<p><b>Bagger 288</b> , built by the German company <a href="/pages/w/113253435355926">Krupp</a> for the energy and mining firm <a href="/pages/w/310919249101346">Rheinbraun</a>, is a <a href="/pages/w/137195586302251">bucket-wheel excavator</a> or mobile <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strip_mining" class="wikipedia">strip mining</a> machine.</p><p>When its construction was completed in 1978, Bagger 288 superseded <a href="/pages/w/103086076398533">NASA</a>'s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crawler-Transporter" class="wikipedia">Crawler-Transporter</a>, used to carry the <a href="/pages/w/105597992806347">Space Shuttle</a> and <a href="/pages/w/116236271723425">Apollo</a> Saturn V launch vehicle , as the largest land vehicle in the world, at <a href="http://www.thyssenkrupp-industrial-solutions.com/en/products-solutions/mining-materials-handling-industry/mining/bucket-wheel-excavators.html" class="external">13,500 tons</a>. NASA's Crawler-Transporter still remains the largest self-powered land vehicle in the world, since bucket-wheel excavators are powered by an external power source.</p><h2>Objective</h2><p>The Bagger 288 was built for the job of removing <a href="/pages/w/112943342052599">overburden</a> before coal mining at <a href="/pages/w/102519433137148">the Hambach stripmine</a> in <a href="/pages/w/108100019211318">Germany</a>. It can excavate 240,000 tons of coal or 240,000 cubic metres of overburden daily – the equivalent of a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_football%23Pitch" class="wikipedia">football field (soccer)</a> dug to 30 m (98 ft) deep. The coal produced in one day fills 2400 coal wagons. The excavator is up to 220 m (721 ft) long and approximately 96 m (315 ft) high. The Bagger's operation requires 16.56 megawatts of externally supplied <a href="/pages/w/103117969728112">electricity</a>. It can travel per minute (0.1 to 0.6 km/h). The chassis of the main section is wide and sits on 3 rows of 4 <a href="/pages/w/110958142260799">caterpillar track</a> assemblies, each 3.8 m (12 ft) wide. The large surface area of the tracks means the <a href="/pages/w/143477352335816">ground pressure</a> of the Bagger 288 is very small (1.71 bar or 24.8 psi); this allows the excavator to travel over gravel, earth and even grass without leaving a significant track. It has a minimum turning radius of approximately 100 metres, and can climb a maximum gradient of 1:18.</p>