The NASA Artemis II mission is targeted for launch as early as Feb.
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The crawler-transporter is able to raise and lower its sides and corners independently using its hydraulic system. It uses its hydraulic suspension to keep the mobile platform and rocket level, as it climbs up the 2.9 degree slope to the the launch pad.
https://www3.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/combined_crawler-transporters_fact_sheet_final.pdf
More pics at https://images.nasa.gov/search?q=crawler&page=1&media=image,video,audio&yearStart=1920&yearEnd=2026
6/nThe NASA crawlers were built by the Marion Power Shovel Co., a manufacturer of steam shovels, power shovels and excavators. Their power shovels played a major role in mining, the construction of the Panama Canal and excavation of Hoover Dam and the Holland Tunnel.
The idea for a crawler-launcher platform started when a NASA engineer visited his father’s farm near Paradise, KY, and observed a giant strip mining shovel in operation.
https://pophistorydig.com/topics/tag/gem-of-egypt-shovel/
https://www.marionmade.org/2019/07/marion-power-shovel-nasa-crawler-transporter/
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A pair of crawler-transporters (nicknamed “Hans” and “Franz”) were built in 1965 to move the massive Saturn V rocket from Kennedy’s VAB to Launch Complex 39. After the Moon landing and Skylab programs ended, the crawlers were used to transport the space shuttles.
CT-2 was upgraded for the Artemis program around 2012.
CT-1 was originally planned for commercial launch vehicles but its future remains uncertain.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crawler-transporter
https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/exploration-ground-systems/the-crawlers/
4/n@AkaSci Those things have so much of a thunderbirds smell!
(came out the same year) -
The NASA crawlers were built by the Marion Power Shovel Co., a manufacturer of steam shovels, power shovels and excavators. Their power shovels played a major role in mining, the construction of the Panama Canal and excavation of Hoover Dam and the Holland Tunnel.
The idea for a crawler-launcher platform started when a NASA engineer visited his father’s farm near Paradise, KY, and observed a giant strip mining shovel in operation.
https://pophistorydig.com/topics/tag/gem-of-egypt-shovel/
https://www.marionmade.org/2019/07/marion-power-shovel-nasa-crawler-transporter/
7/nHere are a few videos of the NASA crawler-transporter in action in 2022 during the Artemis I mission.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhgPs0n3phc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBpHjQjbt2Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk226QwT_1k
8/n -
Here are a few videos of the NASA crawler-transporter in action in 2022 during the Artemis I mission.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhgPs0n3phc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBpHjQjbt2Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk226QwT_1k
8/nSome amazing pics of NASA’s massive Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft, secured to the mobile launcher, inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at KSC, taken on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026.
All work platforms have been retracted in preparation for rollout to Launch Complex 39B at KSC in FL Saturday morning.
More pics at https://images.nasa.gov/search?q=artemis%20ii%20sls&page=1&media=image,video,audio&yearStart=2026&yearEnd=2026
9/n -
Some amazing pics of NASA’s massive Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft, secured to the mobile launcher, inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at KSC, taken on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026.
All work platforms have been retracted in preparation for rollout to Launch Complex 39B at KSC in FL Saturday morning.
More pics at https://images.nasa.gov/search?q=artemis%20ii%20sls&page=1&media=image,video,audio&yearStart=2026&yearEnd=2026
9/n@AkaSci How do they move the rocket from the CT to the pad?
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@AkaSci How do they move the rocket from the CT to the pad?
From https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/combined_crawler-transporters_fact_sheet_final.pdf -
"Once the CT-2 makes its eight-hour trek to the pad with engineers and technicians aboard, ML1 and SLS will be lowered onto pad mount mechanisms. After platforms are lowered and power transfers are complete, the CT-2 will roll back down the pad slope and park just outside the pad perimeter gate. CT-2 will wait there until a few days prior to launch in case a rollback is required."
Looking for a video ...
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From https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/combined_crawler-transporters_fact_sheet_final.pdf -
"Once the CT-2 makes its eight-hour trek to the pad with engineers and technicians aboard, ML1 and SLS will be lowered onto pad mount mechanisms. After platforms are lowered and power transfers are complete, the CT-2 will roll back down the pad slope and park just outside the pad perimeter gate. CT-2 will wait there until a few days prior to launch in case a rollback is required."
