The NASA station is showing the creepy crawler tractor pushing the shuttle

[ChairmanAgnostic]

to its launch site.

to see something THAT BIG move at 3 mph is still bloody impressive.
if it doesn't fall off, they will launch tonight.

[gatorboy]

1. Anyone remember how much fuel that behemoth wastes an inch at a time?

[bryant69]

2. Wastes?

Or uses?

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[gatorboy]

6. How about wastes when it uses.

[A HERETIC I AM]

8. are you of the opinion the entire space program is a waste?

Just curious.

[gatorboy]

11. Until the current head of NASA are out that Bush has staffed?

Yes.

[bryant69]

9. That's only assuming that space exploration is a waste

But I guess my point is that I don't think it is.

Bryant

[geomon666]

3. The crawler burns 150 US gallons of diesel oil per mile. n/t

[ChairmanAgnostic]

5. assuming it travels 2.5 miles,

that means it goes 158,400 inches.

so, it burns 0.028 gallons per foot.

[A HERETIC I AM]

7. It would be interesting to do a ton-per-mile calculation

and figure in it's total capacity, especially since the Shuttle isn't anywhere near its capacity. For the amount of weight it can carry i would venture to say it is as efficient as a tractor trailer.

[Ikonoklast]

10. Here are some numbers for you then

My T/T fully loaded at 80K lbs gets an average of 5.7 mpg of diesel fuel.

I guess you would need the fully laden weight of both the transporter and shuttle to figure out just how efficient it is.

BTW, those are diesel/electric motors, just like a locomotive.
The diesels are used as generators for the electric drive motors that provide motive power. They most likely are run at a set RPM range to generate electricity, which can actually be very efficient.

[A HERETIC I AM]

12. Yup. You would need to know it's GVWR, for lack of a better term.

and then use that figure to start the calc. I found that it weighs around 6 million pounds and has carried up to 12 million pounds for a total of 18 million, but i couldnt find a reference to "capacity"

I am aware the crawlers are Diesel Electric and yes, the diesels would run at a constant speed.

I drove over the road for 20 years. Who do you work for?

[jollyreaper2112]

4. link?

link?