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The famous towers of the launch complex 17 of the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, which sent hundreds of rockets into space, collapsed into a demolition planned that will release the facilities of a private space exploration company. High-rise towers plummeted after explosives were activated, sending them down in opposite directions to the US Air Force base in Florida
After sustaining 325 launches in 61 years, the Complex 17 was activated in 1957 to test Thor's ballistic missiles. Later, from May 1960, the towers played a key role in the US's alternative exploration, launching space missions under the Delta I and Delta II space programs
. launch of the Delta II rocket on its mission to send three rovers on Mars: Sojourner (aboard Pathfinder) in 1996; as well as Spirit and Opportunity in 2003.
In 2004, the first Mercury orbit probe was also launched from the complex.
For years, towers were known for their distinctive red coloring until anti-corrosive coatings were applied.
The towers were demolished nearly seven years after the last launch on the site – when Delta II sent two gravity mapping probes to the moon for NASA in September 2011.
Complex 17 will be soon home to a new renter – Moon Express, a private company that plans to conduct tests of a lunar lander.
In 2016, Moon Express received permission from the US government to send a robotic undercarriage to the moon.
ABC [19659012]
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