Kennedy Space Center - Launch Complex 39

Continuing our early February, 2013, visit to the Kennedy Space Center, we took the first leg of the bus tour from the Visitor Center to the Launch Complex 39 viewing gantry.  On the way to the viewing gantry, we passed the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) that was designed for assembling the Saturn V rockets of the Apollo era and reused for stacking the external tank, solid rocket boosters and orbiter of the Space Transportation System (STS), commonly known as the Space Shuttle.  The VAB is 526 feet tall, 716 feet long and 518 feet wide.  To put that in some perspective, that is two regulation football field lengths and three widths including endzones and team areas on the sidelines for a total of six football fields.  The four doors are 456 feet high and take about 45 minutes to open or close.  They are the largest doors in the world.

Just west of the VAB are two of the Orbiter Processing Facilities (OPF) that consists of two adjoining hangar-like buildings.  These buildings have end doors that include a vertical slot for the shuttle's vertical stabilizer.  The third OPF is across the street to the north and is now leased by Boeing for their CST-100 program.

Vehicle Assembly Building and Orbiter Processing Facility
(OPF-1 and OPF-2 are shown)

OPF-3 with the Launch Umbilical Tower that may be used for the
Space Launch System (SLS) in the background

Mobile Launcher Platform (MLP) as modified for the STS program

Mobile Launcher Platform with Launch Umbilical Tower
for the upcoming Space Launch System

Launch Control Complex south (left) of the VAB

The Launch Complex 39 viewing gantry is near the point where the crawler road forks to head to either pad 39-A or 39-B.  From here, we had unobstructed views of both launch pads as well as two unmanned launch complexes across the Banana River on the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.  Launch Complex 40 is where the Curiosity rover now on Mars was launched on November 26, 2011 on top of an Atlas V rocket.

Launch Complex 39 - Pad B

Launch Complex 39 - Pad A

Launch Complex 40 on left and the Vertical Integration Facility on right

Admission for one day at the Visitor Center and two days to the Astronaut Hall of Fame is $50 for an adult and $40 for children ages 3 through 11.  Admission includes the bus tour and both IMAX® movies.  Parking is an additional $10 per automobile or motorcycle and $15 per motor home.

The Space Center website is http://www.kennedyspacecenter.com.