WEBVTT 00:00:11.000 --> 00:00:17.000 A space shuttle liftoff is an awe-inspiring sight -- but the journey doesn't begin on the launch pad. 00:00:17.000 --> 00:00:20.000 It has to get there first. 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:25.000 Rollout means moving a fully assembled space shuttle, and its mobile launcher platform, 00:00:25.000 --> 00:00:29.000 across more than 3 miles of NASA's Kennedy Space Center. 00:00:29.000 --> 00:00:31.000 Bob Myers/Crawler Engineer "You try to think of it kind of like a job, 00:00:31.000 --> 00:00:39.000 but it gives you a real great sense of pride to know that you're carrying the nation's space program on your back." 00:00:39.000 --> 00:00:42.000 It begins inside the Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB, 00:00:42.000 --> 00:00:48.000 where the shuttle is joined to its external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters. 00:00:48.000 --> 00:00:56.000 The entire assembly is built on top of the mobile launcher -- which rests on a set of six, 22-foot-tall pedestals. 00:00:56.000 --> 00:01:02.000 The 12-million-pound load is carefully picked up and carried on the back of a crawler-transporter -- 00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:07.000 a nearly 6-million-pound beast of a machine capable of incredible precision. 00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:12.000 It takes 20 to 30 minutes for the crawler's jacking, equalization and leveling system, 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:17.000 called the JEL, to lift the entire load high enough to clear the supports. 00:01:17.000 --> 00:01:23.000 When the vehicle is ready and the weather is right, the shuttle launch director gives the go-ahead to begin the move. 00:01:23.000 --> 00:01:29.000 Ray Trapp/Crawler Manager "Well, probably other than launch-landing, one of the most critical times for 00:01:29.000 --> 00:01:35.000 the vehicle is between the VAB and the pad. Because there's no weather protection. There's no lightning protection." 00:01:35.000 --> 00:01:41.000 The crawler and its extraordinary cargo start off down the 130-foot-wide crawlerway, 00:01:41.000 --> 00:01:45.000 inching along at the careful speed of almost 1 mile an hour. 00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:50.000 A team of about 30 United Space Alliance crawler drivers, technicians, 00:01:50.000 --> 00:01:57.000 mechanics and supervisors operate the crawler during the move, which takes at least six hours. 00:01:57.000 --> 00:02:03.000 The rollout team stays sharp during the 12- to 14-hour shift by taking turns at different jobs. 00:02:03.000 --> 00:02:07.000 Bob Myers/Crawler Engineer "So, it is a long evening -- typically we do it at night. 00:02:07.000 --> 00:02:14.000 But we do try to change out as far as in the driving positions and the other positions on the crawler, 00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:18.000 so that nobody gets too fatigued or anything like that." 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:22.000 The crawler has identical front and rear driver cabs, a control room and two engine rooms, 00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:28.000 each with a huge, 2,750-horsepower diesel engine for propulsion. 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:34.000 As slow and precise as the rollout is, crawler drivers have to plan ahead. 00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:36.000 Ray Trapp/Crawler Manager "So you have to really be on your game, 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:42.000 and you have to be thinking ahead about where you want to be one, two, three minutes ahead of time." 00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:49.000 Even with so much strength and engineering capability, the crawler has a few, more basic needs to support. 00:02:49.000 --> 00:02:53.000 There are no meal breaks or bathroom stops once the crawler gets going, 00:02:53.000 --> 00:02:56.000 so they bring it all with them -- including the bathroom. 00:02:56.000 --> 00:03:02.000 Ray Trapp/Crawler Manager "Anything we need, we bring with us. We're self-sufficient as far as water, electricity. 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:04.000 We bring our own food, refrigerator and microwave, 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:11.000 and one of the most important things we have with us here on the crawler is our Port-O-Lets." 00:03:11.000 --> 00:03:15.000 There's one more critical challenge ahead once the shuttle arrives at the launch pad. 00:03:15.000 --> 00:03:21.000 The crawler's JEL system must keep the shuttle level as it moves up the ramp to the top of the pad. 00:03:21.000 --> 00:03:26.000 Then, drivers in both cabs position the mobile launcher platform over another set of pedestals, 00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:29.000 with the help of a high-tech laser alignment system. 00:03:29.000 --> 00:03:34.000 Bob Myers/Crawler Engineer "Probably, I'll call it, the culmination of the trip is, of course, 00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:39.000 taking the crawler and the shuttle and the platform up on the pad and docking it. 00:03:39.000 --> 00:03:47.000 That's always kind of what you'd call a tense time, and you want to get it exactly right. You want to set it down exactly right." 00:03:47.000 --> 00:03:52.000 At that point, the shuttle is secured at the launch pad and rollout is complete. 00:03:52.000 --> 00:03:57.000 Now the shuttle is ready to start final preparations for another exciting mission. 00:03:57.000 --> 00:04:08.000 Ray Trapp/Crawler Manager "We're coming down the hill, looking at the vehicle sitting on the pad, 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:13.000 knowing that you and your group played a major part in getting that out there." 00:04:13.000 --> 00:04:19.000