC, while the Air Force issued a general order renaming the military launch site Cape Kennedy Air Force Station.
Located on Merritt Island, Florida, the center is north-northwest of Cape Canaveral on the Atlantic Ocean, midway between Miami and Jacksonville on Florida's Space Coast, due east of Orlando. It is 34 miles (55 km) long and roughly six miles (9.7 km) wide, covering 219 square miles (570 km2). KSC is a major central Florida tourist destination and is approximately one hour's drive from the Orlando area. The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex offers public tours of the center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
The KSC Industrial Area, where many of the center's support facilities are located, is 5 miles (8 km) south of LC-39. It includes the Headquarters Building, the Operations and Checkout Building and the Central Instrumentation Facility. The astronaut crew quarters are in the O&C; before it was completed, the astronaut crew quarters were located in Hangar S[39] at the Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex (now Cape Canaveral Space Force Station). Located at KSC was the Merritt Island Spaceflight Tracking and Data Network station (MILA), a key radio communications and spacecraft tracking complex.
Facilities at the Kennedy Space Center are directly related to its mission to launch and recover missions. Facilities are available to prepare and maintain spacecraft and payloads for flight. The Headquarters (HQ) Building houses offices for the Center Director, library, film and photo archives, a print shop and security. When the KSC Library first opened, it was part of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency. However, in 1965, the library moved into three separate sections in the newly opened NASA headquarters before eventually becoming a single unit in 1970. The library contains over four million items related to the history and the work at Kennedy. As one of ten NASA center libraries in the country, their collection focuses on engineering, science, and technology. The archives contain planning documents, film reels, and original photographs covering the history of KSC. The library is not open to the public but is available for KSC, Space Force, and Navy employees who work on site. Many of the media items from the collection are digitized and available through NASA's KSC Media Gallery or through their more up-to-date Flickr gallery.
A new Headquarters Building was completed in 2019 as part of the Central Campus consolidation. Groundbreaking began in 2014.
The center operated its own 17-mile (27 km) short-line railroad. This operation was discontinued in 2015, with the sale of its final two locomotives. A third had already been donated to a museum. The line was costing $1.3 million annually to maintain.
The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, operated by Delaware North since 1995, has a variety of exhibits, artifacts, displays and attractions on the history and future of human and robotic spaceflight. Bus tours of KSC originate from here. The complex also includes the separate Apollo/Saturn V Center, north of the VAB and the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame, six miles west near Titusville. There were 1.5 million visitors in 2009. It had some 700 employees.
It was announced on May 29, 2015, that the Astronaut Hall of Fame exhibit would be moved from its current location to another location within the Visitor Complex to make room for an upcoming high-tech attraction entitled "Heroes and Legends". The attraction, designed by Orlando-based design firm Falcon's Treehouse, opened November 11, 2016.
In March 2016, the visitor center unveiled the new location of the iconic countdown clock at the complex's entrance; previously, the clock was located with a flagpole at the press site. The clock was originally built and installed in 1969 and listed with the flagpole in the National Register of Historic Places in January 2000. In 2019, NASA celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Apollo program, and the launch of Apollo 10 on May 18. In summer of 2019, Lunar Module 9 (LM-9) was relocated to the Apollo/Saturn V Center as part of an initiative to rededicate the center and celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo Program.
The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten field centers. Since December 1968, KSC has been NASA's primary launch center of American spaceflight, research, and technology. Launch operations for the Apollo, Skylab and Space Shuttle programs were carried out from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39 and managed by KSC. Located on the east coast of Florida, KSC is adjacent to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS). The management of the two entities work very closely together, share resources and operate facilities on each other's property.
Though the first Apollo flights and all Project Mercury and Project Gemini flights took off from the then-Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the launches were managed by KSC and its previous organization, the Launch Operations Directorate. Starting with the fourth Gemini mission, the NASA launch control center in Florida (Mercury Control Center, later the Launch Control Center) began handing off control of the vehicle to the Mission Control Center in Houston, shortly after liftoff; in prior missions it held control throughout the entire mission.
Additionally, the center manages launch of robotic and commercial crew missions and researches food production and in-situ resource utilization for off-Earth exploration. Since 2010, the center has worked to become a multi-user spaceport through industry partnerships, even adding a new launch pad (LC-39C) in 2015.
There are about 700 facilities and buildings grouped throughout the center's 144,000 acres (580 km2). Among the unique facilities at KSC are the 525-foot (160 m) tall Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking NASA's largest rockets, the Launch Control Center, which conducts space launches at KSC, the Operations and Checkout Building, which houses the astronauts dormitories and suit-up area, a Space Station factory, and a 3-mile (4.8 km) long Shuttle Landing Facility. There is also a Visitor Complex on site that is open to the public.
