Looking straight up. It is simply awe inspiring. The largest single story building in the world.
This is where the giant Saturn V rockets of Apollo and the boosters for Shuttle were assembled vertically indoors.
The internal volume is so vast that it has its own weather!
On humid days, rain clouds form just below the yellow crane mounts you see up there. To control moisture, the VAB has 10,000 tons of air conditioning equipment, including 125 ventilators on the roof. Think of it as fitting almost four Empire State Buildings inside.
One detail that few know about: if you climb on the roof, you will see that the steel girders protrude through the roof by a few feet (a non-deal roof design, as they have to be slathered with waterproofing over the years to keep watertight). Why? Well, when they were building the VAB, Werner Von Braun was not completely certain that the Saturn V as specified would have enough thrust to get the job done. So they built the VAB with the option to add an additional 100 ft. to its already prodigious height.
(click photo to enlarge – it’s 21 megapixels. Some other shots below)
The head of the 325 ton crane hanging down from the highest point:
To lift the components of the Shuttle, the VAB has five overhead bridge cranes, including two capable of lifting 325 tons, and 136 other lifting devices.
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