The Kennedy Space Center is one step closer to sending humans to Mars with completed modifications to its mobile launcher.
The launcher will be used to support and carry the space agency's next-generation rocket and crew capsule.
NASA contractors have been working nonstop to get ready for Orion and the Space Launch System, which is the rocket that will send the manned Orion crew capsule to an asteroid and Mars in the coming decades.
The mobile launcher, which is made up of a platform and tower, has been undergoing several modifications to handle the heavy lift rocket.
Crews have been widening the exhaust space to support two solid rocket boosters and four main engines.
Teams have also been working on adding swing arms to provide propellant and a crew access arm that astronauts will use to get into the Orion capsule.
The SLS rocket will sit on top of the mobile launcher from the time it is assembled at the Vehicle Assembly Building to the point where it lifts off from the launch pad.
The mobile launcher will get its first big test in 2018 when it carries the SLS rocket to launch pad 39B for its first launch.