The
crawler-transporter moves slowly at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, leaving space shuttle Discovery standing
ready on the launch pad for its mission.
KSC has two
such crawler-transporters, each consisting of four double-tracked crawlers and
weighing 6 million pounds (2,721 metric tons). This vehicle moved
Discovery a distance of 3.4 miles from the Vehicle Assembly Building to
Launch Pad 39A, with a possible maximum speed of 1 mile per hour (1.6 km/h) loaded
and driven by two 2,750 horsepower diesel engines.
Discovery will
launch on its STS-124 mission later this month, carrying the Japan Aerospace
Exploration Agency's Japanese Experiment Module. The tour bus-sized Kibo module
will be installed over the course of the 13-day construction mission to the
International Space Station.
— NASA and SPACE.com Staff
Credit: NASA/Troy Cryder
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