NASA’s giant rocket transporter breaks world record

He used to transport Saturn V rockets to the launch pad, now it’s the gigantic SLS. The Crawler Transporter 2a 40 by 35 by 8 meter device on sprockets, now officially has the Guinness World Record for heaviest self-propelled vehicle receive. It weighs (without the rocket) 3,106 tons, which is as much as 15 Statues of Liberty or 1000 pick-up trucks like them NASA reports.

“engineering marvel”

“Anyone with an interest in machines will appreciate the engineering marvelthat the Crawler Transporter represents,” said Exploration Ground Systems program manager Shawn Quinn at a ceremony in the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where the vehicle is used. “The crawler caught the world’s attention during the Artemis I mission, when it launched the rocket and spacecraft that our astronauts are sending to the moon Startrampe brought.”

Hans and Franz

The Crawler Transporter 2 is one of two identical machinesdie Constructed in 1965 became. At NASA, the two were nicknamed “Hans” and “Franz” after two bodybuilder characters in a sketch for the TV show “Saturday Night Live”. “Franz” became later rebuilt and for the transport of Space Launch System (SLS) equipped. As a result, the transporter gained 320 tons in weight, which now gives it the record title.

It’s even harder

Guinness World Records can be purchased for money Record title for the most absurd performances buy, like the ZDF program “Magazine Royale” denounced only a few days ago. The award for the Crawler Transporter 2 only seems halfway plausible. Laut Collect Space There are none heavier vehicles in the world that do not have to be supplied with mains power or other supplied forms of energy while driving. But there are heavier ones, such as that Bagger 288, which is used in Germany in coal mining. He weighs 12,840 tons and thus around 4 times as much as the crawler Transporter 2. However, the latter has 16 electric motors and two diesel generators on board.