NASA’s Crawler-transporter 2 moves toward the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. The crawler will transport NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket with the Orion spacecraft to Launch Complex 39B ahead of the Artemis II launch which will journey Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialist Christina Koch from NASA, and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen from the CSA (Canadian Space Agency), around the Moon and back to Earth no later than April 2026.
The crawler-transporters have carried the load of taking rockets and spacecraft to the launch pad for more than 50 years at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Each the size of a baseball infield and powered by locomotive and large electrical power generator engines, the crawler-transporters stand ready to keep up the work for the next generation of launch vehicles to lift astronauts into space; Crawler-transporter 2 in particular is integral to the Artemis missions.
Image credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky
2026年1月9日星期五，NASA的履带运输车2号正驶向佛罗里达州肯尼迪航天中心的总装大楼。该履带运输车将把NASA的太空发射系统火箭及其搭载的猎户座飞船运送至39B发射复合体，为阿尔忒弥斯2号任务发射做准备。该任务将由NASA指令长里德·怀斯曼（Reid Wiseman）、飞行员维克托·格洛弗（Victor Glover）、任务专家克里斯蒂娜·科赫（Christina Koch）以及加拿大航天局任务专家杰里米·汉森（Jeremy Hansen）执行，飞行器将绕月飞行并返回地球，最迟不晚于2026年4月。
50多年来，履带运输车一直承担着将火箭和航天器送往发射台的重任，是肯尼迪航天中心不可或缺的地面装备。每辆履带运输车的体量相当于一个棒球内场，由机车系统和大型发电机驱动，随时准备支持新一代运载火箭，将宇航员送入太空。其中，履带运输车2号在阿尔忒弥斯系列任务中尤为关键。
图片来源: NASA/BenSmegelsky
