For the first 10,000 "re-tweets" the site registers, Toyota will donate $50 to the California Science Center to support building the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center, the permanent home for the space shuttle Endeavour. Visitors to the site can share content, sign up for email alerts and use Twitter to the spread word about the Toyota Tundra's role in Endeavour's delivery. 17), the same day Endeavour is scheduled to depart Florida for Los Angeles. The special website will debut on Monday (Sept. To further support the move, Toyota has developed a host of online resources and activities that provide behind the scenes videos, photos, activities for children, and details about the Tundra Endeavour project. Toyota's will donate $50 to the California Science Center for each re-tweet sent from its Tundra Endeavour website. The Tundra used to tow Endeavour will replace the Tundra now on exhibit and will be on display after the shuttle pavilion opens on Oct. Toyota currently has a Tundra truck on display at the CSC in an exhibit demonstrating the physics of leverage. Toyota's participation transporting the shuttle continues a partnership between TMS and the CSC to provide support and awareness of the space program and education of the public through exhibits and programs. "The entire journey is something the world will be watching, and gives us a chance to prove that the 'overbuilt' Tundra is built to do any job - even tow the space shuttle." space program's success than the shuttle, and to have it towed by the Toyota Tundra is not only an incredible example of the capabilities of the truck, but an honor to be part of history," said Ed Laukes, Toyota Motor Sales' vice president of marketing communications, in a release. "There is no larger or more recognizable icon of the U.S.
Schematic showing space shuttle Endeavour being towed by the Toyota Tundra truck for the California Science Center. Toyota Motor Sales (TMS) has done extensive testing to lead up to its announcement and worked with The Sarens Group, a heavy lifting and engineered transport company, to develop a dolly specifically for hauling Endeavour. The Tundra CrewMax is equipped with Toyota's 5.7L V8 engine, producing a maximum tow capacity of 10,000 pounds. Capable of moving sideways or spinning in place, these vehicles will enable precision maneuverability as the shuttle rolls past buildings, utility poles and trees.īut when the Endeavour reaches Bill Robertson Lane and Exposition Park, a quarter of a mile (400 meters) from the science center, the Toyota truck will take over towing duty for the four modular machines.Įndeavour will be towed using a Tundra CrewMax half-ton pickup, identical to 2012 models currently found in Toyota dealerships, with no additions to increase towing capacity or provide more power. These modular movers are computer controlled an operator walking with the shuttle will steer all four of the vehicles using a single joystick. (CSC/David Knight)įor the majority of Endeavour's parade through the streets of Inglewood and Los Angeles, its transport will be driven by four self-propelled, multi-axle vehicles. Testing of the modified NASA overland transporter that will move space shuttle Endeavour on its 12-mile road trip included loading it with weights equal to the orbiter's mass. NASA and the CSC will then spend a few weeks readying Endeavour for its Oct. The three-day ferry flight is scheduled to arrive in L.A. 14), NASA will prepare Endeavour to fly atop its modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to LAX. Endeavour will travel the 12 miles (19 kilometers) from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to the science center on city streets, with the Tundra towing the shuttle during the last quarter mile (400 meters).īeginning Friday (Sept. 12) that its Tundra full-size pickup truck is slated to tow Endeavour during its delivery to the California Science Center (CSC), where both the space shuttle and truck are destined for display. Now retired and museum- bound, the NASA winged orbiter will add another, perhaps unexpected form of locomotion to its well-travelled history: a Toyota Tundra pickup truck. – Space shuttle Endeavour has been moved by rockets, its own engines and thrusters, tank-like transporters and industrial tows.
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