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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, crawler-transporter No. 2 has been undergoing modifications in high bay 2 of the Vehicle Assembly Building. It has been undergoing a test drive checking out modifications to ensure its ability to carry launch vehicles to the launch pad. In the background is the mobile launcher being prepared to support the space agency's Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket and Orion spacecraft. 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