Toyota Scooped the Big 3

[TB Roye]

A Toyota Tundra will be towing the Shuttle Endeavor on the last leg of it's journey to it new home. It will be filmed and used in a Comercial. Look for it at the Super Bowl or Daytona 500, maybe before.

Tom

[All Thumbs]

They better hope they don't have any problems. Any publicity from an epic failure would be far more costly than what they'd achieve if they succeed.

[sweensdv]

I believe they choose the Tundra because the Tundra is the only pick-up made with a top speed of 3MPH.

[dbhost]

They better not show that in Houston...

[sweensdv]

They better not show that in Houston...

Isn't San Antonio where the parts and pieces are all put together to make a Tundra?

[TB Roye]

I just saw a picture. It was take last night. Guess it isn't doing the final leg.

Tom

[mpc]

The fancy crawlers used for most of Endeavour's crosstown journey were not approved (by California I think) for use on major bridges such as the crossing of the 405 freeway - I don't know why. Maybe the combined weight of the shuttle plus the crawlers was too much? So a long trailer-like thing was swapped in and towed by the Tundra for that portion of the trip - a fairly straight portion of bridge+road where little maneuvering was required. The crawlers were re-installed on the other side of the bridge and are being used again right now - I'm watching the local NBC coverage. They crawlers are more versatile as they can move forward/backward and sideways too - or any angle in between - instead of having to make turns like a pickup and/or regular trailer. More like having 4 casters on a portable cabinet compared to a trailer. Plus the crawlers can actually lift/raise individual wheels if they need to cut a curbing a tad too closely. They needed the sideways ability several times to make zig-zags around trees on one side of the shuttle quickly followed by zag-zigs around buildings, signs, and utility poles on the other side.

Toyota has been a big sponsor of the California Science Center (CSC) for a while now which is why they were asked to provide the tow vehicle. Toyota did take advantage of it to film a commercial last night.

At least that's what the local news has been reporting. Having been to the CSC several times I do remember seeing small Toyota emblems/logos around. Nothing too "in your face" like so many sponsors.

mpc

edit: Kudos to the LA Metro train system for extending their special operations until nearly 3AM to compensate for the 5-6 hour accumulated delay in the whole Endeavour Mission 26 trip. Lots of folks that spent the day waiting for a view will still have a way to get back home.

[TB Roye]

That right I remember reading that they were going have unload it and move it differently. Probably the Concentrated weight was the problem. My Neighbor is an Engineer for CalTrans will ask him if I see him tomorrow.

Tom

[mpc]

Just found out Toyota has been a sponsor of the CSC for over 20 years - a long-time sponsor. And it's still the "California Science Center" instead of something like "Toyota Science Center of California" or "California Science Center brought to you by Toyota." How many sports arenas are no longer known by their original names - instead are named after some company? 3-Com Park, Staples Center, Lowes Motor Speedway for a while, etc.

Also... the Tundra truck was evidently purchased at a local dealer - it was not a donation from Toyota. I want to double-check this but it appears it belongs to the CSC, bought with some of the funds donated as part of the Endeavour project. This from somebody I just spoke to on the phone who saw yesterday's news interview with a CSC official.

mpc

[TB Roye]

As of this morning it is still on the road, using just the crawlers/transporters. It went for 1.5 hours ahead of secedule to over 5 hours behind during the day yesterday. When it flew over Sacramento it did look that big on the back of the 747 but on the city steets it is huge.

Tom

[JR]

This pic was on the front page of the LA Times today. I thought it was cool. There are more to be seen here: http://timelines.latimes.com/endeavo...ek-through-la/

[dbhost]

Isn't San Antonio where the parts and pieces are all put together to make a Tundra?

Not the Toyota, the Shuttle not going to JSC....

[sweensdv]

Yeah, that doesn't seem right does it?

[dbhost]

I live in the Clear Lake / NASA area. To say that we are unhappy about where the Shuttles went is a huge understatement.

[TB Roye]

they were built in CA but I wonder why NY got one and not Huston. They should have gone to Texas, California, Florida and the Smithsonion. The CA one should have gone to Edwards or Palmdale.