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id="thebody" style="defaultCaption">Mike
Massamino: All right, wave to the camera!MM:
All right, Glen.
How fast is that thing going?
Is that thing even moving, Ray J?
Dottie, what do you think?Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger:
It's moving.
Look, hold the guy there and it'll move past him.
I hope it didn't run over his toes.
It didn't run over his toes.MM: You're so smart.
MM: Yeah, you can see it's moving very slowly.
But look, there's a space shuttle rolling out to the launch.
We just was in that big building.
Now it's already made it here.MM: How long has it been
rolling for, Glen?Glen Davis: Forty-five
minutes.MM: Forty-five minutes?
That's all?
It's gone like half a mile.GD: You could run that
far.MM: I could- I could even run that far.
I think I can even beat this thing in a race.
Look at that thing going.
All right.MM: What about these rocks I've been hearing so
much about?DM: Yeah, they're from Tennessee.<p begin="00:01:07.600"
end="00:01:09.500">MM: What?
Who, really?DM: Yeah, the rocks are- Yes they are.
They're gravel from the Tennessee river.MM:
They are not.
Who told you that?
Butch told you that.
Don't believe him.
They are not.
They're from New York.
They're New York rocks.Glen Johnson: I think those
rocks- I think those rocks are from Seattle.MM:
They're from Seattle rocks.
DM: No, because then they would be basalt.
These are not basaltic.MM: Stop with- Stop with
the showoff smart stuff.GJ: Wait!
I took geology as a- as a fun course in college.MM:
She used to teach that earth science, didn't you?DM:
That's right!
Look at this.
This is just like a glacier.
It moves slowly across the earth and crushes the ground below it.
It's really cool.MM: Unbelievable.
That's what it does, right?
It crushes-DM: That's what a glacier does, too.
And that's why they put those out there, too.MM:
That's why they put the rocks out there?DM:
Yeah, to crush.MM: To crush- It crushes
the rocks, doesn't it?
When it goes over?DM: That's right, it does
crush the rocks when it goes over it.MM:
This is serious business.DM: I know.<p begin="00:01:55.366"
end="00:02:03.733">MM: All right.
All right.
So it does- They put the rocks out there.
I mean, there's a reason for the rocks, right?
What's the reason?
You know the reason for that?DM: I don't know what the
reason is.MM: Glen, what's the reason- what's the reason
for the rocks?
It's a- You know why I was told?DM: Well, I think it helps
because you're not on a- one surface.MM:
To help with the- Looks like they're watering it down over there.
Friction.
It's a friction problem.
And it's too heavy- yeah.
So-DM: Exactly.MM:
What's that- What are they doing here?DM:
The water.GJ: They're putting water on the rocks.<p
begin="00:02:17.666" end="00:02:20.633">MM: Why?MM:
They're watering the grass now?
Can't they water the grass some other time.DM:
The water also probably helps friction- the heat.GJ:
Keeps friction down.
You know, you're moving pretty fast there.
Heating up the rocks a lot.MM: Yeah.
Right.
It helps- It helps with traction as it moves.
That's impressive, though.
Look at that thing.DM: It keeps it cool.
Look at that exhaust.GJ: What did you say the
water was?
For heat?GD: Just moisture, yeah.<p begin="00:02:37.266"
end="00:02:44.200">GJ: And the rocks are just for the weight, right?<p begin="00:02:39.566"
end="00:02:42.800">MM: Did you fly in that space shuttle, Discovery?<p begin="00:02:40.833"
end="00:02:45.800">DM: I flew on Discovery.MM:
You did?
That one right there?DM: That was the last-
the last time before this time.GJ: But I thought it was
more for the weight.
MM: Hey Mike.DM:
Hey, good to see you.
Look at all these people.Yeah, they're excited too.Mike
Leinbach: Good stuff, good stuff.GJ: Did you press a lot
of flesh over there?MM: Yeah, we did.
Signed a lot of stuff.DM: We signed and hugged
and- it was great.
Wow, I can't believe it.ML: Amazing sight.<p
begin="00:03:09.733" end="00:03:21.600">DM: It's a little bit warmer than the last time.
Back in March, it was freezing cold.
MM: So I was telling Dottie you gave us this great
tour of the firing room.ML: Yeah.<p begin="00:03:19.833"
end="00:03:30.500">MM: And the first thing she asked me was if you showed me the big
red button.
That you push- I told her, it doesn't exist.ML:
No buttons.
There are no buttons.DM: They take it away until
launch day.MM: Is that what it is?
That's impressive.
