The Wankel Tyrannosaurus Rex has populate the past 26 eld of its 65 - million - year existence at theMuseum of the Rockiesin Bozeman , Montana . This week the colossal creature ’s carcass is move to the National Museum of Natural History in D.C. , where it will finally be in a new $ 35 million dinosaur hall . But how does it make the trip safely?Popular Mechanics explains .
The Wankel T. Rex lacks some rib , the end of its tooshie , and a part of its animal foot , but at 85 percent cooked , it ’s one of the most complete T. Rex specimens we have . Given that it ’s about 38 metrical unit from nose to trail , and weighs around five tons , its 2,000 - mile journey ca n’t on the button go by Priority Mail . PerPopular Mechanics , the backpacking processis a tedious one :
The ivory were packed in box filled with froth while many part were preserved with plaster jacket . The packages were then inspected by the Army Corps of Engineers before it was load into an 18 - Sir Robert Eric Mortimer Wheeler .
After leaving the Museum of the Rockies , the dinosaur was treat by FedEx Custom Critical , a outgrowth of FedEx designed to ship unconventional payloads . “ This is a first for us so we ’re very activated , ” says Katie Wassmer , a spokesperson for FedEx . “ We ’ve shipped parts of fossils and even parts of the Titanic when it was going through a museum exposition , but never a full skeleton . ”
The truck , by the way , was slapped with the motto : “ deliver History : The Nation ’s T. Rex . Hell yeah :
On its entire trip , the inside of the trailer persist at elbow room temperature , as requested by the Smithsonian . So the 18 - wheeler is mood controlled , and if the temperature would have gone outside the satisfactory zone , the sensing element would have alarm the equipment driver to readjust the temperature . In addition , the motortruck is able to align barometric pressure and humidness as well … A protection machine about the size of it of two iPhones , known as SenseAware , is then attach to each crateful to supervise interior temperature and also detect light , mean would - be thieves would be caught as soon as they pried unfold a crate . SenseAware also creates a geo fencing that keeps racetrack of each software program , specially if it leaves its preset location . The two - person team driving the truck is also bob by a two - mortal security measures squad all the fashion from Montana to D.C.
The Wankel T. Rex will be on display at the Smithsonian until October , after which it will make another trip to Canada to be fitted with a custom structure for the dino hall , which will open fall 2019 . [ Popular Mechanics ]
Photo via Museum of the Rocky Mountains
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