A Sense of Scale

[tbutler]

This is the Vehicle Assembly Building - where they put the stages of the Saturn V rocket together, and mated the Shuttle to the external tank and solid rocket boosters.



In many contexts, it looks like a relatively ordinary building - large, yes, but not hugely out of the ordinary.

Now, see the little black dots at the base of the building, between the two sets of doors?



The black squares here?



Those are the ordinary human-size doors for people entering the building.

Now can you see how big it is? :)

Comments

[hamletta]

I remember the guide saying you could drive a bus up each stripe of the painted flag...

What I find amazing is how illusory the size of this building is. When we see skyscrapers, we know they are high. This building consistently looks large, but not extraordinarily so. I wonder if it's because its proportions are that of a standard building, while we associate height with thinness.