Space UpClose: Dual Launch Towers at Cape Canaveral Fall, Demolishing 6 Decades of Superlative Space & Science History: Photos

Explosive demolition of the two launch towers and gantries comprising historic Space Launch Complex-17 (SLC-17) on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL. Historic pads 17A and 17B were destroyed at 7 a.m. EDT July 12, 2018. First launches from both pads occurred in 1957. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

Ken Kremer -- SpaceUpClose.com -- 12 July 2018

CAPE CANAVERAL/JETTY PARK, FL – After hosting 325 launches the twin launch towers at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 17 are no more. The nearly 200 foot tall towers at Space Launch Complex-17 have fallen! Demolished today after delivering 6 decades of superlative space history and delivering 6 decades of superlative science for NASA’s historic missions of exploration and discovery, along with critical communications, navigation, weather and military satellites – many the first of their kind serving as pathfinders to decades of stunning leaps in capability.

The launch towers and gantries comprising Pads 17A and 17B were intentionally destroyed today, July 12, shortly after 7 a.m. EDT (1100 GMT) under sunny Sunshine State Skies.

Explosive demolition begins of two launch towers at historic Space Launch Complex-17 (SLC-17) on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL at 7 a.m. EDT July 12, 2018. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

Pads 17A and 17B were gone in an instant, felled by explosives with the flick of a switch by Brig. Gen. Wayne Monteith, commander of the Air Force’s 45th Space at 7 a.m. EDT Thursday morning July 12, 2018, that created loud explosions rumbling across the Florida Space Coast.

Following a countdown from Monteith with the demolition team at the pad, the charges were detonated about one second apart - as I watched from the Jetty Park/Cape Canaveral Beach to get a wider perspective of the impact with just a few onlookers who were mostly oblivious to the sad goings on.

"3, 2 , 1 - Fire in the hole!," Monteith announced.

“Progress. We are moving to the future. This is opportunity,” said Monteith referring to the demolition.

Check out our eyewitness Space UpClose photo gallery.

Destructive toppling of twin towers at Space Launch Complex-17 (SLC-17) on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL on July 12, 2018. Credit: Julian Leek

Myself and space fans worldwide will miss those iconic towers which pointed the way to America’s Premiere Gateway to Space for over 60 years and offered us comfort that we were indeed at the right place to make a brighter future happen for all humanity.

All that remains of the one proud sentries for space that graced America’s Spaceport are toppled towers - now lying in twisted heaps of metal and concrete rubble, simmering swirling dust clouds now settled back to Earth where once they led the charge to the High Frontier from the very Dawn of the Space Age in the late 1950s.

About 17,000 tons of metal and 2,000 tons concrete came crashing down and will supposedly be recycled.

The demolition cost approximately $2 million. It had been planned earlier but was delayed due to lack of funding.

Explosive demolition begins of two launch towers at historic Space Launch Complex-17 (SLC-17) on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL at 7 a.m. EDT July 12, 2018 – as seen from Jetty Park/Cape Canaveral Beach. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

This storied site of American Space History truly harkens back to the Dawn of the Space Age by launching research probes that’s contributed so much to human knowledge and others like the Global Positioning Satellites (GPS), weather and communications satellites that benefit virtually every human on Earth every moment of every day and military satellites that make vital contributions to US National Defense.

Pad 17 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is actually comprised of two nearly identical but slightly different pads: 17A and 17B located just a few hundred feet apart at the south end of the Cape.

The complex 17 pads are so tall – almost 200 feet - that they are vivid markers of the Space Coast Skyline and the prowess of America’s Space Program – and they are especially and easily visible from points south like Jetty Park and the beaches on Cape Canaveral and Cocoa Beach.

Blastoff of United Launch Alliance Delta II Heavy rocket and twin NASA GRAIL lunar spacecraft on Sept. 10, 2011 from Space Launch Complex-17 (SLC-17) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL at 9:08 a.m. EDT. View from Press Site 1. Last Delta II launch from the Cape. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

SLC-17 also known as Slick 17 was retired from use after its last launch back in September 2011 from pad 17B when a United Launch Alliance Delta II Heavy lofted NASA’s twin GRAIL lunar orbiting probes that measured the Moon’s gravity field in unprecedented detail – which I witnessed as media. Pad 17A saw its last launch in 2009.

The first launches from both pads took place in 1957 involving Thor intermediate range ballistic missiles that eventually became the Delta family of rockets. Altogether 325 rockets blasted off from both pads 17A and 17B.

The workhorse Delta II was one of the most reliable rockets in history.

Among the NASA science missions launched are the famous twin Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity, Pathfinder, Dawn Asteroid Orbiter, MESSENGER Mercury Orbiter, Mars Phoenix, Mars Odyssey, Mars Global Surveryor, Deep Impact, Spitzer Space Telescope, Kepler, NEAR, STEREO, WMAP and many many more.

This author feels it is truly sad that nothing was preserved.

The demolition was done to make way for the future they say. And progress is of course indispensable and great. But forgetting where we came from in space and how we evolved is not. Hard lessons may need to be re-won.

Moon Express is leasing the facility and has no use apparently for preserving space history.

"For more than half a century, the twin towers of SLC-17 stood tall on the horizon of the Cape Canaveral Spaceport,” said Frank DiBello, President & CEO, Space Florida, in a statement.

“Together, they’ve hosted more than 300 launches and often marked the direction in which launch viewers would turn to witness history in the making. Tomorrow, those towers will be demolished. That detonation will symbolize the ongoing renaissance and evolution of the Cape Canaveral Spaceport as we continue to transition further into the planet's primary hub for commercial space activity. We look forward to making even more history with the latest tenant, Moon Express, and our other partners in building the bold new future of the commercial space marketplace.”

Malcolm Denemark/Florida Today

Last ‘Up Close’ historic photos taken of Space Launch Complex-17 (SLC-17) on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL on July 7 ahead of planned demolition of historic pads 17A and 17B slated for July 12, 2018. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Orbital ATK and more space and mission reports direct from the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia.

Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer – email: ken at kenkremer.com

Launch of NASA’s Dawn Asteroid Orbiter on United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket on Sept. 27, 2007 from Space Launch Complex-17 (SLC-17) on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL. View from Jetty Park Pier. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

Thursday, July 12, 2018

Dual Launch Towers at Cape Canaveral Fall, Demolishing 6 Decades of Superlative Space & Science History: Photos

No comments:

Post a Comment