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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
by 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 agoWell 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.