Neat, Raoul. The rocket got my attention at first, but then I started to notice the launch facility. I've gotten used to seeing Shuttle launches from the old renovated Saturn facility--it's comfortable, like an old friend...but it's so 60s, in contrast to the new Delta facility, which just looks like the 21st century.
I'd like to find out more about that complex. All I've found so far is a one-page <a href='http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/delta/flo_facilities_delta_IV.htm">Boeing overview which has few pictures to illustrate a lot of text. I did learn that the two towers are for lightning protection (smart), and that the mini-VAB-looking building is sort of that--it's the "Fixed Pad Erector" for final assembly. Seems awfully close to the pad, to me, but I trust that there were studies that found that the cost savings of not transporting finished vehicles vertically to the pad like the Saturn complex outweighed the potential cost of rebuilding the FPE in the event of a pad explosion.
Way cool, Raoul!
Space/Science » in reply to Delta 4 Heavy
a modern launch facility
