Crawler-transporter

Crawler-transporter
Overview
ManufacturerMarion Power Shovel Company
Also calledMissile Crawler Transporter Facilities
Model years1965
Powertrain
Engine
  • 2 × 2,050 kW (2,750 hp) V16 ALCO 251C diesel engines, driving 4 × 1,000 kW (1,341 hp) generators for traction
  • 2 × 794 kW (1,065 hp) engines driving 2 × 750 kW (1,006 hp) generators powering auxiliaries: jacking, steering, lighting, and ventilating.
Transmission16 × traction motors, 4 per corner
Dimensions
Length40 m (131 ft)
Width35 m (114 ft)
HeightAdjustable, 6 to 8 m (20 to 26 ft)
Curb weight2,721 t (6,000,000 lb)[1]
Missile Crawler Transporter Facilities
LocationKennedy Space Center, Florida
MPSJohn F. Kennedy Space Center MPS
NRHP reference No.99001643[2]
Added to NRHPJanuary 21, 2000

The crawler-transporters, formally known as the Missile Crawler Transporter Facilities,[2] are a pair of tracked vehicles used to transport launch vehicles from NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) along the Crawlerway to Launch Complex 39. They were originally used to transport the Saturn IB and Saturn V rockets during the Apollo, Skylab and Apollo–Soyuz programs. They were then used to transport Space Shuttles from 1981 to 2011. The crawler-transporters carry vehicles on the mobile launcher platforms used by NASA, and after each launch return to the pad to take the platform back to the VAB.[3]

The two crawler-transporters were designed and built by Marion Power Shovel Company using some components designed and built by Rockwell International at a cost of US$14 million (US$128.5 million in 2022) each.[4] Upon its construction, the crawler-transporter became the largest self-powered land vehicle in the world until it was beaten in 2013 with the production of the ultraheavy XGC88000 crawler crane. While other vehicles such as bucket-wheel excavators like Bagger 288, dragline excavators like Big Muskie and power shovels like The Captain are significantly larger, they are powered by external sources.

The two crawler-transporters were added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 21, 2000.[2]

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