#spacecraft assembly

[wikipediapictures]

Vehicle Assembly Building

“Complex 39 reflection shot of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) under construction with the Launch Control Center (LCC) and Service Towers as seen from across the Turning Basin.” - via Wikimedia Commons

[plutopod]

2015 May 31

Photo Op

Explanation: Members of the media, garbed in protective uniforms, view NASA's New Horizons spacecraft on November 4, 2005 at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Image credit: Bruce Weaver/AFP/Getty Images.

[plutopod]

2015 April 16

Thrusters

Explanation: New Horizons has both spin-stabilized (cruise) and three-axis stabilized (science) modes controlled entirely with hydrazine monopropellant. There are 16 thrusters on New Horizons: four 4.4 N (1.0 lbf) and twelve 0.9 N (0.2 lbf) plumbed into redundant branches. The larger thrusters are used primarily for trajectory corrections, and the small ones are used primarily for attitude control and spinup/spindown maneuvers.

Image credit: NASA.

[plutopod]

2014 October 10

Attaching the Antenna

Explanation: Team members at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, MD, attach the high-gain antenna assembly to the New Horizons spacecraft on April 13, 2005. The spacecraft's most prominent design feature, the assembly includes high-, medium-, and low-gain antennas. The high-gain antenna consists of a 2.1-meter (nearly 7-foot) reflector dish mounted close to the spacecraft and a subreflector on the back side of the medium-gain reflector. The antenna is also a key component of the mission's Radio Science Experiment - called REX - which will help scientists understand the structure of Pluto's atmosphere by looking at how radio signals change as they are sent from Earth and move through Pluto's atmosphere.

Image credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute.

[astrohardware]

I always used to imagine spacecraft being built in a giant hangar like aircraft, but this image really dispels that thought. I wonder about the rate at which they could produce Lunar Modules in a room of that size--but I suppose speed wasn't really important, once you got a few done.

I wonder where this is, exactly?