Rockets launch platforms

Anyone who has visited the Kennedy Space Center and seen the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB)—originally built to process the Saturn V and currently used to assemble the Space Shuttle and its external tanks and solid rocket boosters—and the crawler-transporter— used to move the final assembled vehicle and mobile launch platform from the VAB to the launch pad—has an appreciation for the massive infrastructure requirements of a major space project. The ISS program has benefited substantially from the existence of the Apollo-era... 

Manson, M. P. Guns, Mortars, and Rockets. London Brassey s United Kingdom, 1997. Documents the historical development of artillery, emphasizing three types of missile launch platforms-guns, mortars, and rockets. 

CARINA (CApsula di RIentro Non Abitata) will be the first Italian module with re-entry capability, developed by Alenia Spazio for the National Space Agency. Scheduled for launch from the San Marco platform by means of the Super Scout rocket, it will return microgravity experiments to Earth after some days in orbit (Figure 1 ). 

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