The Vehicle Assembly Building

I just got 3D glasses today through Alan Boyle of CosmicLog, and I couldn't resist using a 3D video I had seen of the inside of NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building for my glasses’ first light¹. The Vehicle Assembly Building is one of the largest buildings on the planet, fourth by volume. The 3D video gives a great idea of the immense scale of the structure, with great views from the inside.



The Vehicle Assembly Building was originally constructed in order to assemble the components of the Saturn V rockets vertically. The building was large enough to contain four of the gargantuan rockets at a time, and includes four massive doors (the largest in the world) that each allowed the Saturn V to pass under. Nowadays, the Vehicle Assembly Building is used for the stacking of the space shuttle, combining vertically the orbiter, the solid rocket boosters, and the external fuel tank.

Rollout of Apollo 11
Image: NASA

STS-36 Rollout
Image: NASA

The duties of the VAB are not so clear once the space shuttle program is retired in 2011. Any future program that utilizes Launch Complex 39² will have access to it, however, none have been upon yet. One possible route could be the Orion Asteroid Mission, a modification of the Constellation program that would allow human exploration of an asteroid.

Footnotes:

1: Yes, technically this isn’t first light, since that’s generally a term used for the first astronomical images taken by an instrument. I extended the definition to encompass the first 3D images viewed through my glasses. ↵
2: The set of two launchpads and the Vehicle Assembly Building that was originally designed for the Apollo program and now used by the space shuttle program. ↵

STS-128 Launch

Update 4: NASA has decided to attempt launching at 11:59 p.m. on Friday, August 28. This is to allow more time for the engineers to analyze the problem that had occurred.

Update 3: During the 48 hour scrub, NASA will try to analyze the problem. Currently, a launch time of 12:22 a.m. on Friday, August 28 (EDT) has been set, but that may change as more details are found out about the problem.

Update 2: The launch attempt for Wednesday morning has been scrubbed, due to a problem with the fill-and-drain valve inside the shuttle's aft compartment. No date for a further launch attempt has been set at this time.

Update: The Tuesday morning launch was cancelled due to weather. The next attempt will take place at 1:10 a.m., Wednesday morning (Eastern Time).

On Tuesday (August 25), at 1:36 a.m. (Eastern Time), the space shuttle Discovery is expected to launch from Cape Canaveral, for STS-128's flight to the International Space Station. This launch is one of the few last space shuttle launches remaining for the aging space vehicle due for retiring in 2010. There are currently expected to be only six more flights after STS-128. Additionally, this flight is expected to have the last launch conducted completely during the night. This results in a spectacular view of the launch.

If you're in the Southeastern United States, near Florida and Cape Canaveral, you can very easily see the launch because of the brightness from the solid rocket boosters. People in other parts of the Eastern United States may be able to see the shuttle due to its main engines, after the boosters are released, until Main Engine Cut Off. However for people in the North, the shuttle will appear very low near the horizon and may be blocked by trees or buildings.

You can find out more information about the launch and how to view it from this article on SPACE.com, and get facts about the mission from this NASA page.

Image: NASA


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