Tundra to Tow Shuttle to Retirement
 

I think it would have been cooler if it were a more fuel efficient Tacoma :)

Wayne Gerdes - CleanMPG - Sept. 12, 2012

The Shuttle Endeavour on her second to last launch in February of 2010 heading to the ISS.

In an afternoon release, Toyota said that its Tundra full-size pickup truck is scheduled to tow the space shuttle Endeavour for the last few feet of it final journey to the California Science Center on October 13, 2012. The Endeavour will travel a total of 12 miles from LAX on city streets to the Science Center, with the Tundra towing only the last quarter mile. Just a short hop compared to the 122 + million miles done under rocket and glide power ;)

The stock 2012 Tundra CrewMax ½ ton pickup is being prepped to tow the 300,000 pound Shuttle down Bill Robertson Lane in Exposition Park, near downtown Los Angeles. The 5.7L V8 engine has a maximum towing cap of 10,000 pounds. Toyota says they have done extensive testing and worked with The Sarens Group, a heavy lifting and engineered Transportation Company, to develop a dolly specifically for hauling the Endeavour.

You have to wonder if ¼ of a mile pulling 300K on a special rig is really work or just a stunt?

Toyota currently has a Tundra truck on display in a Science Center exhibit demonstrating the physics of leverage. The tow Tundra will replace the existing Tundra and will be on display after the Endeavour exhibit opens on October 30, 2012.

A “finish-line” celebration is being planned at Exposition Park on the evening of October 13, as the shuttle arrives at the Science Center, allowing the public to witness the final few feet of hits historic career.

The Endeavour

The Space Shuttle Endeavour is one of the five retired or destroyed orbiters of the Space Shuttle program of NASA. Endeavour was the fifth and final space worthy NASA space shuttle to be built, constructed as a replacement for Challenger. Endeavour first flew in May 1992 on mission STS-49 and its last mission STS-134 was in May 2011.

Congress authorized the construction of Endeavour in 1987 to replace Challenger, which was lost in the horrific launch accident in 1986.

According to Wiki, the orbiter is named after the British HMS Endeavour, the ship which took Captain James Cook on his first voyage of discovery from 1768–1771. The name also honored Endeavour, the Command Module of Apollo 15, itself also named after Cook's ship.

Space Shuttle Endeavour Details

Contract award July 31, 1987

Named after HMS Endeavour (1764)

First flight: May 7, 1992 – May 16, 1992
Last flight: May 16, 2011 – June 1, 2011
Number of missions: 25
Time spent in space: 296 days, 3 hours, 34 minutes, 2 seconds
Number of orbits: 4,671
Distance travelled: 122,883,151 mi.

The old girl had some miles under her belt and should make for one heck of a display at the California Science Center.

Re: Tundra to Tow Shuttle to Retirement
 

I wonder how far it can haul that thing before the trans fluid turns into tar?

Re: Tundra to Tow Shuttle to Retirement
 

Hi Tim:

Probably about 50' beyond the actual 1/4 mile towing distance ;)

Can you imagine how many $'s Toyota spent making sure their Tundra could tow the weight? Where do you find a trailer and 300,000 pounds to test it with?

Wayne

Re: Tundra to Tow Shuttle to Retirement
 

Something tells me there are no hills, up or down, in that quarter-mile. That's sort of like pulling a train car or two, a stunt that's been done before.

Re: Tundra to Tow Shuttle to Retirement
 

VW did a similar stunt with a Touareg TDI pulling a 747 (similar weight I believe). I recall they just put it into low range and it wasn't a huge issue with power for such slow speed. They did need to load it with about 10k pounds of ballast though. Traction is probably the biggest concern.

Re: Tundra to Tow Shuttle to Retirement
 

Either beats 125.7 gal/mi:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuttle_transporter

I suppose you can tow anything you want as long as you appropriately modify everything between tailshaft and road, especially differentials for lower drive ratios.

Re: Tundra to Tow Shuttle to Retirement
 

A theoretical 53' semi trailer of solid steel would be around 1.94 million pounds by my calculations...but it'd need to be all wheels underneath. :eek: