ABOVE: Completed in June 1965, the 525-foot high Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at Kennedy Space Center is one of the largest buildings in the world by volume. Originally constructed to assemble the massive Saturn V rockets for the Apollo Moon Program, the VAB then was used by the Space Shuttle Program to stack the Space Shuttle Orbiter with its External Fuel Tank and Solid Rocket Boosters. The two columns of gray slats are the massive doors that would open to allow the Saturn V rocket , or later the Space Shuttle, to exit the building on its journey to the launch pad. The low building in the foreground is the Launch Control Center for Pads 39A and 39B. The VAB may soon see operational life again in support of the planned Space Launch System, a massive rocket that will take humans beyond Earth orbit and into the Solar System.

RIGHT: The sheer size of the building is so overwhelming that one feels quite insignificant standing inside it.