Astronomy
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.
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.
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. ?
- Nasa Sets Wednesday Launch Date For Shuttle Endeavour
NASA managers today formally cleared the shuttle Endeavour for a delayed launch Wednesday on a space station assembly mission. Launch of the agency's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter was delayed to June 18 or 19 to make room for the shuttle in an effort...
- Space Shuttle Endeavour Travels From Hangar To The Vehicle Assembly Building
In preparation for its role as a standby rescue craft during the Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission and its scheduled June construction flight to the international space station, shuttle Endeavour rolled from the hangar to the Vehicle Assembly...
- North Korean Launch Fails To Put Anything Into Orbit
Sunday's failure of an improved version of the North Korean Taepo-Dong-2 has deprived U.S. intelligence agencies from assessing performance of the vehicle's third stage. This is deemed critical to determining the precise threat the vehicle poses...
- Nasa's Ares I-x Rocket Launches For Flight Test
NASA's 327-foot (100 m) tall ARes I-X rocket launched at 11:30 a.m. from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday. The powered flight lasted for two minutes, at the end of which, the rocket's first stage, a four-segment solid rocket booster,...
- 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....
Astronomy
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.
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| Rollout of Apollo 11 Image: NASA |
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| 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. ?
- Nasa Sets Wednesday Launch Date For Shuttle Endeavour
NASA managers today formally cleared the shuttle Endeavour for a delayed launch Wednesday on a space station assembly mission. Launch of the agency's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter was delayed to June 18 or 19 to make room for the shuttle in an effort...
- Space Shuttle Endeavour Travels From Hangar To The Vehicle Assembly Building
In preparation for its role as a standby rescue craft during the Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission and its scheduled June construction flight to the international space station, shuttle Endeavour rolled from the hangar to the Vehicle Assembly...
- North Korean Launch Fails To Put Anything Into Orbit
Sunday's failure of an improved version of the North Korean Taepo-Dong-2 has deprived U.S. intelligence agencies from assessing performance of the vehicle's third stage. This is deemed critical to determining the precise threat the vehicle poses...
- Nasa's Ares I-x Rocket Launches For Flight Test
NASA's 327-foot (100 m) tall ARes I-X rocket launched at 11:30 a.m. from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday. The powered flight lasted for two minutes, at the end of which, the rocket's first stage, a four-segment solid rocket booster,...
- 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....