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By Dina Spector
In 1963, Aerojet General was given a $3 million contract from the U.S. Air Force to build a manufacturing and testing site for rockets that would send astronauts to the moon.
The plant was constructed in the center of Florida's Everglades in the town of Homestead.
Beneath a large metal shed, a 150-foot deep silo housed the largest solid-fuel rocket motor ever built. The rocket was tested three times between 1965 and 1967.
Then NASA dropped the project. The agency decided to go with liquid-fuel rocket engines instead. The plant was closed in 1969, leaving the rocket behind.
Photographer Naaman Fletcher, who blogs at What's Left of Birmingham, visited the abandoned facility in April 2010.
Keep clicking to see what remains.
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To reach the deserted plant, Fletcher had to bike six miles down a road that is inaccessible to vehicles.
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The main complex, seen in the distance, sits on the edge of a swamp.
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"There wasn't another human around me for miles. Very eerie," Fletcher told me.
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A large steel shed, though rusted and overgrown with plants, remains mostly intact.
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Industrial-size fans surround the walls.
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Beneath the rusted floor is a 10-story-high rocket.
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The underground silo is the deepest hole ever dug in Florida.
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Fifty years later and the rocket's still there!
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The rocket was so large it could only be transported by barge.
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So a canal was dug from the manufacturing plant to the Atlantic Ocean in order to get the rockets to Cape Canaveral, where the space shuttles are launched.
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The AeroJet 26 Rocket was tested three times between 1965 and 1967, creating a blast that could be seen 50 miles away in Miami, writes Fletcher.
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But AeroJet never got the contract from NASA to build rockets.
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The space agency decided to use liquid fuel instead of solid fuel.
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The plant was closed in 1969.
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Naaman Fletcher16 of 16Next: These Wild Photos Are 100 Percent Real
It's been a ghost town ever since.
RULE No59
Everyone's got a sad story. And no one wants to hear yours.
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7 Comments
i always thought the government was wasting money ,but little did i know they were just hiding it under ground
October 09 2012 at 8:10 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Replynaaman is one of my favorite explorers, having met him in alabama. i rappelled down inside the test pit in 2007 i think. not something i recommend!
October 08 2012 at 3:37 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyWell Stan, instead of repeatedly denigrating this report, how about sharing some history instead? I believe my father worked on this project. He was with Aerojet and they relocated our family to Homestead (from Carmichael, CA) for a time when I was very young, probably around 1965. Until now, I never knew what he/we were doing there. So if you could put down your pummel club for a minute and share, I'd like to hear.
October 08 2012 at 2:03 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyAS resident Manager who was in charge of constructing the Homestead Aerojet 80 million pound thrust solid rocket cast - cure, test and launch facility, much of the article information is not accurate.
October 06 2012 at 12:26 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyStan Fejta
sfejta@mac.com
Why is this story about NASA when the Air Force funded it and it sits on an old Air Force base? Duh!!!!!
October 05 2012 at 7:16 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyLets load that sucker up with some fireworks and fire her off, the tax payers should get some kind of show for their money. Homestead definitely is not in the middle of the Everglades.
October 05 2012 at 6:26 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyWhile a very interesting story, it does get a number of facts wrong about the location of Homestead, Florida. A quick look at a map will show Homestead located only about 25 miles South of Miami, not 50, and that it is adjacent to the Atlantic coast, not the middle of the Everglades.
October 05 2012 at 11:54 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply