The crawler-transporters 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 Platform, 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
using components designed and built by Rockwell International at a cost
of US$14 million 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 293, dragline
excavators like Big Muskie and power shovels like The Captain are
significantly larger, they are powered by external sources.
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