Crawlerway
{{Infobox NRHP
| name = Crawlerway
| image = VAB Aerial - GPN-2000-000869 (cropped).jpg
| image_size = 275px
| caption = Aerial view of Launch Complex 39. The Crawlerway is the pathway between the Vehicle Assembly Building and Pads 39A and 39B.
| location = Brevard County, Florida {{USA}}
| nearest_city = Merritt Island
| coordinates = {{coord|28|36|13|N|80|37|39|W|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin = Florida#USA
| area =
| architect =
| architecture =
| built = 1964
| added = January 21, 2000
| refnum = 99001641{{NRISref|version=2010a}}
| visitation_num =
| visitation_year =
| mpsub = John F. Kennedy Space Center MPS
}}{{Kennedy Space Center map|highlight=18}}The Crawlerway is a {{convert|130|ft|m|adj=mid|-wide}}{{cite web |url=http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/nasafact/count3teaf.htm |title=Mobile Launcher Platform |series=Countdown! NASA Launch Vehicles and Facilities |work=NASA Facts |publisher=NASA |date=October 1991 |id=PMS 018-B |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080109045657/http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/nasafact/count3teaf.htm#crawlway |archive-date=January 9, 2008}} double pathway at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It runs between the Vehicle Assembly Building and the two launch pads at Launch Complex 39. It has a length of {{convert|5535|and|6828|m|mi km|1|sp=us|order=out}} to Pad 39A and Pad 39B, respectively. A {{convert|7|ft|m|0|adj=on|spell=in}} bed of stones lies beneath a layer of asphalt and a surface made of Alabama river rocks.
The Crawlerway was originally designed to support the weight of the Saturn V rocket and its payload, plus the Launch Umbilical Tower and mobile launcher platform, atop a crawler-transporter during the Apollo program. It was also used from 1981 to 2011 to transport the lighter Space Shuttles to their launch pads.
Construction of the Crawlerway connected Merritt Island with the mainland, forming a peninsula. The main vehicle access road to and from the launch pads, the Saturn Causeway, runs alongside the Crawlerway.
Construction
The Crawlerway is composed of two {{convert|40|ft|m|adj=mid|-wide}} lanes, separated by a {{convert|50|ft|m|adj=on}} median. The top layer is Alabama river rock, {{convert|4|in|cm}} thick on the straight sections and {{convert|8|in|cm}} thick on curves. Alabama river rock was chosen for many properties, including hardness, roundness, sphericity and LA abrasion test score.{{cite web |last1=Vaughan |first1=Robert |title=NASA Crawlerway Foundation and Compatibility Study |url=https://www.jonesedmunds.com/portfolio-works/nasa-crawlerway-foundation-compatibility-study/ |website=Jones Edmunds |access-date=11 February 2021 |archive-date=9 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220809074247/https://jonesedmunds.com/portfolio-works/nasa-crawlerway-foundation-compatibility-study/ |url-status=dead }} Beneath that is {{convert|4|ft|m}} of graded, crushed stone, resting on two layers of fill. By 2013, a project to repair and upgrade the Crawlerway was undertaken, the first time since it was constructed that the foundation had been repaired. Additional rock was added to the surface in June 2014.{{cite web |url=https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/ground/crawlerway_upgrades.html |title=Upgrades Will Prepare Crawlerway for Space Launch System |publisher=NASA |first=Linda |last=Herridge |date=February 22, 2013 |accessdate=December 13, 2013 |archive-date=January 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230122000448/https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/ground/crawlerway_upgrades.html |url-status=dead }}
Gallery
File:NASA Crawlerway under construction in December 1963 (KSC-64C-7).jpg|Crawlerway under construction in December 1963
File:Apollo 14 rollout to Pad A (2).jpg|Apollo 14 rolls to Pad 39A in November 1970
File:S79-35236.jpg|The prototype Space Shuttle Enterprise begins its journey down the Crawlerway from Pad 39A to the VAB in July 1979 following a series of fit-checks
File:STS-98 Atlantis rolls to the VAB (KSC-01PP-0135).jpg|The Space Shuttle Atlantis is moved back to the VAB in January 2001 after the launch of STS-98 was scrubbed
File:Crawlerway up close.jpg|Close up of Crawlerway in April 2005; originally smooth, the rocks have been crushed after many passages by the crawler-transporters
References
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External links
{{Commons category-inline|Crawlerway}}
{{Kennedy Space Center}}
{{Spaceflight landmarks}}
Category:Space Shuttle program
Category:Buildings and structures in Merritt Island, Florida
Category:National Register of Historic Places in Brevard County, Florida