John Giles, Crawler Element Operations Manager for Exploration Ground Systems, was also on-site and spoke about what was next for CT-2.
Giles said the crawler is down for the next few months during which time teams will perform maintenance. This will include corrosion control and the replacement of some of the steering cylinders and shoes on the vehicle’s tracks as it is readied for the next move sometime in June of 2023.
Additionally, emergency egress and escape provisions will be added to the mobile launcher in preparation to support human spaceflight for the Artemis 2 mission. CT-2 will be used to roll the mobile launcher to and from the pad in order to test the newly-integrated life-saving system.
Sam Dove, who has spent the last 25 years as a crawler engineer and driver of the world’s heaviest self-propelled vehicle, also attended the momentous occasion. He said teams will be “fixing plates” that hold up the crawler, repainting most everything as well as lubricating and replacing any worn parts from all the recent moves for Artemis 1. This will even include a general tune-up ahead of the next roll.
