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

Oxygen Powered Rockets

[davek]

From the article:

On Saturday, a wrongly set valve caused one of the four days of delays by accidentally dumping thousands of gallons of super-cold liquid oxygen, one of two fuels used, off the rocket.

Now, forgive me for being an environmentalist wacko, but isn't this a Good Thing? In order to put rockets into space, we use liquid oxygen and hydrogen (aka water), but to get to the local grocery store we use the blood of dead dinosaurs (aka oil). Does anyone else see a disconnect? Was hazmat called because this rocket dumped thousands of gallons of OXYGEN? No. If it had been petrol, they would have evacuated the county.

Mod me offtopic, please.

-Dave