Crawler-transporter, Vehicle transport system at Kennedy Space Center, United States
The crawler-transporter is a tracked vehicle in Brevard County that moves rockets and spacecraft across the Kennedy Space Center grounds. Eight hydraulic supports keep the platform level as it rolls at under two kilometers per hour along a wide gravel road.
The vehicle was built in 1965 to carry Saturn V rockets for the Apollo program. It later carried Space Shuttles and now moves the large rockets of newer missions.
The two vehicles are nicknamed "Hans and Franz", after the Austrian bodybuilder characters played by Dana Carvey and Kevin Nealon on Saturday Night Live; the names are informal, not official. Since delivery in 1965 they have covered more than 5,500 km, about the driving distance from Miami to Seattle.
Viewing is usually only possible from a distance aboard a bus during a guided tour. The machine moves rarely, so seeing it roll is more luck than planning.
Each of the eight tracks carries 57 shoes, and every shoe weighs 998 kg (2,200 lb). The vehicle's tanks hold 19,000 liters of diesel, and it burns 296 liters per kilometer. The two machines have covered more than 5,500 km since 1965, about the driving distance from Miami to Seattle.
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