My girlfriend and I were in Florida last month visiting my family and we had the opportunity to go INSIDE the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA. This is the building where NASA has constructed the Saturn V rockets and other space vehicles as well as where the shuttles are stored and taken care of.

The general public hasn't been allowed inside the building for over 30 years because of radiation. Since the Space Shuttle Program has been cancelled, there is currently no work going on inside the building, therefore you can take a bus tour out there.

The VAB is the 5th largest building in the world by volume. You could fit FOUR Empire State Buildings inside.

Here's what it looks like on the outside...



This is the other side...



Those two large grey areas on the side are actually sliding doors. IIRC, each panel weighs 8 tons and it takes over an hour for all of the panels to reach the top of the building.

Security was pretty tight so we had to stay on the bus a lot. Just to give you an idea of how big the building is, look at the bottom of the building in this picture. See that little black opening at the bottom? That's where the bus dropped us off. It was at least 20ft high.



Here's looking up the side of the building from the outside...



Now the good stuff. Here's what you see as soon as you walk in...



The VAB is separated into 3 identical sections. This was the middle section.

This is looking straight up...



Yeah, my jaw dropped. I was literally looking straight up. Supposedly that it's so high and such an open area that clouds will form at the top and linger there for quite some time.

Here's another one...



Each side had banners for each of the shuttle missions. Whoever worked on the shuttle signed their name. You can also see the huge crane in the background.



Some of the crane equipment...





Like I mentioned before, security was out in full force so you couldn't casually walk around. You had to stay behind a yellow line and you were called out if your pinky toe crossed it. Anyways, we went around the corner and were shocked to see this...



That would be Endeavor. We had no idea it would be there and I don't think the tour guide did either. Here are some more (poor) pictures...









The shuttle will be transported to a museum in CA sometime this year, hence why it's all wrapped with plastic and such.

Now you may have noticed something in an earlier picture, some odd shaped thing sitting on the floor. This thing...



Well, as many of you (hopefully know), the shuttles are transported on the back of a 757 and flown to destinations like so...



That thing on the ground is the piece that attaches to the back of the shuttle. It protects the back of the shuttle as well as increasing aerodynamic efficiency.

Here's another shot of it. The lighting was terrible...



These brackets are attached to the shuttle and lifted by the cranes so the mechanics can access every area of the shuttle...





I took a whole bunch of pictures at NASA, including going to multiple launch pads, a REAL Saturn V rocket up close and personal, authentic space suits used, and even the real escape pod from Apollo 11. For all of you retards, that's the mission when man first landed on the moon. Let me know if you want to see those as well

 

Wow! Great stuff. I always have had a great interest in the space program. More pics!

 

cool stuff! iv'e always wanted to drive down and visit that place..thanks for sharing...

 

Amazing! I'm so jealous...

 

awesome! I went to Kennedy when I was about 10. I'd love to go back now, pretty sweet that you can get in the assembly building now!

 

Very interesting. Great pics and detail from your tour.

 

Wonderful story and photos! I went inside there on a school tour back in the Saturn 5 days, it is jaw-dropping huge! Thanks for the memories I had forgotten

 

Wow, thanks everyone! Here are some more pictures from the Kennedy Space Center and such:



The following few pictures were taken in "Rocket Garden". Unfortunately a tv show was filming in that area and we had to leave







I thought this was pretty cool...





This is Launch Pad 39B which is no longer being used BUT it can be rented out to private companies, such as GPS companies, to launch satellites and such. That is the pad where the Apollo rockets were launched...



The following pictures are all of active launch pad 39A...







39A on the left, Vehicle Assembly Building on the right...



These two pictures show how the structure would hold a shuttle. The outer arm with the "casing" for the shuttle pivots and attaches to the main structure, encompassing the vehicle...





Taken from inside the bus (hence a crappy shot) is "The Crawler" that is used to move the rockets/shuttles from the VAB to the launch pad. Top speed? 1 mph...



The bus dropped us off at the Saturn V Rocket Center and we could stay there as long as we wanted....























The ORIGINAL Astro van...



This was one of my favorite things to see, the actual pod used in the Apollo 11 mission...







And some other stuff in the "Vault" area of the Saturn V building...







And that's about it. We didn't stay long because we were in a rush to ride this beast...



540ci V8 with a supercharger strapped on. Effing sick!

 

Awesome pictures Tyler. I had to look at these twice.

 

Very cool pics

 

Thanks guys!

Visitation to the VAB is only open for a year or so. Try to make it if you can! Pictures don't do it justice.

 

Great collection of photos Tyler.

Thanks for sharing.

I keep telling myself to visit this place everytime I go to Florida and fail in doing so everytime.

 

Thanks Eric! Being born and raised in Orlando, I've always loved the space program. My grandma lives 30 minutes away from Kennedy Space Center so I made it a priority to make it out there when I was visiting family.

The VAB Tour is ending sometime this year though. Try to get down there ASAP!

 

Great pictures Tyler! Looks like you had a blast. It would be cool to do the tour one time although I haven't been in Orlando for 4 years. How did it feel seeing Endeavor in real life? We have a Steven Udvar H centre in DC and everytime I'm standing besides the space shuttle, it's an amazing moment. They're really gigantic.

 

Unbelievable pictures! That's one hell of an opportunity!

 

I'm thinking either in may or september when i'm down there the space center will be a pit stop. Looks really awesome.

I've toured the Johnson Space Center in Houston and that place was pretty neat.

 

Thanks Mark!

The Kennedy Space Center is about an hour east of Orlando, over near Titusville. Well worth the drive!

I had no clue Endeavor would be there. Security was pretty strict and we were confined to one side of the building but they let us go around the corner and the shuttle was sitting there. My mind was blown.

I'm glad I went! Supposedly tickets were $60 a person but somehow I got both for $60. No complaints from me though haha.

Do it Eric! Time and money well spent. Give yourself a full day to explore everything though. Make sure you do a tour, the Visitors Center gets boring pretty quickly.

 

I just looked back over your thread and realized just how big that VAB is.

This is the power of photos. You have successfully sold me on going. Hopefully that building will still be open.

 

Pictures and words cannot describe the size of the VAB. It's the 7th largest structure by volume in the world; 130 million cubic feet.

 

Nice photos and will be downloading these . Maybe some day i can visit.

 

Thank you! I know these aren't the best pictures ever taken but they were too cool NOT to post.