KSC-2011-8097

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The mobile launcher, or ML, nears the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The ML's 4.2-mile trek started at Launch Pad 39B. Data on the ML collected from structural and functional engineering tests during its two-week stay on the pad will be used in the next phases of construction. The 355-foot-tall ML structure, which took about two years to construct, will be modified by NASA’s 21st Century Ground Systems Program to support NASA’s Space Launch System, the heavy-lift rocket that will launch astronauts into deep space on future exploration missions. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls. Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston