Reaching new heights for the Artemis campaign
in collaboration with NASA
CAPE
CANAVERAL, Fla., May 10, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- Bechtel today announced the completion of the
jacking and setting process for Mobile Launcher 2 at Kennedy Space Center. This achievement is a
critical step in the process to design, build, and commission
NASA's new mobile launcher. The milestone was accomplished through
collaboration with NASA's crawler-transporter team – a one of a
kind vehicle used to transport hardware critical to the Artemis
campaign around Kennedy.
"This is an incredible achievement,"
said Mike Costas, Bechtel's
General Manager of Defense and Space. "Lifting a
2.6-million-pound launcher base more than 20 feet into the air,
moving it nearly the length of a football field, and then setting
it down safely at a height of 25 feet, requires both great skill
and careful planning. I am proud of the dedication, innovation, and
collaboration of our combined Bechtel-NASA team in accomplishing
that."
Establishing safety as a top priority, Bechtel and NASA's
Exploration Ground Systems teams worked to address and reduce
potential risks to the craft professional team by planning for the
base's primary steel to be assembled at a lower height. The
collaboration resulted in a creative and efficient method for later
raising the base's primary steel assembly to its full height using
NASA's crawler. With the base at operating height, the work now
transitions to installing critical electrical equipment and piping
in preparation for erecting the mobile launcher tower, which is
scheduled to begin in late 2024.
To perform Jack and Set, the project team assembled and aligned
the 43 primary steel assemblies comprising the mobile launcher
base. Four Self-propelled Motor Transporters then raised the base
to allow for the temporary mount mechanisms to be removed and eight
jacks to be set. The jacks raised the base 18 feet allowing the
crawler-transporter crew to drive underneath the mobile launcher
base, carry it roughly 200 feet, and then lower the base pins into
the permanent mount mechanisms. The Jack and Set process took one
week of careful coordination to execute.
"The safety of our craft professional team
has been the primary focus of Bechtel and NASA throughout the
assembly of the base," said Paul Podolak, Mobile Launcher 2 Project
Manager. "I am grateful for the dedicated work of our team
to design the base, procure critical materials, and assemble it
safely. We are fully committed to delivering this key component for
the Artemis campaign."
Mobile Launcher 2 will support the Artemis IV mission and
beyond, once the larger and more intense Space Launch System (SLS)
Block 1B rocket is used to begin
delivering large cargo to the Moon, including to the lunar Gateway,
along with crew. Reaching a height of 390 feet, Mobile Launcher 2
will be taller and wider than mobile launcher 1. This launch
platform will implement a new umbilical arm during rocket transport
and launch. This second iteration will continue to apply lessons
learned from the Artemis I launch. The second mobile launcher will
be designed, built, and commissioned by Bechtel.
Background
- The assembly of the base primary steel included 43 complex
lifts conducted between August 2023
and March 2024.
- Suppliers from four states provided specially fabricated steel
used in the base assembly. Bechtel recently won the 2024 Dwight D.
Eisenhower Award for Excellence in Construction from the U.S. Small
Business Administration (SBA), recognizing our commitment to
partnering with local businesses in the communities we live and
work in.
- The Bechtel-led team has awarded more than $100 million in procurements in the local area,
and over $425 million around
the United States through
partnerships in 33 states and growing.
- The Jacking System used to lift the base included four
Self-propelled Motor Transporters, with 56 axles total, and eight
jacks placed around the outside of the base steel.
- The crawler was designed by NASA teams during the Apollo
missions and is more than 50 years old.
About Bechtel
Bechtel is a trusted engineering, construction and project
management partner to industry and government. Differentiated by
the quality of our people and our relentless drive to deliver the
most successful outcomes, we align our capabilities to our
customers' objectives to create a lasting positive
impact. Since 1898, we have helped customers complete more
than 25,000 projects in 160 countries on all seven continents that
have created jobs, grown economies, improved the resiliency of
the world's infrastructure, increased access to energy, resources,
and vital services, and made the world a safer, cleaner
place.
Bechtel serves the Energy; Infrastructure; Manufacturing &
Technology; Mining & Metals; and Nuclear, Security &
Environmental markets. Our services span from initial planning and
investment, through start-up and
operations. www.bechtel.com
Contact: Jordan Vinson |
jvinson@bechtel.us | P: +1.385.380.6223
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SOURCE Bechtel