Look at that thing.
Let's go.DM: We've got to go catch up with it now.<p
begin="00:03:37.866" end="00:03:46.700">MM: We're going- What's the story with these rocks
that we're walking on?
What's the story?Ray Trapp: They're brand
new.MM: They're brand new?
And they get crushed by the- by the crawler?
Or is that just a myth?RT: No, they get crushed
and then- then we rake them up and-MM:
So some of these are broken?
Like this was a- this thing is now broken.
Hold that up for me, Dottie.DM: Look at how crushed
it is.
Look at that.
That was crushed.MM: That one was broken.
That was crushed by the big gigantic spaceship crawler thing.
It's Tennessee gravel?DM: It's from Tennessee,
right?
It's from Tennessee?RT: It could have come
from Alabama, Tennessee- As long as we're south of the Mason-Dixon.<p begin="00:04:08.400"
end="00:04:11.500">DM: It's from Tennessee.MM:
All right, there we go.
And they have the rocks- the reason they have the rocks is to- is for friction, for traction?<p
begin="00:04:20.466" end="00:04:29.700">RT: Friction for steering, and it's also- there's
no suspension on the crawler, so the rock actually cushions everything.<p begin="00:04:26.533"
end="00:04:31.366">MM: Interesting.
Did you ever try it without the rocks?RT:
We ran without the rocks for several years.MM:
It didn't work so good.RT: It's not a good thing.<p
begin="00:04:32.600" end="00:04:36.400">MM: Rocks are a big improvement.<p begin="00:04:33.633"
end="00:04:36.666">RT: Absolutely.
Got to have rocks.MM: Unbelievable.
Interesting.MM: That thing's going to- What are you doing
later, messing around?
You got to watch that thing.
Make sure- Make sure it's on track.MM:
All right, so where are we headed now?GJ:
We're going to head up on the side over here.MM:
Are we going to get to drive?
Ray J said I could drive.GJ: Yeah, you can drive.
I'll pick you up and let you drive.MM:
Are you sure?
All right.
Do I need a special license?GJ: Just a learner's permit.<p
begin="00:05:02.033" end="00:05:06.900">MM: Learner's permit?
All right.MM: Time to go on?
How am I going to go?
What?
I'm getting nervous.
I don't want to get run over.
What?GJ: Come on.MM:
It's coming right at me.
Wait for me!MM: Thanks for waiting for us.<p begin="00:05:37.000"
end="00:05:39.300">Man: You're welcome.GJ:
Take him up front.
He wants to drive.MM: Can I drive?<p
begin="00:06:01.400" end="00:06:03.800">GJ: Good luck!MM:
All right.DM: In there?DM:
Have you been on this part?MM: Am I what?<p begin="00:06:42.500"
end="00:06:46.633">MM: I have not- Not when it's moving.
DM: Here, you want me to get your photo?<p
begin="00:06:45.866" end="00:06:49.466">MM: Sure.DM:
So what do you think, Mass?MM: I think it's pretty
cool.DM: It is pretty cool.<p begin="00:06:50.400"
end="00:07:05.166">MM: We're on the- Where are we?
Mobile Launch Platform.
That's going out to the pad.
To launch space shuttle Discovery.
That's space shuttle Discovery.MM: The thing's been moving
for about- I don't know, forty-five minutes.
It's got probably a couple more hours before it gets to the launch pad.<p begin="00:07:12.166"
end="00:07:19.700">MM: Because it goes very slowly.
But it is really cool.
How about underneath there?
Wasn't that cool, underneath there?DM:
Yeah.
It was a little freaky.MM: All the noise and the
churning of everything.
Wasn't that cool?
It's like a science fiction movie.DM: There we go.
Now it knows who you are.MM: It's like being part
of a science fiction movie with all that noise and action.
We had to run to get on the staircase or else it was going to run us over.<p begin="00:07:33.300"
end="00:07:38.700">MM: Big giant thing's coming at us.
MM: They're only doing this a couple more times
after this.
One, maybe two more.
Right now we only know one.DM: Yeah, but this is the
last time for Discovery.MM: This is the last time
for Discovery ever, that it will go to the launch pad.
After this, where is it going to go?MM:
Wait a second, let me see that.
Let me show your face.
Look at this.
Last time for Discovery.
You're going to cry.
Why are you so sad?DM: Because I rode on it
the last time.MM: You rode on it the
previous time.DM: Yes.<p begin="00:08:01.033"
end="00:08:06.400">MM: And now it's- This is it.
Where's it going to go after, though?
