KSC-2011-7795

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians monitor nearby as the mobile launcher (ML), sitting atop the crawler-transporter, begins its move from next to Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building (seen in the background) to Launch Pad 39B, a distance of 4.2 miles. Data on the ML will be collected from structural and functional engineering tests and used for the next phases of construction. The 355-foot-tall ML structure, which took about two years to construct, is being modified to support NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), the heavy-lift rocket that will launch astronauts farther into space than ever before. SLS will also create high-quality jobs here at home, and provide the cornerstone for America's future human space exploration efforts. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett