[XBob]

52 - "That transporter crawler is the most awesome piece of machinery that mankind has ever designed. I'm sorry to hear that they're out of business... If I remember right we have 3 crawlers???"

They certainly are awesome - and there are only two of them. Just imagine, a rolling behemoth 550 feet tall, climbing the hill of the pad. Neither one is in very good shape now, as the spare parts to keep them running just no longer exist, so basically only one runs at a time. Every launch, it is a struggle to get one working to get the bird to the pad. Several times a few years back, they broke part way out (not covered much by the news media though).

[Gracey]

Several times a few years back, they broke part way out

Hmmmm. I usually heard about trouble areas of anything Shuttle related... Must have been rather recent. Sorry to hear the news.