crawler-transporter
Sign in to saveThe crawler-transporters, formally known as the Missile Crawler Transporter Facilities, 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 (MLPs) used by NASA, and after each launch return to the pad to take the platform back to the
Key facts
- Automobile.name
- Crawler-transporter
- Automobile.image
- Crawler-Transporter.jpg
- Automobile.image_size
- 275px
- Automobile.aka
- Missile Crawler Transporter Facilities
- Automobile.manufacturer
- Marion Power Shovel Company
- Automobile.model_years
- 1965
- Automobile.transmission
- 16 × traction motors, 4 per corner
- Automobile.height
- Adjustable,
- Automobile.sp
- us
- NRHP.embed
- yes
- NRHP.name
- Missile Crawler Transporter Facilities
- NRHP.nrhp_type
- nrhp
- NRHP.location
- Kennedy Space Center, Florida
- NRHP.added
- January 21, 2000
- NRHP.refnum
- 99001643
- NRHP.mpsub
- John F. Kennedy Space Center MPS
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
9 sectionsContents
- Specifications
- Future use
- Crawler-Transporter 2
- Crawler-Transporter 1
- Appearances in popular culture
- Gallery
- See also
- References
- External links
The crawler-transporters, formally known as the Missile Crawler Transporter Facilities, 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 (MLPs) used by NASA, and after each launch return to the pad to take the platform back to the VAB.
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 ( in 2022) each. Upon its construction, the crawler-transporter became the largest self-powered land vehicle in the world. 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.