A critical piece of large equipment is being tested at Launch Complex 39A this week as SpaceX raises and lowers the transporter erector that will be used to move the Crew Dragon spacecraft atop a Falcon 9 rocket to the launch pad for missions. Standing 212 feet high – more than 20 stories – the TE,as SpaceX calls the machine, will move launch-alert rockets and spacecraft from the processing hangar at the base of the pad up to the pad surface and into a vertical position over the flame trench. The lift and lowering of the transporter erector are fragment of routine tests conducted on the pad to ensure all ground systems are prepared to launch astronauts to the International Space Station. The TE is a much larger and stronger version of the erector the company uses at Space Launch Complex 40, or as it will also be used for processing and launching future Falcon Heavy rockets. Photo credit: SpaceX
Source: nasa.gov