The Last Atlas 2 Rocket Launch

Fiz Ocelot writes "Reuters reports that the last Atlas 2 rocket was launched on Tuesday. The rocket was the last to launch the old-fashioned way. For this launch, the 120-member team was inside a blockhouse 1,400 feet from the launch pad. It was also the end of an era dating back to the 1950s, when most rockets, including early manned flights, were launched from concrete blockhouses adjacent to the pads."

Comments

Re:End of an Era?

[E-Lad]

The Atlas 2 rockets were the first widely-deployed nuclear-tipped ICBMs in the US arsenal.

They were both tower and silo launched. Many of the old Altas silos are abandoned today, with a few being opened as museums, and in some cases, homes. /dale

Shuttlecraft

[uberdave]

I think there should be two types of shuttle. First, a personnel shuttle to bring people up and down. Second, for those rare occasions when we need it, a cargo shuttle to bring hardware down (not up, but down). These shuttles, wouldn't be the fixed wing flying brickyards we have now, but a craft with a replaceable ablative heat shield, and parasail/parawing. Cargo would be sent up the way it used to be, as simple rocket payload.