Model Forum / General / Rockets / May 2008

Here's a short video I took of the SLC-40 launch tower demolition:

http://www.spaceflightvideos.com/special/042708/slc40_demolition_short_042708.wmv
(copy/paste to your browser if the link displays on two lines)

CAPE CANAVERAL AFS, FL - It took just 200 pounds of high explosives to
topple 6,500 tons of space history this morning at Cape Canaveral as
the Air Force demolished the abandoned mobile launch tower at Space
Launch Complex-40. Today's controlled demolition sets the stage for a
dramatic reconstruction of the launch site in support of a new rocket,
SpaceX's Falcon 9, which will rise from a reborn SLC-40 early next
year.

Specially formed explosive charges were placed at strategic support
locations on the 1st and 9th levels of the mobile service tower to
break it into three sections upon detonation. The explosions were
timed to cause the twoer to fall down and then topple toward the
north, away from the concrete launch pad and construction work
currently underway by SpaceX.

The explosions alone didn't cause the tower to fall. Rather, they
destroyed key support locations within the MST and then the force of
gravity caused the 265 foot tall gantry to collapse.

45th Space Wing commanding officer, Brig. General Susan Helms, herself
a former space shuttle and station astronaut, called out the final ten
seconds before the charges were detonated on schedule at 9 a.m. EDT,
sending an Earth-shaking thunderclap rolling across the Canaveral
landscape.

Read the full story with photos and video clips here:
http://www.spacearium.com/article.php?story=20080428192140573