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The Vehicle (originally Vertical) Assembly Building, or VAB, is a very large building located at 28.586° N 80.651° W in NASA's Kennedy Space Center, halfway between Jacksonville and Miami, and due east of Orlando on Merritt Island, on the Atlantic coast of Florida. It is one of the world's largest buildings (by volume) at third place, the largest one-story building in the world[citation needed], and was the tallest building in Florida until 1974.

It was originally built to vertically assemble the stages of the Saturn V rocket for the Apollo program, where despite the building's huge height, the conducting rod at the tip of the Saturn V had to be removed to fit inside the building. It is now used for housing external fuel tanks and flight hardware, and the location of Orbiter mating (stacking) with the solid rocket boosters and external fuel tank to make up a complete Space Transportation System, called the Space Shuttle for short. Once assembled, the Space Transportation System is moved on the Mobile Launcher Platform and Crawler-Transporter to Launch complex 39.

The VAB is 525 ft (160 meters) tall, 716 ft (218 meters) long and 518 ft (158 meters) wide. It covers 8 acres (32,500 square meters) and encloses 129,428,000 ft? (3,664,883 m?) of space.

One indicator of the building's scale is that each of the stars on the American flag painted on the building is 6 feet (1.8 m) across and the stripes are large enough to drive a tour bus on. The flag was added in 1976 as part of United States Bicentennial celebrations along with the star logo of the anniversary, which was later replaced by the NASA logo. The VAB's interior volume is so vast that it has its own weather system—"NASA employees report that rain clouds form below the ceiling on very humid days"[1]. The building implements four large air machines (four cylindrical structures west of the building) to keep moisture under control. To get around, employees occasionally travel within the building via bicycle.

Being in Florida, the building has been constructed to withstand many hurricanes and tropical storms. The most extensive damage ever recorded occurred during Hurricane Frances in September 2004, when about 1,000 10 ? 40 foot (3 ? 12 m) aluminum panels were blown off the building, resulting in about 40,000 ft? (3,700 m?) of new openings in the sides. This came only three weeks after Hurricane Charley caused significant but less serious damage, estimated to cost about $700,000. Damage caused by these hurricanes is still apparent going into 2006. It should be noted that some of these panels are punch-outs designed to detach from the VAB when a large pressure differential is created on the outside vs. the inside. This allows for equalization and helps protect the structural integrity of the building during rapid changes in pressure such as in tropical cyclones.

It is expected that, starting in 2010, after the retirement of the Space Shuttle, the VAB will transition back to processing of the heavy lift launcher derived from the Space Shuttle and used for the return to the Moon in 2018.

Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, 06 June 2007

Vehicle Maintenance section performs inspections

Canadian Forces technicians verify the function of a Remote Weapons System atop an RG 31 Armoured Personnel Vehicle at the Vehicle Maintenance section, Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan. Weapons Technician Corporal Naomi Okimawininew (left) and Electronics/Optronics Technician Corporal Warren Westall, both from Deep River, Ontario, are currently serving with the Canadian Forces' Joint Task Force Afghanistan.

The Vehicle Maintenance section performs inspections, maintenance and repairs on trucks and armoured vehicles of all types used by the Canadian Forces in Afghanistan.

About 2500 members of the Canadian Forces (CF) are currently serving as part of Joint Task Force Afghanistan. Most of the soldiers are stationed at Kandahar Airfield and at Camp Nathan Smith, Canada’s Provincial reconstruction Team (PRT) in Kandahar City. Other personnel are assigned to various military headquarters, a support base, and civilian organizations.

They play a key role in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force mission whose goal is to improve the security situation in Afghanistan and assist in rebuilding the country.

Canadian Forces Image Number IS2007-7128
By MCpl Kevin Paul, Canadian Forces Combat Camera
____________________________________________Traduction

Aerodrome de Kandahar, Afghanistan, 6 juin 2007

La section de maintenance des vehicules procede a des inspections

Des techniciens des Forces canadiennes verifient le fonctionnement d’un systeme de telecommande de tir dans la partie superieure d’un vehicule blinde RG 31 a la section de maintenance des vehicules de l’aerodrome de Kandahar en Afghanistan. Le Caporal Naomi Okimawininew (a gauche), technicienne d’armement, et le Caporal Warren Westall, technicien en electronique/optoelectronique, les deux originaires de Deep River (Ontario), font actuellement partie de la Force operationnelle interarmees (FOI) des Forces canadiennes en Afghanistan.

Cette section inspecte, entretient et repare les camions et vehicules blindes en tout genre dont se servent les FC dans ce pays.
Environ 2 500 membres des FC servent actuellement au sein de la FOI-Afg. La plupart sont affectes a l’aerodrome de Kandahar et au Camp Nathan Smith, qui abrite l’Equipe de reconstruction provinciale (ERP) du Canada a Kandahar meme. Le reste des effectifs est affecte a divers quartiers generaux, a une base de soutien et a des organismes civils.

Les soldats canadiens jouent un role cle dans la FIAS (Force internationale d’assistance a la securite) que dirige l’OTAN et dont la mission est d’ameliorer la securite en Afghanistan et d’aider a la reconstruction du pays.

Image des Forces canadiennes no IS2007-7128
par le Cplc Kevin Paul, Camera de combat des Forces canadiennes