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Give it some years and people will be wondering why they couldn't preserve the tower as part of the history of the dawn of the Space Age.

mieseratte 8y ago
> Give it some years and people will be wondering why they couldn't preserve the tower as part of the history of the dawn of the Space Age. I'm already wondering why... I grew up in SC, about a five hour drive away, and visited the Kennedy Space Center many times over the years. I loved touring the facilities more than I did going to the theme parks, and despite being a typical sarcastic teenager I was always inspired and awed but what we as humans were able to accomplish. True feats of scientific and engineering greatness. Last month I got to visit the Johnson Space Center, and it reignited that awe and passion for engineering and definitely made me wonder what I'm doing with my life, building software to help make the rich richer...
- Theodores 8y ago
  They still have piles of the stuff on the ground, why don't you write to them and ask for a small piece for your mantelpiece? Maybe persuade them to auction off a few pieces with proceeds going to an appropriate museum/charity? I would say that a valve or any bit of tubing from one of those towers would make a very interesting conversation piece and would give the inspiration needed for pet moon shots. Stick it next to a chunk of Berlin Wall and you have got the Cold War covered. If you don't ask then you don't get.
bryananderson 8y ago
While the Delta II rocket launched some memorable payloads, such as the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity, the rocket itself was not particularly important in the history of space exploration, nor does it date to the dawn of the Space Age. Cape Canaveral has hosted dozens of launch towers, and rather than keep them all and never use any of the pads again, they are attempting to find exciting new uses for them. This one, for example, will be used by a company called Moon Express to test lunar lander technology. The best days of the Space Age are ahead of us, not behind!
- NeedMoreTea 8y ago
  Well the article does open with the dawn of the Space Age phrase as the very first sentence, and concludes that the towers are sixty years old. That would go back far further than just Delta II, right through the Apollo era, to Mercury and Gemini. That is what triggered thoughts of preservation and potential historic significance rather than demolition. Exciting new uses at a leased subcontractor can never be another first of the era.
rayiner 8y ago
FFS they are utilitarian structures. They’re clearing the way for more important uses of the land.
- NeedMoreTea 8y ago
  So are huge numbers of Victorian, Edwardian and earlier things now under some form of preservation order, in a museum, or having had a museum built around them. Same for much of the early years of flight, wartime structures and camps, the list is extensive. I guess the first manned space flights aren't significant enough to be considered "important"?

mieseratte 8y ago

> Give it some years and people will be wondering why they couldn't preserve the tower as part of the history of the dawn of the Space Age. I'm already wondering why... I grew up in SC, about a five hour drive away, and visited the Kennedy Space Center many times over the years. I loved touring the facilities more than I did going to the theme parks, and despite being a typical sarcastic teenager I was always inspired and awed but what we as humans were able to accomplish. True feats of scientific and engineering greatness. Last month I got to visit the Johnson Space Center, and it reignited that awe and passion for engineering and definitely made me wonder what I'm doing with my life, building software to help make the rich richer...

Theodores 8y ago
They still have piles of the stuff on the ground, why don't you write to them and ask for a small piece for your mantelpiece? Maybe persuade them to auction off a few pieces with proceeds going to an appropriate museum/charity? I would say that a valve or any bit of tubing from one of those towers would make a very interesting conversation piece and would give the inspiration needed for pet moon shots. Stick it next to a chunk of Berlin Wall and you have got the Cold War covered. If you don't ask then you don't get.

bryananderson 8y ago

While the Delta II rocket launched some memorable payloads, such as the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity, the rocket itself was not particularly important in the history of space exploration, nor does it date to the dawn of the Space Age. Cape Canaveral has hosted dozens of launch towers, and rather than keep them all and never use any of the pads again, they are attempting to find exciting new uses for them. This one, for example, will be used by a company called Moon Express to test lunar lander technology. The best days of the Space Age are ahead of us, not behind!

NeedMoreTea 8y ago
Well the article does open with the dawn of the Space Age phrase as the very first sentence, and concludes that the towers are sixty years old. That would go back far further than just Delta II, right through the Apollo era, to Mercury and Gemini. That is what triggered thoughts of preservation and potential historic significance rather than demolition. Exciting new uses at a leased subcontractor can never be another first of the era.

rayiner 8y ago

FFS they are utilitarian structures. They’re clearing the way for more important uses of the land.

NeedMoreTea 8y ago
So are huge numbers of Victorian, Edwardian and earlier things now under some form of preservation order, in a museum, or having had a museum built around them. Same for much of the early years of flight, wartime structures and camps, the list is extensive. I guess the first manned space flights aren't significant enough to be considered "important"?