Editing Vehicle Assembly Building (section)

{{Short description|Spacecraft assembly building operated by NASA at the Kennedy Space Center}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox building
| name                  = Vehicle Assembly Building
| image                 = VAB and SLS.jpg
| image_caption         = The [[Artemis I]] [[Space Launch System]] vehicle rolling out from the VAB at [[Kennedy Space Center]]
| map_type              = Florida#USA
| former_names          = Vertical Assembly Building
| building_type         = Integration facility
| location_city         = [[Brevard County, Florida]]
| location_country      = United States
| coordinates           = {{coord|28|35|11|N|80|39|5|W|display=inline,title}}
| completion_date       = 1966
| owner                 = [[NASA]]
| height                = {{cvt|526|ft}}
| diameter              = {{cvt|716|x|518|ft}}
| floor_count           = 1
| floor_area            = {{cvt|8|acre|m2}}
| main_contractor       = [[Morrison-Knudsen]]
| embedded              = 
{{Infobox NRHP
| embed                   = yes
| name                    = Vehicle Assembly Building
| location                = [[Kennedy Space Center]] [[Florida]], U.S.
| nearest_city            = [[Titusville, Florida|Titusville]]
| area                    = {{convert|8|acre|ha|0}}
| architect               = https://www.urbahn.com
| architecture            = Industrial
| built                   = 1966
| added                   = January 21, 2000
| refnum                  = 99001642<ref name="nris">{{NRISref |refnum=99001642|version=2010a}}</ref>
| mpsub                   = [[John F. Kennedy Space Center MPS]]
}}
}}
The '''Vehicle Assembly Building''' (originally the '''Vertical Assembly Building'''), or '''VAB''', is a large building at [[NASA]]'s [[Kennedy Space Center]] (KSC) in Florida, designed to assemble large pre-manufactured space vehicle components, such as the massive [[Saturn V]], the [[Space Shuttle]] and the [[Space Launch System]], and [[stacking (rocketry)|stack]] them vertically onto one of three [[mobile launcher platform]]s used by NASA. As of March 2022, the first [[Space Launch System]] (SLS) rocket was assembled inside in preparation for the [[Artemis I]] mission,<ref name="nsf-20220317">{{Cite news |last1=Barker |first1=Nathan |last2=Gebhardt |first2=Chris |date=March 17, 2022 |title=NASA moon rocket SLS rolls out to "rebuilt" LC-39B ahead of Artemis 1 rehearsal |url=https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2022/03/sls-rollout-wet-dress-rehearsal/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221116162759/https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2022/03/sls-rollout-wet-dress-rehearsal/ |archive-date=November 16, 2022 |access-date=March 18, 2022 |work=[[NASASpaceFlight.com]]}}</ref> launched on November 16, 2022.

At {{convert|129,428,000|ft3|abbr=on}}, it is the [[List of largest buildings in the world|eighth-largest building in the world]] by volume as of 2022.<ref name="vab1">{{cite web |url=http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/facilities/vab.html |title=Vehicle Assembly Building |access-date=September 23, 2007 |publisher=[[NASA]] |year=1999 |author=NASA |author-link=NASA |archive-date=December 29, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171229063628/https://science.ksc.nasa.gov/facilities/vab.html |url-status=dead}}</ref> The building is at [[Launch Complex 39]] at KSC, {{convert|149|mi}} south of [[Jacksonville, Florida|Jacksonville]], {{convert|219|mi}} north of [[Miami, Florida|Miami]], and {{convert|50|mi}} due east of [[Orlando, Florida|Orlando]], on [[Merritt Island, Florida|Merritt Island]] on the [[Atlantic]] [[coast]] of [[Florida]].<ref name="vab1" />

The VAB is the largest single-story building in the world,<ref name="prn">{{Cite press release |date=August 5, 2007 |title=Groundbreaking Digital Experience for Endeavour Shuttle Launch |url=https://news.microsoft.com/2007/08/05/groundbreaking-digital-experience-for-endeavour-shuttle-launch/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231129231315/https://news.microsoft.com/2007/08/05/groundbreaking-digital-experience-for-endeavour-shuttle-launch/ |archive-date=November 29, 2023 |access-date=September 23, 2007 |publisher=[[Microsoft]] |place=Redmond, Washington}}</ref> was the tallest building ({{cvt|526|ft|disp=or}}) in Florida until 1974,<ref name="UNF">{{Cite journal |last=Taylor |first=George Lansing |date=September 20, 1988 |title=NASA Vehicle Assembly Building, Cape Canaveral, FL |url=https://digitalcommons.unf.edu/historical_architecture_main/2374/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230731091332/https://digitalcommons.unf.edu/historical_architecture_main/2374/ |archive-date=July 31, 2023 |access-date=January 28, 2023 |journal=George Lansing Taylor Collection Main Gallery |publisher=[[University of North Florida]]}}</ref> and is the tallest building in the United States outside an urban area.<ref name="nasa-sm-07-01">{{Cite magazine |last=Aguiar |first=Laura |date=January 10, 2020 |title=The Many Stories of the VAB |url=https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/spmjanfeb2020.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240219083441/https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/spmjanfeb2020.pdf |archive-date=February 19, 2024 |access-date=January 28, 2023 |magazine=Spaceport Magazine |publisher=[[NASA]] |volume=7 |issue=1}}</ref>