Since 1949, the military had been performing launch operations at what would become Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. In December 1959, the Department of Defense transferred 5,000 personnel and the Missile Firing Laboratory to NASA to become the Launch Operations Directorate under NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center.
President John F. Kennedy's 1961 goal of a crewed lunar landing by 1970 required an expansion of launch operations. On July 1, 1962, the Launch Operations Directorate was separated from MSFC to become the Launch Operations Center (LOC). Also, Cape Canaveral was inadequate to host the new launch facility design required for the mammoth 363-foot (111 m) tall, 7,500,000-pound-force (33,000 kN) thrust Saturn V rocket, which would be assembled vertically in a large hangar and transported on a mobile platform to one of several launch pads. Therefore, the decision was made to build a new LOC site located adjacent to Cape Canaveral on Merritt Island.
NASA began land acquisition in 1962, buying title to 131 square miles (340 km2) and negotiating with the state of Florida for an additional 87 square miles (230 km2). The major buildings in KSC's Industrial Area were designed by architect Charles Luckman. Construction began in November 1962, and Kennedy visited the site twice in 1962, and again just a week before his assassination on November 22, 1963.
On November 29, 1963, the facility was named by President Lyndon B. Johnson under Executive Order 11129. Johnson's order joined both the civilian LOC and the military Cape Canaveral station ("the facilities of Station No. 1 of the Atlantic Missile Range") under the designation "John F. Kennedy Space Center", spawning some confusion joining the two in the public mind. NASA Administrator James E. Webb clarified this by issuing a directive stating the Kennedy Space Center name applied only to the LOC, while the Air Force issued a general order renaming the military launch site Cape Kennedy Air Force Station.
Located on Merritt Island, Florida, the center is north-northwest of Cape Canaveral on the Atlantic Ocean, midway between Miami and Jacksonville on Florida's Space Coast, due east of Orlando. It is 34 miles (55 km) long and roughly six miles (9.7 km) wide, covering 219 square miles (570 km2). KSC is a major central Florida tourist destination and is approximately one hour's drive from the Orlando area. The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex offers public tours of the center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
From 1967 through 1973, there were 13 Saturn V launches, including the ten remaining Apollo missions after Apollo 7. The first of two uncrewed flights, Apollo 4 (Apollo-Saturn 501) on November 9, 1967, was also the first rocket launch from KSC. The Saturn V's first crewed launch on December 21, 1968, was Apollo 8's lunar orbiting mission. The next two missions tested the Lunar Module: Apollo 9 (Earth orbit) and Apollo 10 (lunar orbit). Apollo 11, launched from Pad A on July 16, 1969, made the first Moon landing on July 20. The Apollo 11 launch included crewmembers Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin, and attracted a record-breaking 650 million television viewers. Apollo 12 followed four months later. From 1970 to 1972, the Apollo program concluded at KSC with the launches of missions 13 through 17.
On May 14, 1973, the last Saturn V launch put the Skylab space station in orbit from Pad 39A. By this time, the Cape Kennedy pads 34 and 37 used for the Saturn IB were decommissioned, so Pad 39B was modified to accommodate the Saturn IB, and used to launch three crewed missions to Skylab that year, as well as the final Apollo spacecraft for the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project in 1975.
As the Space Shuttle was being designed, NASA received proposals for building alternative launch-and-landing sites at locations other than KSC, which demanded study. KSC had important advantages, including its existing facilities; location on the Intracoastal Waterway; and its southern latitude, which gives a velocity advantage to missions launched in easterly near-equatorial orbits. Disadvantages included: its inability to safely launch military missions into polar orbit, since spent boosters would be likely to fall on the Carolinas or Cuba; corrosion from the salt air; and frequent cloudy or stormy weather. Although building a new site at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico was seriously considered, NASA announced its decision in April 1972 to use KSC for the shuttle. Since the Shuttle could not be landed automatically or by remote control, the launch of Columbia on April 12, 1981 for its first orbital mission STS-1, was NASA's first crewed launch of a vehicle that had not been tested in prior uncrewed launches.
In 1976, the VAB's south parking area was the site of Third Century America, a science and technology display commemorating the U.S. Bicentennial. Concurrent with this event, the U.S. flag was painted on the south side of the VAB. During the late 1970s, LC-39 was reconfigured to support the Space Shuttle. Two Orbiter Processing Facilities were built near the VAB as hangars with a third added in the 1980s.