Looking for a video ...
@AkaSci @msbellows I assume the crawler has a leveling mechanism for going up the pad slope while loaded?
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@AkaSci How do they move the rocket from the CT to the pad?
@msbellows @AkaSci apparently no truth to the rumor they place a large hot air balloon over Congress, fill it with all the hot air and use that 🤪
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@AkaSci @msbellows I assume the crawler has a leveling mechanism for going up the pad slope while loaded?
@pixelpusher220 @msbellows
Independent hydraulic suspensions along sides and corners, raised and lowered to keep the platform level at the pad slope. -
@AkaSci How do they move the rocket from the CT to the pad?
Here is a pic of the crawler with the Artemis I SLS rocket and mobile launcher and 2 pics after dropoff at the launch pad.
I suppose the crawler goes underneath the launch pad and the entire assembly is positioned on its sides at the launch pad above a hollow area, lowered on the supporting structures, detached from the crawler which then moves out.
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Some amazing pics of NASA’s massive Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft, secured to the mobile launcher, inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at KSC, taken on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026.
All work platforms have been retracted in preparation for rollout to Launch Complex 39B at KSC in FL Saturday morning.
More pics at https://images.nasa.gov/search?q=artemis%20ii%20sls&page=1&media=image,video,audio&yearStart=2026&yearEnd=2026
9/nAssuming the weather cooperates and all goes well, the Artemis II Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion spacecraft atop the mobile launcher will look like this at Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in FL.
The pics below are of Artemis I in 2022 during wet rehearsals.
https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/exploration-ground-systems/launch-pad-39b/
10/n -
Knock knock!
It is NASA’s crawler-transporter 2 arriving at the Vehicle Assembly Building at KSC for a pick-up!
Tomorrow morning Jan. 17, at ~7 a.m. EST. it will transport NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft + Mobile Launcher to Launch Pad 39B in preparation for the Artemis II crewed mission around the Moon on ~6 Feb.
At about one mph, the four-mile journey will take 10-12 hours.
Livestream starts at 7 a.m. at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrVnsO_rdew
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/missions/2026/01/16/artemis-ii-moon-rocket-ready-for-big-move/
3/n@AkaSci Must be fun to parallel park in a (very slow) hurry.
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Assuming the weather cooperates and all goes well, the Artemis II Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion spacecraft atop the mobile launcher will look like this at Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in FL.
The pics below are of Artemis I in 2022 during wet rehearsals.
https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/exploration-ground-systems/launch-pad-39b/
10/nNASA Artemis II is on the move this morning!
Not to the moon yet, but crawling at less than 1 mph to the launch pad for tests and wet rehearsals in the coming days.
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NASA Artemis II is on the move this morning!
Not to the moon yet, but crawling at less than 1 mph to the launch pad for tests and wet rehearsals in the coming days.
Good Morning, Artemis II.
12/n -
Good Morning, Artemis II.
12/nFaster than a speeding snail, Artemis II is making its way to the launch pad from the Vehicle Assembly Building.
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Crawler-transporter 2 (CT-2) has cranked up its speed. You can see the entire assembly (CT-2, mobile launcher and the NASA SLS rocket) now moving "rapidly" to the right.
14/n
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Crawler-transporter 2 (CT-2) has cranked up its speed. You can see the entire assembly (CT-2, mobile launcher and the NASA SLS rocket) now moving "rapidly" to the right.
14/n
Quite a sight as the massive Artemis II assembly - the Crawler-transporter 2 (CT-2), mobile launcher, the NASA SLS rocket and the Orion spacecraft - marches from the VAB to launch pad 39B at the KSC.
Large number of staff members and spectators watching the historical moment.
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Good Morning, Artemis II.
12/n -
Good Morning, Artemis II.
12/n@AkaSci is this a scene from the new star wars? Will the rebels appear and destroy the base?
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@AkaSci “Faster than a speeding snail”
Love it! I’ve always wanted to watch the crawler in action, but it wouldn’t be an action-packed watch I guess.
