A long transporter moves closer to the barge for offloading of the girder for a new mobile launcher.

At the turn basin in the Launch Complex 39 Area of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a long transporter moves closer to the barge for offloading of the girder for a new mobile launcher. The new mobile launcher will be the base for the Ares rockets to launch the Orion crew exploration vehicle and the cargo vehicle. The base is being made lighter than space shuttle mobile launcher platforms so the crawler-transporter can pick up the added load of the 345-foot tower and taller rocket. When the structural portion of the new mobile launcher is complete, umbilicals, access arms, communications equipment and command/control equipment will be installed. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller