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NASA's Mobile Launch Tower at Pad 39B
Credit: Mike Wall/SPACE.com
NASA's $500 million mobile launch tower sits on pad 39B at Florida's Kennedy Space Center, where it moved in mid-November to undergo two weeks of structural tests. The tower will support NASA's huge Space Launch System rocket — which is due to make its first test flight in 2017 — and perhaps other launch vehicles as well.
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Mobile Launcher and Lightning Tower
Credit: Mike Wall/SPACE.com
The mobile launcher is 355 feet tall and sits atop a steel base that itself rises 47 feet from the ground. The white-topped structure in the background is a lightning tower.
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Mobile Launch Tower and Flame Trench
Credit: Mike Wall/SPACE.com
This shot, looking under the mobile launcher, shows pad 39B's flame trench.
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Launchpad 39B's Flame Trench
Credit: Mike Wall/SPACE.com
Another view of pad 39B's flame trench, this time looking south. The huge crawler-transporter that brought the mobile launcher to the pad is visible in the background.
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NASA Crawler-Transporter
Credit: Mike Wall/SPACE.com
A look at NASA's crawler-transporter vehicle, which brought the 6.5-million-pound mobile launcher to pad 39B.
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Crawler-Transporter Closeup
Credit: Mike Wall/SPACE.com
A closeup shot of the crawler-transporter's front end. These massive vehicles were also used to carry NASA's space shuttles to launchpads 39A and 39B.
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Crawler-Transporter Treads
Credit: Mike Wall/SPACE.com
An up-close look at the crawler-transporter's treads, and the crushed ground the huge vehicle leaves in its wake.
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Looking Up at the Mobile Launcher
Credit: Mike Wall/SPACE.com
A view straight up the side of the 355-foot-high tower, from near its base.
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Looking South from Atop NASA's Mobile Launcher
Credit: Mike Wall/SPACE.com
The view to the south from atop NASA's mobile launch tower. The crawler-transporter and its track are clearly visible, as are several other launchpads off in the distance.
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Looking Down from the Mobile Launcher's Top
Credit: Mike Wall/SPACE.com
Looking down from the top of the mobile launch tower at pad 39B's flame trench, about 400 feet below. NASA plans to launch its heavy-lift rocket, known as the Space Launch System, from pad 39B. The first test flight for the huge rocket is slated for 2017.
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View to the North From Mobile Launcher's Top
Credit: Mike Wall/SPACE.com
A maze of wetlands surrounds Kennedy Space Center, as this view looking to the north shows.
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Sunset From Atop the Mobile Launcher
Credit: Mike Wall/SPACE.com
The sun hangs just above the horizon in this shot. In the foreground is a lightning tower; behind it in the distance is the cavernous Vehicle Assembly Building, where Saturn 5 rockets were put together and space shuttle orbiters were mated with their boosters and external fuel tanks.
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Clouds Blaze Bright at Launchpad 39B
Credit: Mike Wall/SPACE.com
The setting sun sets the clouds ablaze in this shot, taken from near the base of NASA's mobile launch tower.
