United States Bicentennial
The United States Bicentennial was a series of celebrations and observances during the mid-1970s that paid tribute to historical events leading up to the creation of the United States of America as an independent republic. It was a central event in the memory of the American Revolution. The Bicentennial culminated on Sunday, July 4, 1976, with the 200th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence by the Founding Fathers in the Second Continental Congress.
NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building in 1977
Protestors gathering outside of Faneuil Hall in Boston, MA prior to the reenactment of the Boston Tea Party. Signs protesting oil conglomerates and the Nixon administration can be seen in the crowd. Image Circa 1973
The American Freedom Train stopping in the Naval Air Station in Miramar, California on January 15, 1976
First Lady Betty Ford, with President Gerald Ford, Queen Elizabeth II, and Prince Philip in the President's Dining Room in conjunction with a 1976 state visit during the US Bicentennial
Vehicle Assembly Building
The Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB, is a large building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC), designed to assemble large pre-manufactured space vehicle components, such as the massive Saturn V, the Space Shuttle and the Space Launch System, and stack them vertically onto one of three mobile launcher platforms used by NASA. As of March 2022, the first Space Launch System (SLS) rocket was assembled inside in preparation for the Artemis 1 mission, launched on November 16, 2022.
The Artemis 1 Space Launch System vehicle rolling out from the VAB at Kennedy Space Center
VAB during construction (1965) with the three Mobile Launchers for the Saturn V rocket.
A crane lowers Discovery toward the ET and SRBs in high bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building for STS-124.
VAB in 1977, with the Bicentennial Star opposite the flag. The Bicentennial Star was painted over with the NASA insignia in 1998. Note the Space Shuttle Landing Facility at upper left.
