KSC-2012-6174

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A truck sprays water on the gravel crawler way at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida as crawler-transporter No. 2 moves out of high bay 2 of the Vehicle Assembly Building. With crawler-transporter modifications complete, the test drive is designed to check out modifications to ensure its ability to carry launch vehicles such as the space agency's Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket to the launch pad. NASA's Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is leading the 20-year life-extension project for the crawler. A pair of behemoth machines called crawler-transporters has carried the load of taking rockets and spacecraft to the launch pad for more than 40 years at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Each the size of a baseball infield and powered by locomotive and large electrical power generator engines, the crawler-transporters will stand ready to keep up the work for the next generation of launch vehicles projects to lift astronauts into space. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/ground/index.html Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann