A small fire broke out this afternoon inside Kennedy Space Center's cavernous Vehicle Assembly Building. The 52-story landmark facility was built in the 1960s to assemble the giant Saturn 5 moon rockets and has been used for the past quarter-century for space shuttles.

File image of the Vehicle Assembly Building shows the facility after it was damaged by Hurricane Frances earlier this year. Photo: Steven Young/Spaceflight Now

NASA said the incident occurred at approximately 1 p.m. EST (1800 GMT). The fire was quickly extinguished. No injuries were reported and the space agency said there are no indications of damage to spaceflight hardware.

Workers in the VAB have begun stacking the segments making up the solid rocket boosters that will launch space shuttle Discovery on the first post-Columbia mission next spring.

"KSC fire and rescue personnel quickly responded to the scene," a statement from Kennedy Space Center public affairs said. "As a precautionary measure, employees were evacuated from the building. The cause of the incident is under investigation and more information will be released as it becomes available."