The Largest Doors in the World



The Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center is home to the four largest doors in the world. Each bay door is 456 feet high and takes 45 minutes to open. The doors enable rockets to be stacked vertically and then rolled out to the launch pad. The building stands atop a support base of 4,225 steel pilings driven 164 feet into bedrock. It’s the only facility where assembly of a rocket occurred that carried humans beyond low-Earth orbit and on to the moon. For 30 years, it also served as the final assembly point for space shuttles to external fuel tanks and solid rocket boosters. The VAB is also home to the world’s largest American flag, measuring 208 feet by 109 feet, painted on the side of the building. The flag was originally painted onto the building in 1976 for the Bicentennial Exposition and took more than 500 gallons of paint. The flag was damaged in 2004 when Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne tore 845 panels off the building. In 2007, when the repairs had been completed, the flag was repainted.