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It's a huge day for us.

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We've been working on installing these platforms
for the last year.

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You know, the mission to Mars starts here
at the Kennedy Space Center and specifically

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right here in the Vehicle Assembly Building.

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We've installed 19 of the 20 platform halves.

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Today we're installing the last one.

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It truly is a magnificent accomplishment when
you think about what this building, what this

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structure's going to be used for.

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We're going to assemble, test and check out
the planet's largest launch vehicle and this

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launch vehicle will eventually take humans
beyond the moon, all the way to Mars.

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The platforms are strategically located at
different elevations on the rocket and spacecraft

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to allow people -- technicians and engineers
-- to get access to the different levels of

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the rocket and the spacecraft.

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Whether it's wrench-turning, plugging in electrical
equipment, fluid lines, from the mobile launch

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platform as well as from the vehicle itself.

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The platforms will come together and surround
the vehicle that will provide access to the

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operations people to be able to install and
test and do all the connections that are required

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in order to get the vehicle ready for launch
next year.

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I feel amazingly proud of being able to lead
this group of people who are so experienced

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and so dedicated to the work that we have
here.

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Four years ago we had PowerPoint drawings
of what this was going to look like.

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We went through the design process, we went
through the construction process, and now

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we're installing the very last platform half.

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It's really an incredible accomplishment,
something this program, this entire center,

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the agency, should be very proud of.

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It takes a lot of effort, you know, to follow
day by day such a complex project -- a project

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that's being put together from all parts of
the country.

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There's all pieces of this platform that do
come from all parts of the country.

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And this is really only made possible by the
incredible teams we have working this project.

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The NASA folks, the support contractors, the
construction contractors, the designers -- all

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these people had to work together to accomplish
this magnificent achievement.

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It's an integrated team across KSC starting
with NASA, TOSC, ISC, IMCS, KPLSS, we're

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all base contractors here and we all have
a vital part in bringing this program up and

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running and getting it ready to process the
SLS rocket.

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Foster: We cherish these big milestones.

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We have a lot of them that lead up to the
final day of, at least for us and the development

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side, it's turning it over to operations and
ultimately launch day.

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Quinn: When I came to work for NASA 30 years
ago, I wanted to work for a project like this.

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Chreist: From Apollo to shuttle, and now to
the SLS program, this is very much the beginning