Vehicle Assembly Building
Vehicle Assembly Building | |
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Morrison-Knudsen | |
Vehicle Assembly Building | |
Location | |
NRHP reference No. | 99001642[1] |
Added to NRHP | January 21, 2000 |
The Vehicle Assembly Building (originally the Vertical Assembly Building), or VAB, is a large building at
At 129,428,000 cu ft (3,665,000 m3), it is the
The VAB is the largest single-story building in the world,[4] was the tallest building (526 ft or 160 m) in Florida until 1974,[5] and is the tallest building in the United States outside an urban area.[6]
History
The VAB, completed in 1966, was originally built for the vertical assembly of the Apollo–Saturn V space vehicle and was referred to as the Vertical Assembly Building. In anticipation of post-Apollo projects such as the Space Shuttle program, the Vehicle Assembly Building was renamed on February 3, 1965.[7][8] It was subsequently used to mate the Space Shuttle orbiters to their external fuel tanks and solid rocket boosters. Once the complete space vehicle was assembled on a mobile launcher platform, a crawler-transporter moved it to Launch Complex-39A or 39B.
Before the destruction of Space Shuttle Columbia in 2003, NASA installed a sub-roof inside the VAB to deal with falling concrete debris due to the building's age.[9]
The VAB was designated as a
Construction
In 1963, NASA contracted Urbahn Architects to design and build the VAB. Construction began with driving the first steel foundation piles on Aug. 2, 1963. It was part of NASA's massive effort to send astronauts to the Moon for the
Capabilities
There are four entries to the bays located inside the building, which are the four largest doors in the world.[12] Each door is 456 feet (139.0 m) high, has seven vertical panels and four horizontal panels, and takes 45 minutes to completely open or close. The north entry that leads to the transfer aisle was widened by 40 feet (12.2 m) to allow entry of the shuttle orbiter. A central slot at the north entry allowed for passage of the orbiter's vertical stabilizer.
To lift the components of the Space Shuttle, the VAB housed five overhead bridge cranes, including two capable of lifting 325 tons, and 136 other lifting devices.
The building has
Exterior
The American flag painted on the building was the largest in the world when added in 1976 as part of United States Bicentennial celebrations, along with the star logo of the anniversary, later replaced by the NASA insignia in 1998. It is 209 feet (63.7 m) high and 110 feet (33.5 m) wide. Each of the stars on the flag is 6 feet (1.83 m) across, the blue field is the size of a regulation basketball court, and each of the stripes is 9 feet (2.74 m) wide.[15] Work began in early 2007 to restore the exterior paint on the immense facility. Special attention was paid to the enormous American flag and NASA "meatball" insignia. The work repaired visible damage from years of storms and weathering. The flag and logo had been previously repainted in 1998 for NASA's 40th anniversary.[16]
The most extensive exterior damage occurred during the storm season of 2004, when
The building has been used as a backdrop in several Hollywood movies including Marooned, SpaceCamp, Apollo 13, Contact, and others.
Future
Originally, after the Space Shuttle was intended to be retired in 2010, the VAB would have been renovated for stacking of the Ares I and Ares V launch vehicles for the Constellation program, however the Constellation program was cancelled in 2010. The Space Shuttle itself was retired in 2011 after which NASA temporarily (as early as 2012) offered public tours of the VAB. These tours were temporarily discontinued in February 2014 to allow for renovations to take place.[18]
The NASA FY2013 budget included US$143.7 million for Construction of Facilities (CoF) requirements in support of what is now known as the
The VAB could be used to some extent for assembly and processing of any future vehicles utilizing Launch Complex 39, in addition to renovations for SLS capabilities. On June 16, 2015, NASA released an announcement for proposals (AFP) seeking interest in using the VAB High Bay 2 and other complex facilities for commercial use in "assembling, integration, and testing of launch vehicles". This move is in line with the intent to migrate KSC towards acting as a spaceport accessible to both government and commercial ventures.[20]
On April 21, 2016, NASA announced the selection of
Gallery
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Aerial view of the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center in 2011
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The VAB in 2019
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Overview of the VAB and LCC industrial area
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The VAB as viewed from the nearby parking lot, 19 January 2022
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Artemis 1rollout out of the VAB, 17 March 2022
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VAB Beside theSLS Block 1 Artemis 1during the Launch, 16 November 2022
References
- ^ "National Register Information System – (#99001642)". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ Barker, Nathan; Gebhardt, Chris (March 17, 2022). "NASA moon rocket SLS rolls out to "rebuilt" LC-39B ahead of Artemis 1 rehearsal". NASASpaceFlight.com. Archived from the original on November 16, 2022. Retrieved March 18, 2022.
