Comments by "H. de Jong" (@h.dejong2531) on "How NASA Drives The $144 Million Vehicle That Transports Rocket Ships | What It Takes" video.

  1. The launch pad sits on a hill, because that part of the coastline is a swamp and building things like the flame trenches into the ground is difficult. The hill means you can't use rails (incline is too steep). To make a rail system possible, they'd have to build the VAB at the same elevation as the launch pad, and build a dike between the VAB and pad. That may have been more expensive than building the crawler. Rails also need more groundwork to spread the load.
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  2. the 1960s. It was built for the Apollo program.
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  3. Diesel. 2 generators on board, these power the electric motors on each set of tracks.
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  4. total travel time includes lifting the platform off its supports, leveling the platform as the crawler goes uphill, maneuvering into place at the launch pad, and setting down the platform at the launch pad.
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  5. Because there's an object 100 meters high sitting on top of it.
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  6. That's much lighter though.
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  7.  @cplcabs  Yes, that's right. Baikonur isn't built on a swamp, so there's no problem digging a large pit under ground level, which means your launch pad doesn't have to be on a hill.
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  8. provably wrong.
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