KSC-2009-6221

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane lifts a fourth tower section toward three sections already secured to a new mobile launcher, or ML, being constructed to support the Constellation Program. The tower will be approximately 345 feet tall when completed and have multiple platforms for personnel access. The ML is being built at the mobile launcher park site area north of Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building. The launcher 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