KSC-2009-5930

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the tower on a new mobile launcher, or ML, for the Constellation Program increases in height as the third section is lowered onto the previously installed sections. Installation of the first section was on Sept. 24, and the second, on Oct. 15. The tower will have multiple platforms for personnel access and be approximately 345 feet tall. The launcher is being built at the mobile launcher park site area located north of Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building to support the Ares I rocket. The ML will provide a base to launch the Ares I, designed to transport the Orion crew exploration vehicle, its crew and cargo to low Earth orbit. The base is being made lighter than space shuttle mobile launcher platforms so the crawler-transporter can pick up the heavier load of the tower and taller rocket. For information on the Ares I, visit http://www.nasa.gov/ares. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller