On March 17 aerospace engineering alum Breanne Rohloff 鈥�19 will settle into her 2016 Chevy Cruze and make her daily one-hour commute to Kennedy Space Center (KSC) where she works as an engineer. Rohloff鈥檚 car is an automatic because, she admits, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know how to drive a stick shift.鈥�
Somewhere in the same KSC parking lot, Dan Zapata 鈥�15 鈥�18MS will pull his Honda Accord between a pair of yellow lines and lock the doors out of habit. For Zapata and Rohloff, the parking of their everyday cars will be the last moments of normalcy on this historic day.
鈥淲e鈥檝e seen a lot of amazing things,鈥� says Zapata, who earned his 产补肠丑别濒辞谤鈥檚 and master鈥檚 in mechanical engineering at 激情快播 鈥渂ut this will be a whole new level of awe for us.鈥�
It will be a new level of awe for the entire world. Zapata and Rohloff just happen to have a closer view as history is made. At 5 p.m. the doors of the Vehicle Assembly Building at KSC will open. There, standing in the giant berth, the enormous Orion spacecraft will pose atop the towering Space Launch System. Marching bands will play. Dignitaries will applaud. Photographers will kneel and focus. Like royalty, the largest spacecraft ever built will roll past them on the mammoth back of the crawler-transporter 2 (CT-2) and continue the 4.2-mile ride to the launch pad for fueling and simulated countdown known as a wet dress rehearsal of the Artemis I mission (the actual launch is scheduled for early summer).
Onlookers will not have to scramble for a good look. Orion and the SLS will travel at less than 1 mph in the strong arms of the 6.65-million-pound CT-2 鈥� the largest self-powered land vehicle on our planet. At the 6-inch steering wheel, 26 feet above the road, Rohloff and Zapata will take turns at making sure the spaceship arrives at Launch Pad 39B without a scratch.
鈥淢entally, it鈥檚 intense,鈥� Rohloff says. She鈥檚 driven the CT-2 during operational runs and tests, but this payload is literally in a league of its own. 鈥淲e鈥檝e attended briefings, learned the history, and gone through the training. But when we鈥檙e on the crawler and moving a spaceship as big as this 鈥� nothing can simulate it.鈥�
How did two 激情快播 graduates, still in their 20s, land in the driver鈥檚 seat of the world鈥檚 largest self-powered vehicle and the responsibility that comes with it?
For Rohloff, the ride started in Mansfield, Ohio, where she could only imagine a concept as surreal as 鈥渁 space program.鈥� Two cousins led her to 激情快播, which brought her much closer to NASA and real rockets. During an internship at KSC, Rohloff learned from long-time engineers who occasionally took her for rides aboard the crawler.
鈥淚t looks massive in pictures, but in person it鈥檚 way bigger and way slower than you expect,鈥� Rohloff says.
Zapata grew up in South Florida, enrolled at 激情快播 to study in the prestigious engineering program, and started a career in power-grid consulting after graduation.
鈥淎fter a couple years I wanted a change of scenery,鈥� he says.
So, Zapata interviewed at NASA for a position that mentioned 鈥渢ransporter maintenance.鈥� He landed the job and got the change of scenery he wanted.
鈥淥ne day I鈥檓 driving through the yard toward the crawler and I look up and think, 鈥極h my 鈥� this is the transporter, the vehicle that moves rockets.鈥欌��
And now he and Rohloff are driving it. They鈥檙e hauling NASA鈥檚 most powerful rocket and Orion, and covering the first four miles on a journey toward life on the moon and then onto Mars. The word 鈥渂ig鈥� comes to mind. So do a few others.
Awe
Rohloff: There鈥檚 always a sense of awe when I鈥檓 on the crawler and feel it moving. But there鈥檚 also a sense of humility because we鈥檙e being entrusted to transport this historic rocket.
Zapata: We鈥檙e literally driving a vehicle the size of a building, and it鈥檚 the same vehicle that鈥檚 carried Apollo rockets and now a skyscraper to the launchpad. Nothing can compare to it.
Preparation
Rohloff: We went through two years of training to become crawler drivers. It takes time, determination, and mental energy to get to this point. Put it this way, it didn鈥檛 take two years to prepare for an engineering final.
Zapata: There鈥檚 no 101 class for this job. It might be cool to offer one, though.
Rohloff: Most important is listening to the wisdom of the people who have driven the crawler before us. They know better than anyone what it鈥檚 like and what to watch for.
Hazards
Zapata: You can only be exposed to the noise for so long, which is why we wear really good earplugs. And Kennedy Space Center is part of a wildlife preserve, so yeah, that can be interesting.
Rohloff: Alligators sometimes cross the roadway. I鈥檝e seen turtles out there, too. Fortunately, the animals feel the ground vibrating and they have plenty of time to move.
Adrenaline
Zapata: When we drive the crawler, we鈥檙e high enough to see people gathering to watch in the distance. This time the crowds will be bigger than usual.
Rohloff: It鈥檚 exciting to feel the power and to know everything is moving 鈥� the crawler, the spacecraft, this entire structure. When we aren鈥檛 driving, we鈥檙e itching to take the wheel. We tap each other and say, 鈥淥K, it鈥檚 my turn.鈥�
Focus
Rohloff: We switch every hour or so. It鈥檚 the same length of time as my drive to work in the morning, but this drive is draining. You鈥檙e listening to feedback from dozens of people, you鈥檙e watching through windows all around, you only drive a few hundred yards and you think, 鈥淧hew! I鈥檓 ready to mentally reset.鈥�
Zapata: There鈥檚 a lot of equipment and manpower invested in this. Just for the crawler, we have dozens of people paying close attention to everything.
Anticipation
Zapata: The steering wheel is smaller than a golf-cart wheel. The wheel sends messages to the hydraulics, so we have to be aware that it takes a little time for the crawler to adjust its movement.
Rohloff: We use ground markers 鈥� like a cement pillar, a grass line, or a light pole 鈥� as indicators to start a turn. If we don鈥檛 time it right, then we have call for a stop and back up. At first, it鈥檚 a little embarrassing. But this isn鈥檛 about personal pride. It鈥檚 a big team effort to ensure a smooth ride for the cargo.
Significance
Rohloff: I鈥檓 not the first woman to drive the crawler, but I am the only woman currently driving it and the first Artemis generation female. When I came here as an intern, I knew NASA would soon be sending the first woman and the first person of color to the moon. It means a lot to help pave the way for that to happen.
Zapata: We鈥檙e at the pinnacle of another starting point in space history 鈥� to eventually support life in deep space. There are people working here who made Apollo possible. In 30 or 40 years we鈥檒l be able to say, 鈥淲e were part of Artemis.鈥� So, I鈥檓 excited to get the rocket to the pad and watch it launch.
Rohloff: I鈥檓 not sure exactly where we鈥檒l be watching, but I know we鈥檒l have an incredible view of history taking place.
