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Video: The Incredible Journey of a Space Shuttle to the Launch Pad
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With the rollout of Space Shuttle Atlantis set for Thursday morning (if Tropical Storm Hanna cooperates), here's a preview look at the rollout of a space shuttle atop the behemoth crawler-transporter.
The specialized space vehicle delivery system has been in use since Apollo days. Until the German Bagger 288 excavator was built, NASA's two crawler-transporters were the largest tracked vehicles in the world.
Each vehicle consists of four double-tracked crawlers, each 3 meters (10 ft) high and 12 meters (41 ft) long. Each of the 8 tracks on a vehicle contains 57 shoes per track and each tread shoe weighs about .9 metric tons (one ton).
The crawler-transporter is powered by 16 traction motors powered by four 1,000 kw generators, driven by two 2,750hp diesel engines. Two 750 kw generators, drived by two 1,065 hp diesel engines are used for jacking, steering, lighting, and ventilating. Two 150 kw generators are also used for Mobile Launcher Platform (MLP) power.
The crawlers first move the MLP into the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) and then to the Launch Pad with an assembled space vehicle. The entire "stack" includes the space shuttle, the external tank, and the two solid rocket boosters.
Maximum speed is 1.6km (one mile) per hour loaded, about 3.2 km (2 miles) per hour unloaded. It takes about five hours to move the shuttle stack from the VAB to its launch pad--for Atlantis, Launch Pad 39A. The crawler burns 568 liters (150 gallons) of diesel oil per mile.
The top of the orbiter is kept vertical within plus or minus 10 minutes of arc, about the diameter of a basketball during the journey. Leveling systems within the crawler keeps the platform level while negotiating the 5% ramp leading up to the pad surface.
The height of the crawler is 6 meters (20ft) to 8 meters (26 feet) adjustable. The top deck is flat and square, about the size of a baseball infield, 27 meters (90 feet) on a side. Two operator control cabs, one at each end of the chassis, are used to control all crawler systems.
If you think Star Wars when you watch this video, you're not far wrong. The crawler-transporters are machines that are every bit as incredible as anything that ever came off a Hollywood movie screen.
In fact, they're more incredible--because they're real. And they've worked reliably for decades.
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