Just noticed something about the KSC

[RainDreamer]

I never noticed there are more similarity between the ingame KSC and the real life KSC than just the short form name:

Perhaps because I am not an American who has the privilege to visit the Kennedy Space Center and see it with my eyes to notice the obvious similarity before, it took me a while to realize this is a picture of the real thing instead of just a very detailed visual mod of KSP....

The building design for the 3rd level is so very similar.

[Commander Jebidiah]

Yep thats what B9 was going for when He/She was hired by Sqaud

[PlonioFludrasco]

Yes, the old launch pad also featured a big, red launch tower very similar to the one in the picture.

[tater]

And the fact that it is called exactly the same thing (Vehicle Assembly Building).

[Aethon]

Actually when the OP image was taken, that building was called the V(erticle) A(ssembly) B(uilding).

[genbrien]

never realized that therewas 2 doors for 2 rockets... man that bulding is huuuuuuuge:confused:

[Alshain]

I never noticed there are more similarity between the ingame KSC and the real life KSC than just the short form name:

Did you happen to notice that little building near the bottom of the picture

[Cuky]

never realized that therewas 2 doors for 2 rockets... man that bulding is huuuuuuuge:confused:

Me too. Than some time ago I saw this picture with Atlantis (STS-125) and Endeavour (STS-400) together on the launch pads and I thought there should be more space in VAB than I thought there is.

[Torquemadus]

At one point, plans for the later Apollo missions called for a dual launch strategy where a second Saturn 5 would send a one-way cargo lander to the same site as the LEM. This would have allowed stays of approximately two weeks.

[Engineer of Stuff]

Me too. Than some time ago I saw this picture with Atlantis (STS-125) and Endeavour (STS-400) together on the launch pads and I thought there should be more space in VAB than I thought there is.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Space_shuttles_Atlantis_%28STS-125%29_and_Endeavour_%28STS-400%29_on_launch_pads_again.jpg

Looks like the movie Armageddon.

[Scotius]

never realized that therewas 2 doors for 2 rockets... man that bulding is huuuuuuuge:confused:

It's so huge, it has its own weather inside Seriously, sometimes rain is falling inside the VAB, because water vapor is condensing near the ceiling.

[Cuky]

Looks like the movie Armageddon.

Well, I have looked it up on wiki...STS-125 was Shuttle's last ever mission to service Hubble Space Telescope. It was post-Columbia disaster and no Shuttle had gone that far for quite a number of years, so they prepared STS-400 (Endeavour) in case something happened to Atlantis during mission and they needed to rescue its crew

[Hobbes Novakoff]

Yeah, if you look, the launchpad is also literally identical. Same hexagon shape, same blast channels, same crawler ramp...

[Pecan]

Did you happen to notice that little building near the bottom of the picture

It'll have to be demolished - it's on the wrong side of the VAB. Trust government contractors to mess it up ^^.

[Taki117]

never realized that therewas 2 doors for 2 rockets... man that bulding is huuuuuuuge:confused:

Actually, there are also 2 on the other side as well, a total of 4 Saturn V rockets could be built at once.

[dryer_lint]

Actually, there are also 2 on the other side as well, a total of 4 Saturn V rockets could be built at once.

But why would they need so many at once?

Conspiracy time

[Vindaloo]

Is the picture in the OP from a new visual enhancement mod? Looks sweet! I hope it's available on CKAN.

[Yukon0009]

Is the picture in the OP from a new visual enhancement mod? Looks sweet! I hope it's available on CKAN.

Errrm....It's the actual KSC. Kennedy Space Center.

[Jovus]

But why would they need so many at once?

Conspiracy time

Obviously one is for proving to the public we went to the Moon by launching from KSC, and the other is just a cardboard mockup for the Apollo TV livestreams.

Alternatively: the first rule of government budgets is "why buy one when you can have two for twice the price?"

[0jam3290]

Obviously one is for proving to the public we went to the Moon by launching from KSC, and the other is just a cardboard mockup for the Apollo TV livestreams.

Alternatively: the first rule of government budgets is "why buy one when you can have two for twice the price?"

Actually, having four assembly bays (with 1 door each) allows more room for assembly. For example, they could set down the Shuttle SRM's on the launch platform/crawler in one bay while they take in and process the ET and Shuttle in the two other bays all at once.

It's so huge, it has its own weather inside Seriously, sometimes rain is falling inside the VAB, because water vapor is condensing near the ceiling.

I can say firsthand, it's huge. Even looking up from ground level to the top can make you dizzy. Along with that, it's something like the 2nd largest interior space in the world, and was the largest for about 10-20 years after construction.

[Bill Phil]

And it even dwarfs the Saturn V.

Wow.

[tg626]

Just so you know. There were plans for four pads at LC39 A, B, C, and D. The two never built to be north and further from the VAB. This was in anticipation of larger Nova rockets for Mars as well as supporting Earth rendezvous profile moon landings (at the time the exact method of reaching the moon has not been decided.)

At least as of the shuttle era, there were 3 traffic lights showing the status of the pads to workers labeled 39A, 39B, and 39C. Also, the crawlerway had/has obvious extension where it turns toward 39B which would have led to 39A. You read that right, originally the pad we know as 39A was 39C.

Edited February 26, 2015 by tg626
cause its 39 not 34... duh.

[Zephram Kerman]

Only slightly off topic: why is it Launch Complex 34? What happened to the other 33?

[Brotoro]

Launch Complex 39

- - - Updated - - -

Only slightly off topic: why is it Launch Complex 34? What happened to the other 33?

[NecroBones]

never realized that therewas 2 doors for 2 rockets... man that bulding is huuuuuuuge:confused:

It actually has 4 bays. Two sets of doors at both ends, so 4 rockets can be assembled.

The idea is that they may take time to assemble, so they can all be in various stages of assembly. It was built specifically for the Saturn V during the Apollo program, when they were very rapidly pushing the program forward.

EDIT: I see someone else mentioned this already. My bad.