KSC's 2.9-mile (4.7 km) Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) was the orbiters' primary end-of-mission landing site, although the first KSC landing did not take place until the tenth flight, when Challenger completed STS-41-B on February 11, 1984; the primary landing site until then was Edwards Air Force Base in California, subsequently used as a backup landing site. The SLF also provided a return-to-launch-site (RTLS) abort option, which was not utilized. The SLF is among the longest runways in the world.
On October 28, 2009, the Ares I-X launch from Pad 39B was the first uncrewed launch from KSC since the Skylab workshop in 1973.
Beginning in 1958, NASA and military worked side by side on robotic mission launches (previously referred to as unmanned), cooperating as they broke ground in the field. In the early 1960s, NASA had as many as two robotic mission launches a month. The frequent number of flights allowed for quick evolution of the vehicles, as engineers gathered data, learned from anomalies and implemented upgrades. In 1963, with the intent of KSC ELV work focusing on the ground support equipment and facilities, a separate Atlas/Centaur organization was formed under NASA's Lewis Center (now Glenn Research Center (GRC)), taking that responsibility from the Launch Operations Center (aka KSC).
Though almost all robotics missions launched from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS), KSC "oversaw the final assembly and testing of rockets as they arrived at the Cape." In 1965, KSC's Unmanned Launch Operations directorate became responsible for all NASA uncrewed launch operations, including those at Vandenberg Space Force Base. From the 1950s to 1978, KSC chose the rocket and payload processing facilities for all robotic missions launching in the U.S., overseeing their near launch processing and checkout. In addition to government missions, KSC performed this service for commercial and foreign missions also, though non-U.S. government entities provided reimbursement. NASA also funded Cape Canaveral Space Force Station launch pad maintenance and launch vehicle improvements.
All this changed with the Commercial Space Launch Act of 1984, after which NASA only coordinated its own and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) ELV launches. Companies were able to "operate their own launch vehicles" and utilize NASA's launch facilities. Payload processing handled by private firms also started to occur outside of KSC. Reagan's 1988 space policy furthered the movement of this work from KSC to commercial companies. That same year, launch complexes on Cape Canaveral Air Force Force Station started transferring from NASA to Air Force Space Command management.
In the 1990s, though KSC was not performing the hands-on ELV work, engineers still maintained an understanding of ELVs and had contracts allowing them insight into the vehicles so they could provide knowledgeable oversight. KSC also worked on ELV research and analysis and the contractors were able to utilize KSC personnel as a resource for technical issues. KSC, with the payload and launch vehicle industries, developed advances in automation of the ELV launch and ground operations to enable competitiveness of U.S. rockets against the global market.
In 1998, the Launch Services Program (LSP) formed at KSC, pulling together programs (and personnel) that already existed at KSC, GRC, Goddard Space Flight Center, and more to manage the launch of NASA and NOAA robotic missions. Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and VAFB are the primary launch sites for LSP missions, though other sites are occasionally used. LSP payloads such as the Mars Science Laboratory have been processed at KSC before being transferred to a launch pad on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
On 16 November 2022, at 06:47:44 UTC the Space Launch System (SLS) was launched from Complex 39B as part of the Artemis 1 mission.
As the International Space Station modules design began in the early 1990s, KSC began to work with other NASA centers and international partners to prepare for processing before launch onboard the Space Shuttles. KSC utilized its hands-on experience processing the 22 Spacelab missions in the Operations and Checkout Building to gather expectations of ISS processing. These experiences were incorporated into the design of the Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF), which began construction in 1991. The Space Station Directorate formed in 1996. KSC personnel were embedded at station module factories for insight into their processes.
From 1997 to 2007, KSC planned and performed on the ground integration tests and checkouts of station modules: three Multi-Element Integration Testing (MEIT) sessions and the Integration Systems Test (IST). Numerous issues were found and corrected that would have been difficult to nearly impossible to do on-orbit.
Today KSC continues to process ISS payloads from across the world before launch along with developing its experiments for on orbit. The proposed Lunar Gateway would be manufactured and processed at the Space Station Processing Facility.
The following are current programs and initiatives at Kennedy Space Center:
Commercial Crew Program
Exploration Ground Systems Program
NASA is currently designing the next heavy launch vehicle known as the Space Launch System (SLS) for continuation of human spaceflight.
On December 5, 2014, NASA launched the first uncrewed flight test of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV), currently under development to facilitate human exploration of the Moon and Mars.
