Newsgroups: sci.space.history
From: henry@spsystems.net (Henry Spencer)
Subject: historic pads (was Re: Launch Complex 39)
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1998 04:16:08 GMT

In article <A8052A7B1C663804.3D0FA62A2380B749.88A1331E4F3C26FC@library-proxy.airnews.net>,
Brian S. Thorn <bthorn@airmail.net> wrote:
>...And it's going to keep costing you a lot of money, year in and
>year out. The biggest problem is rust, as any Florida resident can attest.
>And the old launch towers were iron. Not a good mix.

Indeed so.  WD-40 penetrating oil came out of work done to protect early
Atlas test missiles against the Cape environment... and Atlas is stainless
steel!  Just about everywhere else in the world, Atlases can sit out in
the weather with no protection at all.  But not at the Cape, not if
they're going to be out there for any length of time.
--
Mass-market software technology has |  Henry Spencer   henry@spsystems.net
been deteriorating, not improving.  |      (aka henry@zoo.toronto.edu)