NASA’s giant crawler transporter gets an overhaul
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Shuttle Discovery on its final roll out (Image: NASA)
Last Shuttle roll out of the crawler transporter (Image: NASA)
NASA officials and Marion Power Shovel executives at the first test of the crawler transporter (Image: NASA)
The Saturn V on the crawler transporter (Image: NASA)
Space Shuttle Atlantis on the Mobile Launcher Platform (Image: NASA)
Details of the crawler transporter (Image: NASA)
NASA's massive crawler - at the time it entered service, it was the largest land vehicle on Earth (Image: NASA)
Close up of crawler treads (Image: Rtphokie)
Shuttle Discovery on the transporter (Image: NASA)
Old diesel electric engines being lifted out of the crawler transporter (Image: NASA/Kim Shiflett)
New 1,500 kilowatt power diesel engines, built by Cummins Engines in Minnesota (Image: NASA/Kim Shiflett)
Article Summary
NASA’s giant crawler transporter that carried the Apollo missions and the Space Shuttles to the launch pad is getting an upgrade. In service since the mid-1960s, the 2,495 tonne (2,750 ton) vehicle is receiving new engines and other improvements that will allow it to carry the future Space Launch System (SLS) rockets due to enter service in 2017.
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