Vehicle Assembly Building & Launch Control Center, Part 4 | Project Discovery - Episode 4

Kaltura

This segment is about the VAB or Vehicle Assembly Building. It is 525 feet tall, taller than the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty. It is longer than two football fields put together. It was built in 1963. The components are currently in the building being assembled. The shuttle stays in the building for only about five days when preparing for launch. In this building, the shuttle is hoisted from a horizontal position to a vertical position, and workers are shown as they prepare the shuttle. We see how enormous the space is and how the shuttle fits into it. 

Next, we visit the Launch Control Center. We see banks of computers and engineers monitoring the shuttle's vital signs. On launch day, there would be several hundred engineers monitoring everything. They would notify the launch director of anything that is out of certain specifications. Tha launch countdown is started three days ahead of launch.   (Mechanical Energy and Work)