Launch Services Program
Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa)
Research and Technology
Artemis program
Lunar Gateway
International Space Station Payloads
Camp KSC: educational camps for schoolchildren in spring and summer, with a focus on space, aviation and robotics.
The KSC Industrial Area, where many of the center's support facilities are located, is 5 miles (8 km) south of LC-39. It includes the Headquarters Building, the Operations and Checkout Building and the Central Instrumentation Facility. The astronaut crew quarters are in the O&C; before it was completed, the astronaut crew quarters were located in Hangar S at the Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex (now Cape Canaveral Space Force Station). Located at KSC was the Merritt Island Spaceflight Tracking and Data Network station (MILA), a key radio communications and spacecraft tracking complex.
Facilities at the Kennedy Space Center are directly related to its mission to launch and recover missions. Facilities are available to prepare and maintain spacecraft and payloads for flight. The Headquarters (HQ) Building houses offices for the Center Director, library, film and photo archives, a print shop and security. When the KSC Library first opened, it was part of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency. However, in 1965, the library moved into three separate sections in the newly opened NASA headquarters before eventually becoming a single unit in 1970. The library contains over four million items related to the history and the work at Kennedy. As one of ten NASA center libraries in the country, their collection focuses on engineering, science, and technology. The archives contain planning documents, film reels, and original photographs covering the history of KSC. The library is not open to the public but is available for KSC, Space Force, and Navy employees who work on site. Many of the media items from the collection are digitized and available through NASA's KSC Media Gallery Archived December 6, 2020, at the Wayback Machine or through their more up-to-date Flickr gallery.
A new Headquarters Building was completed in 2019 as part of the Central Campus consolidation. Groundbreaking began in 2014.
The center operated its own 17-mile (27 km) short-line railroad. This operation was discontinued in 2015, with the sale of its final two locomotives. A third had already been donated to a museum. The line was costing $1.3 million annually to maintain.
The Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building (O&C) (previously known as the Manned Spacecraft Operations Building) is a historic site on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places dating back to the 1960s and was used to receive, process, and integrate payloads for the Gemini and Apollo programs, the Skylab program in the 1970s, and for initial segments of the International Space Station through the 1990s. The Apollo and Space Shuttle astronauts would board the astronaut transfer van to launch complex 39 from the O&C building.
The three-story, 457,000-square-foot (42,500 m2) Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF) consists of two enormous processing bays, an airlock, operational control rooms, laboratories, logistics areas and office space for support of non-hazardous Space Station and Shuttle payloads to ISO 14644-1 class 5 standards. Opened in 1994, it is the largest factory building in the KSC industrial area.
The Vertical Processing Facility (VPF) features a 71-by-38-foot (22 by 12 m) door where payloads that are processed in the vertical position are brought in and manipulated with two overhead cranes and a hoist capable of lifting up to 35 short tons (32 t).
The Hypergolic Maintenance and Checkout Area (HMCA) comprises three buildings that are isolated from the rest of the industrial area because of the hazardous materials handled there. Hypergolic-fueled modules that made up the Space Shuttle Orbiter's reaction control system, orbital maneuvering system and auxiliary power units were stored and serviced in the HMCF.
The Multi-Payload Processing Facility is a 19,647 square feet (1,825.3 m2) building used for Orion spacecraft and payload processing.
The Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHSF) contains a 70-by-110-foot (21 by 34 m) service bay, with a 100,000-pound (45,000 kg), 85-foot (26 m) hook height. It also contains a 58-by-80-foot (18 by 24 m) payload airlock. Its temperature is maintained at 70 °F (21 °C).[55]
The Blue Origin rocket manufacturing facility is located immediately south of the KSC visitor complex. Completed in 2019, it serves as the company's factory for the manufacture of New Glenn orbital rockets.
Launch Complex 39 (LC-39) was originally built for the Saturn V, the largest and most powerful operational launch vehicle until the Space Launch System, for the Apollo crewed Moon landing program. Since the end of the Apollo program in 1972, LC-39 has been used to launch every NASA human space flight, including Skylab (1973), the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project (1975), and the Space Shuttle program (1981–2011).
Since December 1968, all launch operations have been conducted from launch pads A and B at LC-39. Both pads are on the ocean, 3 miles (4.8 km) east of the VAB. From 1969 to 1972, LC-39 was the "Moonport" for all six Apollo crewed Moon landing missions using the Saturn V, and was used from 1981 to 2011 for all Space Shuttle launches.
