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- January 14, 2006
Crawlers carry spacecraft for 40 years ... and counting
Since Apollo, machines bring rockets to pad
BY TODD HALVORSON
FLORIDA TODAY
40 years old. The two massive crawlers, built at the Marion Power Shovel Co. in Ohio during the Apollo program 40 years ago, transport shuttles to the launch pad. As the machine moves toward the pad, a crewman watches the treads to ensure everything is working properly. Michael R. Brown, FLORIDA TODAY
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40th anniversary of the crawler transporter- Video by Lee Daszuta, FLORIDA TODAY - WM
40th anniversary of the crawler transporter- Video by Lee Daszuta, FLORIDA TODAY - QT
Crawler anniversary
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Crawling along The huge crawler-transporters weigh about 6 million pounds.
CAPE CANAVERAL - They started work at Kennedy Space Center four decades ago, and NASA's cadre of German rocket scientists knew them colloquially as Hans and Franz.
Now they are simply known as Crawler Transporters 1 and 2, but the machines continue hauling massive spaceships to the beachside launch pads at NASA's storied spaceport, and they likely will remain in service for years to come.
"They are impressive pieces of equipment," said Michael Wetmore, a Merritt Island resident who serves as a launch integration manager for NASA.
Robert Rokobauer, a systems engineer with United Space Alliance who lives in Cocoa Beach, said, "They can go another 100 years."
Manufactured by Marion Power Shovel Co. in Ohio, Hans and Franz started operating at KSC in early 1966. Dozens of current and former NASA and contractor managers, engineers and technicians gathered at KSC on Friday to celebrate 40 years of Crawler Transporter service.
As tall as two story buildings and as wide as eight-lane highways, the vehicles have roofs that are the size of baseball diamond infields.
Powered by two 2,750 horsepower diesel engines, the giant tracked vehicles each have tallied 1,800 miles hauling Saturn moon rockets and space shuttles to KSC's twin launch pads from its landmark Vehicle Assembly Building.
Top speed with a full 12-million-pound load: About 0.9 mph.
"It's a national treasure. There's no rockin' and rollin,' " Rokobauer said.
Hans and Franz had their start-up problems. Their steering systems were erratic. Their jack-and-level systems were crude and the internal bearings -- so important to their operation -- broke apart in early test runs.
"These crawlers had some initial problems that seemed almost insurmountable to some people outside the space center," said retired NASA engineer Bill Clemens, a Titusville resident. "These were serious problems."
Walter Cronkite of CBS News reported in 1965 that the crawlers might never work.
The bearing crisis fell on the shoulders of the late Philip Koehring Sr., a Marion Power Shovel project manager tapped to lead a redesign. A new hydraulically lubricated sleeve bearing made of a bronze alloy was developed, solving the problem.
The Crawler Transporter concept was vindicated, and the Apollo moon-landing project was back on track.
"There were a lot of naysayers 40 years ago, but the proof is right here," said Philip Koehring Jr., son of the redesign leader. "They are still working."
Koehring, 55, traveled to KSC from California to participate in the ceremony. His two brothers, Doug, 52, and John, 49, flew to KSC from Pennsylvania and Arizona, respectively.
Richard Drollinger, Jr., 54, whose father, the late Richard Drollinger, Sr., was a lead project engineer with Marion Power Shovel Co., made the trip from Wauwatosa, Wis.
"This is really the fulfillment of a life's dream for me. I've always wanted to be up close and personal to the crawler," Drollinger said, recalling memories of blueprints and other design papers spread on the dining room table at the family's home in Marion.
"It's just the culmination of a great, great run for the crawlers," he said. "It's just tremendous. My dad, unfortunately, passed away a few years ago, but I feel like he's here right now."
Contact Halvorson at 639-0576 or thalvorson@flatoday.net
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1926 - 2002 (75 years)
