kids encyclopedia robot

Vehicle Assembly Building facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts


Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA Kennedy Space Center
The VAB viewed from the NASA parkway

The Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) is an iconic industrial building at the John F. Kennedy Space Center. It's designed to assemble pre-made rocket stages, spacecraft and related parts vertically onto a mobile launch platform. The Saturn V, Space Shuttle and Ares-I rockets have been assembled in the VAB, and the upcoming Space Launch System in late 2020.

Construction began in 1963, and was completed in 1966. It is 160 metres (525 feet) tall (716 feet (218.2 m) long and 518 feet (157.9 m) wide), made from aproximately 100,000 tons of steel, and contains 3,665,000 m3 of internal volume.

The VAB has four large assembly areas called high bays, with one huge central aisle where the rocket parts are loaded in.

The Launch Control Center is adjascent to the side of the building, with a walkway connecting both buildings. The NASA logo and American flags are the largest painted facades in the world.

Images for kids

  • VABConstruction

    VAB during construction (1965) with the three Mobile Launchers for the Saturn V rocket.

  • Space Shuttle Discovery lowered toward external tank and solid rocket boosters (STS-124)

    A crane lowers Discovery toward the ET and SRBs in high bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building for STS-124.

  • VAB aerial 1977

    VAB in 1977, with the Bicentennial Star opposite the flag. The Bicentennial Star was painted over with the NASA insignia in 1998. Note the Space Shuttle Landing Facility at upper left.

  • Vehicle Assembly Building damage from Hurricane Frances night view

    Repair work after Hurricane Frances

  • Space Shuttle Discovery in NASA's VAB

    Discovery in the Vehicle Assembly Building waiting for a ferry flight to Dulles, Virginia, for permanent display at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum.

  • 2019VAB

    The VAB in 2019

  • Aerial View of Launch Complex 39

    Overview of the VAB and LCC industrial area

  • VAB transfer aisle

    Endeavour on its way into the VAB. At the top of the doorway is the slot for the vertical stabilizer

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Edificio de ensamblaje de vehículos para niños

kids search engine
All content from Kiddle encyclopedia articles (including the article images and facts) can be freely used under Attribution-ShareAlike license, unless stated otherwise. Cite this article:
Vehicle Assembly Building Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.