The M113 armored personnel carrier first entered service in the US armed forces in 1960 and remains in use by dozens of nations around the world. Among the agencies in the United States that used this venerable vehicle is NASA.
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Yes, that’s right: the National Aeronautics and Space Administration operated a few M113s from the 1960s through 2013 at the Cape Canaveral launch complex. Military historian Mark Felton explains that these vehicles served as part of an emergency system designed to get astronauts far away from a launch pad as quickly as possible.
If astronauts needed to escape, they would take zip lines for a quarter mile down to the ground, where a modified M113 was available. All astronauts were trained how to drive them. This modified M113 was heat resistant and had an enclosed oxygen system.
NASA used these vehicles until 2013, when they replaced them with the more modern Caimain MRAPs.
Source: neatorama