Human missions to the Moon required the large three-stage Saturn V rocket, which was 363 feet (111 meters) tall and 33 feet (10 meters) in diameter. At KSC, Launch Complex 39 was built on Merritt Island to accommodate the new rocket. Construction of the $800 million project began in November 1962. LC-39 pads A and B were completed by October 1965 (planned Pads C, D and E were canceled), the VAB was completed in June 1965, and the infrastructure by late 1966.
The complex includes: the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), a 130,000,000 cubic feet (3,700,000 m3) hangar capable of holding four Saturn Vs. The VAB was the largest structure in the world by volume when completed in 1965.
a transporter capable of carrying 5,440 tons along a crawlerway to either of two launch pads;
a 446-foot (136 m) mobile service structure, with three Mobile Launcher Platforms, each containing a fixed launch umbilical tower;
the Launch Control Center; and
a news media facility.
Launch Complex 48 (LC-48) is a multi-user launch site under construction for small launchers and spacecraft. It will be located between Launch Complex 39A and Space Launch Complex 41, with LC-39A to the north and SLC-41 to the south. LC-48 will be constructed as a "clean pad" to support multiple launch systems with differing propellant needs. While initially only planned to have a single pad, the complex is capable of being expanded to two at a later date.
As a part of promoting commercial space industry growth in the area and the overall center as a multi-user spaceport, KSC leases some of its properties. Here are some major examples:
Exploration Park to multiple users (partnership with Space Florida)
Shuttle Landing Facility to Space Florida (who contracts use to private companies)
Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF)-3 to Boeing (for CST-100 Starliner)
Launch Complex 39A, Launch Control Center Firing Room 4 and land for SpaceX's Roberts Road facility (Hanger X) to SpaceX
O&C High Bay to Lockheed Martin (for Orion processing)
Land for FPL's Space Coast Next Generation Solar Energy Center to Florida Power and Light (FPL)
Hypergolic Maintenance Facility (HMF) to United Paradyne Corporation (UPC)
The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, operated by Delaware North since 1995, has a variety of exhibits, artifacts, displays and attractions on the history and future of human and robotic spaceflight. Bus tours of KSC originate from here. The complex also includes the separate Apollo/Saturn V Center, north of the VAB and the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame, six miles west near Titusville. There were 1.5 million visitors in 2009. It had some 700 employees.
It was announced on May 29, 2015, that the Astronaut Hall of Fame exhibit would be moved from its current location to another location within the Visitor Complex to make room for an upcoming high-tech attraction entitled "Heroes and Legends". The attraction, designed by Orlando-based design firm Falcon's Treehouse, opened November 11, 2016.
In March 2016, the visitor center unveiled the new location of the iconic countdown clock at the complex's entrance; previously, the clock was located with a flagpole at the press site. The clock was originally built and installed in 1969 and listed with the flagpole in the National Register of Historic Places in January 2000. In 2019, NASA celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Apollo program, and the launch of Apollo 10 on May 18. In summer of 2019, Lunar Module 9 (LM-9) was relocated to the Apollo/Saturn V Center as part of an initiative to rededicate the center and celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo Program.
Historic locations
NASA lists the following Historic Districts at KSC; each district has multiple associated facilities:
Launch Complex 39: Pad A Historic District
Launch Complex 39: Pad B Historic District
Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) Area Historic District
Orbiter Processing Historic District
Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) Disassembly and Refurbishment Complex Historic District
NASA KSC Railroad System Historic District
NASA-owned Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Industrial Area Historic District
There are 24 historic properties outside of these historic districts, including the Space Shuttle Atlantis, Vehicle Assembly Building, Crawlerway, and Operations and Checkout Building.[71] KSC has one National Historic Landmark, 78 National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) listed or eligible sites, and 100 Archaeological Sites.
Further information: John F. Kennedy Space Center MPS
Other facilities
The Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility (RPSF) is responsible for the preparation of solid rocket booster segments for transportation to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). The RPSF was built in 1984 to perform SRB operations that had previously been conducted in high bays 2 and 4 of the VAB at the beginning of the Space Shuttle program. It was used until the Space Shuttle's retirement, and will be used in the future by the Space Launch System[75] (SLS) and OmegA rockets.
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket begins its demonstration flight with liftoff at 3:45 p.m. EST from from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This is a significant milestone for the world's premier multi-user spaceport. In 2014, NASA signed a property agreement with SpaceX for the use and operation of the center's pad 39A, where the company has launched Falcon 9 rockets and prepared for the first Falcon Heavy. NASA also has Space Act Agreements in place with partners, such as SpaceX, to provide services needed to process and launch rockets and spacecraft. Photo credit: NASA/Frank Michaux