When it comes back?DM: Don't know.
Some great museum, I hope.MM: It's going to go to
a museum so people can see it.GJ: The Smithsonian.<p
begin="00:08:09.533" end="00:08:14.400">MM: All right, Dottie, we're kind of in the dark
here.DM: Yeah.MM:
So what were you going to say?
Is what?DM: I was going to say that I just think it's
amazing the attach points-MM: Yeah, you got the one
at the top, yeah.DM: Yeah, and then back
there with the feed lines.MM: Yeah.
But that's it.DM: But that's really all
that's holding that all together.MM: Is it?
It's like- It's not like glue or anything.DM:
No.MM: It's a mechanical thing.
DM: It's very mechanical.
MM: But it's got to be very strong.
Yeah.
Amazing, isn't it?DM: It is.
Super amazing.MM: So Dottie, do you wish
you were going on this one?DM: Oh.
Well, I'm really excited for our friends that are going on it.
But I think all of us-MM: Okay, tell me the truth.
The camera's off.
Don't you wish you were going?DM: That's what everyone
always says.
There's still a red light there.MM: Nah, that's always
there.
It just means it's getting power.DM: I think everyone would
like to go on it.MM: Why not?<p begin="00:09:04.000"
end="00:09:08.333">DM: Yeah, I mean, why not?MM:
What's going on here?Man: This is the front
- front seat driver.
MM: Oh, the driver?<p begin="00:09:15.933"
end="00:09:20.000">Man: We'll make some room for you here.MM:
Who's driving?Man: He is.<p begin="00:09:20.200"
end="00:09:25.900">MM: Really?
Who's driving now?Erik Cole: I'm driving
right now.MM: What's your name, man?<p begin="00:09:23.233"
end="00:09:27.900">EC: Erik Cole.MM: Erik what?<p begin="00:09:25.133"
end="00:09:27.900">EC: Cole.MM: Cole?
Erik Cole.
How you doing, Erik?MM: Shouldn't you be watching
where you're going?EC: I'm actually watching
over here to watch where I'm going.MM:
What do you watch?
How do you drive this thing?EC: It's a lot like a car.
You just got to watch different cues of where you're going.MM:
All right, what are you watching?EC: Down here we have a-
a set of hoses that's hanging down.
I'm just watching them.MM: A set of hoses?
Where are the hoses?
The-EC: You see the angle that's coming down there?
Below the steering cylinder?
MM: Okay, the steering cylinder.
Okay.EC: Straight down from there.<p begin="00:09:56.400"
end="00:10:00.100">MM: Straight down from there.EC:
A couple of dark hoses down there.MM: Okay, yeah, yeah.<p
begin="00:10:01.166" end="00:10:10.000">EC: I'm looking to see that those hoses are running
pretty much on top of the grass.MM: On top of the grass,
okay.
Just on the edge.EC: Just right at the edge
of the grass, and the [INAUDIBLE] - if I'm hanging there, I'm right.<p begin="00:10:14.800"
end="00:10:19.400">MM: Watch this guy so you don't run him over?<p begin="00:10:16.333"
end="00:10:22.933">EC: He's responsible for himself.
MM: You have a horn on this?<p begin="00:10:21.300"
end="00:10:23.600">EC: Nope.
No horn.MM: It'd be a good idea.
I bet he'd get out of the way if you-EC:
He's down there for a while.
He knows to get out of the way.MM: All right.
Okay.
What else- What else?
You're watching that thing-EC: Watching that.<p
begin="00:10:30.400" end="00:10:32.800">MM: What else?EC:
I'm listening to the radio- I'm listening to any-MM:
Listening to the radio?
Like music?
Shouldn't you be paying attention to- What are you listening to?<p begin="00:10:34.833"
end="00:10:39.400">EC: I wish it was- I'm listening to the guys on the ground.<p
begin="00:10:37.100" end="00:10:41.200">MM: Oh, okay.EC:
They tell me where I am in relationship to-MM:
The COM radio.EC: I'm watching the screen,
I'm making sure I don't get over point eight.MM:
Point eight?
You're right at- That's point eight-?EC:
Point eight miles an hour.MM: Point eight miles per
hour.EC: And we're watching that to make sure that
we don't go over.
Otherwise we got to write a PR and the vehicle guys get all upset.<p begin="00:10:53.933"
end="00:11:00.100">MM: What's a PR?
Some kind of report.MM: A progress report?<p
begin="00:11:00.200" end="00:11:04.133">EC: A problem report.<p begin="00:11:02.066"
end="00:11:05.700">MM: A problem report!
