Crawler-transporter

Crawler-transporter
Crawler-transporter
Overview
Manufacturer	Marion Power Shovel Company
Also called	Missile Crawler Transporter Facilities
Model years	1965
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.;
Transmission	16 × traction motors, 4 per corner
Dimensions
Length	40 m (131 ft)
Width	35 m (114 ft)
Height	Adjustable, 6 to 8 m (20 to 26 ft)
Curb weight	2,721 t (6,000,000 lb)
	Missile Crawler Transporter Facilities
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	Kennedy Space Center, Florida
MPS	John F. Kennedy Space Center MPS
NRHP reference No.	99001643
Added to NRHP	January 21, 2000

The crawler-transporters, formally known as the Missile Crawler Transporter Facilities,^[2] are a pair of tracked vehicles used to transport spacecraft 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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