(upbeat music)
How do you assemble the largest
rocket ever made?
With very, very large cranes!
The Space Launch System or SLS will be the most powerful rocket we've ever built.
The fueled-up core stage weighs around 2.3 million pounds and measures 212 feet long.
That's taller than the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
We're getting ready for the countdown to send
SLS into space.
We have only one shot to get everything stacked
up right.
Here we are in High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly
Building.
This is where the magic happens.
Our crane operators are specially trained
to handle loads as enormously important as
SLS.
Some even helped assemble the original space
shuttle.
We need to make sure our people and our equipment are safe during this huge lift.
That's why we use digital simulations to practice
lifting the fuel tank and assembling the solid
rocket booster.
Then we will use a replica of the tank to practice the lift before the real deal.
Our crane operators perch at the very top
of the high bay to coordinate the lift.
So you'd better not be scared of heights.
During every step of the process, the lifting crew will constantly be using radios to check in,
and quickly stop the lift in case of emergency.
And s you can see, it's going to be a huge
rocket with a lot of huge lifts.
When the dress rehearsal is over, it will
finally be time to stack the actual rocket.
Will all that practice pay off?
You bet!
And when the SLS is fully assembled, we'll
be one step closer to our Exploration Mission-1
launch in 2020.