That sounds-EC: We don't like those.<p begin="00:11:04.433"
end="00:11:07.800">MM: Don't like that, okay.MM:
Where's the gas pedal?
You got a gas pedal?EC: The gas pedal is actually
this dial right here.MM: You have cruise control?<p
begin="00:11:11.400" end="00:11:17.700">EC: It's all fly by wire, so it's instantly cruise
control.
You just dial up your speed-MM: Dial it up and you
go.
So there's really no excuse for speeding.EC:
No.MM: Even if you're in a rush.
GJ: He's got a speedometer down there.<p begin="00:11:22.566"
end="00:11:26.966">EC: There's no excuse for speeding.
GJ: It's right behind the speedometer.<p begin="00:11:24.766"
end="00:11:28.700">MM: Where's the speedometer?GJ:
Right there.
Point eight.MM: Yeah yeah, point eight.
Can we go point eight one?
There was a one, man, there was a one.EC:
I don't see the one.Man: Back her down!<p
begin="00:11:32.166" end="00:11:36.266">MM: There's a one.
Do we need to file a problem report?EC:
If they saw that for any length of time, yeah.
But see, we're averaging out point seven nine, so-MM:
All right, so that's your speedometer.
Is this your little steering wheel?
Is this-EC: This is the steering wheel.<p begin="00:11:45.266"
end="00:11:49.800">MM: Yeah, that's-EC:
It goes six degrees in- Well, we can steer six degrees.
It turns quite a bit further than six degrees.MM:
Okay.GJ: So what's the hardest part of the- the hardest
part of the steering?
Off the pad?EC: Off the pad is actually pretty easy.
It's a straight shot.
It's the- If we were going to Pad B, that turn there-GJ:
That turn is hard.
EC: It's a max angle turn, and you have to hit
it just right.
Otherwise you've got to back up.MM: Oh, in reverse?
There's reverse in this thing?EC: There's another cab.<p
begin="00:12:14.233" end="00:12:18.500">MM: There's another cab.<p begin="00:12:15.100"
end="00:12:19.400">EC: Another cab drives-MM:
All right.GJ: Have you ever had to back up?<p begin="00:12:19.033"
end="00:12:20.300">EC: No comment.
Every one of the drivers has had to back up at some point.<p begin="00:12:27.133"
end="00:12:35.300">GJ: Oh my gosh.
I'd hate to back up.EC: It's- It's embarrassing.<p
begin="00:12:32.333" end="00:12:38.333">MM: So what- Can I turn the thing like real hard?
GJ: If you break it, you buy it.<p begin="00:12:35.300"
end="00:12:38.900">EC: I might kick you out.MM:
All right, so is that the gas pedal?EC:
No, that is the- that is the service brake.
MM: What's that?EC:
I also have a parking brake.
The service brake is for on the hill, when we're docking.<p begin="00:12:47.400"
end="00:12:52.100">GJ: Like the brake in your car.MM:
We're drifting to the right.
Are we?
All right, so we-EC: If you want to steer,
you can steer, either way.MM: That's emergency stop.
If I push that red button, does anything launch?GJ:
He's been trying to find the red button.GJ:
Never push the red button.EC: I've actually had to
push the red button on a couple of occasions.MM:
Why, what happened?EC: A guy who was moving
something in front of the truck and I lost sight of him.
So since I lost sight of him, got to stop.
Got to stop now.MM: All right.
Okay.
All right, so can I actually do something to drive, or would you rather-<p begin="00:13:21.966"
end="00:13:28.700">EC: Well, try just a little bit.
Watch your gauge here, that' you're not going too far.MM:
All right, so-EC: So that's point two
five.MM: Oh wait a minute.
It's pointed that way.EC: It's that one.
Watch that one.
And then bring this one back to zero.EC:
There's a little detect there that will- may mess you up.
It's not always right at zero.MM: Got it at zero.<p
begin="00:13:46.966" end="00:13:50.166">EC: Now this one will follow.<p begin="00:13:49.366"
end="00:13:58.433">MM: Is that good enough?
I got to drive.
I got to drive the mobile launch platform.
The big crawler.
What do you think of that?MM: Did I really do anything,
or are you just joking around?EC: It actually moved.<p
begin="00:13:59.933" end="00:14:06.000">MM: I actually moved.
I drove it.
What do you think of that?EC: Pretty impressed.<p
begin="00:14:04.200" end="00:14:09.966">MM: All right.
Thanks man.
I really appreciate it.
Thanks for your time.