- ^ a b c NASA (1999). "Vehicle Assembly Building". NASA. Archived from the original on December 29, 2017. Retrieved September 23, 2007.
- ^ "Groundbreaking Digital Experience for Endeavour Shuttle Launch" (Press release). Redmond, Washington: Microsoft. August 5, 2007. Archived from the original on November 29, 2023. Retrieved September 23, 2007.
- ^ Taylor, George Lansing (September 20, 1988). "NASA Vehicle Assembly Building, Cape Canaveral, FL". UNF Digital Commons. University of North Florida. Archived from the original on July 31, 2023. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
- ^ Aguiar, Laura (January 10, 2020). "The Many Stories of the VAB" (PDF). Spaceport Magazine. Vol. 7, no. 1. NASA. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 19, 2024. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
- ^ Benson, Charles Dunlap; Faherty, William Barnaby (1978). "VAB Nears Completion". Moonport: A History of Apollo Launch Facilities and Operations. NASA. SP-4204. Archived from the original on October 25, 2023. Retrieved September 25, 2014.
The new name, it was felt, would more readily encompass future as well as current programs and would not be tied to the Saturn booster.
- ^ "America's Spaceport" (PDF). NASA. 2010. p. 13. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 19, 2024. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
- ISBN 978-0-16-067904-9. Archived(PDF) from the original on September 18, 2023.
- ^ "Vehicle Assembly Building at KSC Designated as National Civil Engineering Landmark". Florida Today. January 10, 2020. Archived from the original on January 11, 2020. Retrieved August 20, 2022.
- ^ Granath, Bob (July 18, 2013). "Vehicle Assembly Building Prepared for Another 50 Years of Service" (Press release). Archived from the original on September 29, 2016. Retrieved February 4, 2018.
- ^ a b "Vehicle Assembly Building" (PDF). NASA. 2012. FS-2012-06-121-KSC. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 3, 2024.
- ^ Marquardt, Sarah (August 14, 2017). "An Exclusive Look Inside The Secretive Building Where NASA Makes Rockets". futurism.com. Archived from the original on September 24, 2023. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
- ^ Cardona, Carolina (July 3, 2019). "Inside the VAB at Kennedy Space Center". WKMG. Graham Media Group. Archived from the original on January 27, 2023. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
- ^ Stuckey, Jeff (May 27, 2005). "Vehicle Assembly Building's American flag flies again" (PDF). Spaceport News. Vol. 44, no. 12. NASA. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 19, 2024.
- ^ a b Mansfield, Cheryl L. (January 11, 2007). "Restoring Old Glory and a Massive Meatball". NASA. Archived from the original on March 4, 2021. Retrieved July 11, 2007.
- ^ O'Brien, Miles (September 6, 2004). "Frances tears panels from NASA shuttle hangar". CNN. Archived from the original on December 20, 2022. Retrieved September 23, 2007.
- ^ Pearlman, Robert Z. (January 22, 2014). "Rocket Renovations Will End Public Tours of NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building". Space.com. Archived from the original on December 8, 2023.
- ^ "NASA FY13 Budget" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved June 9, 2012.
- ^ Schierholz, Stephanie; Chevalier, Mary Ann, eds. (June 15, 2015). "NASA Solicits Proposals for Use of Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building High Bay 2" (Press release). NASA. Archived from the original on February 19, 2024.
- ^ Chevalier, Mary Ann, ed. (April 21, 2016). "NASA Selects Orbital ATK to Begin Negotiations for Space in Iconic Vehicle Assembly Building" (Press release). NASA. Archived from the original on February 19, 2024. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
- ^ Pearlman, Robert Z. (August 16, 2019). "Apollo to OmegA: NASA signs over legacy launcher for new rocket". collectspace.com. Archived from the original on September 23, 2023. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
- ^ Bergin, Chris (September 11, 2020). "OmegA Launch Tower to be demolished as KSC 39B fails to become a multi-user pad". NASASpaceFlight.com. Archived from the original on June 3, 2023. Retrieved November 20, 2021.