KEVIN S

In 1960, a young NASA launched the first of twelve spacecraft on a small, general-purpose rocket called Delta. Cobbled together from the tested pieces of other, less dependable rockets, Delta was intended as a stopgap until more powerful vehicles could be developed... For over fifty years, dozens of upgrades, and more than 300 successes, the Delta expendable launch vehicle remained the "magnificent little workhorse" of space. The satellites and space probes it launched have revolutionized several industries and expanded the boundaries of science, and Delta II set a high standard for launch vehicle reliability - upon its last flight in 2018 its record stood at 100 consecutive successes... As the era of Delta II comes to a quiet close, a last bit of (sad) thunder: tomorrow morning the launch towers at Cape Canaveral's SLC-17 will be demolished by controlled detonation.