Happy birthday, NASA —here's a dizzying view of your massive Vehicle Assembly Building

NASA Vehicle Assembly Building

Kim Shiflett/NASA

Originally constructed in 1965, the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida was the final assembly point for NASA's space shuttle missions during the Apollo program days.

Requiring 98,590 tons of steel to construct, the 525 feet tall and 518 feet wide structure held an interior volume of 129,428,000 cubic feet — about 3.75 times that of the Empire State Building. It also set various records, including having the largest doors on earth at 456 feet high, which take nearly 45 minutes to fully open and close.

Nowadays, the monstrous structure is being renovated with new work platforms for NASA's mission to explore Mars.

NASA was founded 58 years ago today on July 29, 1958.

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