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Cape Canaveral: Space Shuttle launch complex will be sawed to scrap at the beginning of 2011.. / September 24, 2010 /

September 21, 2010 early morning shuttle Discovery »(Discovery) has taken its place on the launch pad 39A Space Center. Kennedy (Kennedy Space Center) in Florida to Nov. 1 to go on his last flight to the ISS.

At the same time on a nearby site 39B employees «El-Bu-Ai Environmental Services Inkorporeyshen» (LVI Environmental Services Inc.) From New York to work in time to dismantle and remove the huge metal towers service until January 13, 2011.

NASA recently decided on a list of launch vehicles for future missions. However, for none of them do not fit these kolocsalnye steel structures used by shuttle.

Therefore, writes SpaceFlight Now, at the site will be left only concrete base design, a water tower system for suppressing acoustic vibrations, and three floodlight towers.

Playground 39B, the northernmost in Cape Canaveral, was to be used for the rocket the Ares 1 »(Ares 1) perspective of the American program» Constellation »(Constellation,« Constellation "). But the new administration of President Obama stop this program, preferring to space systems of private developers.

Representatives from NASA said that work on the site are still general in nature, that will not interfere in the future engineers in their design, when Congress and the White House finally pick a strategy of space exploration.

In contrast to conventional methods „dismantling“ of complex facilities at Cape Canaveral with explosives, this time the building will gradually dismantle using cranes.

And to protect the concrete base area, it fell asleep with a thick layer of sand and lay a protective coating.
Fixed service tower site 39B was collected from parts of mobile towers era of „Apollo“ were used to launch „moon“ rocket Saturn 5 »(Saturn 5). Moving the tower was rebuilt to run shuttles.

39B market for the first time was used to launch Apollo-10 »(Apollo 10). Then from here on a rocket Saturn 1B »(Saturn 1B) flew missions to the space station Skylab» (Skylab).

From this same three astronauts in 1975, started to dock with the Soviet «Union» program APAS.
Between 1986 and 2006, there were prepared 53 shuttle mission. And hence, in a test flight in October 2009 set off a rocket the Ares 1-X »(Ares 1-X).

The entire reconstruction in the starting complex is scheduled for completion by the end of 2013 or 2014.

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