Abandoned in Place: Preserving America's Space History

by Roland Miller

Stenciled on many of the deactivated facilities at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the evocative phrase "abandoned in place" indicates the structures that have been deserted. Some structures, too solid for any known method of demolition, stand empty and unused in the wake of the early period of US space exploration. Now Roland Miller's color photographs document the NASA, Air Force, and Army facilities across the nation that once played a crucial role in the space race. Rapidly succumbing to the elements and demolition, most of the blockhouses, launch towers, tunnels, test stands, and control rooms featured in Abandoned in Place are located at secure military or NASA facilities with little or no public access. Some have been repurposed, but over half of the facilities photographed no longer exist. The haunting images collected here impart artistic insight while preserving an important period in history.

Genres: Space, Nonfiction, History, Photography, Science, Astronomy

176 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2016

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a large format coffee table book. with photographs that are mostly of launch sites and rocket test sites for the U.S. space program and Air Force. As the the book's subtitle says, the book is meant to preserve America's space history.

I got this at my local public library. It was a pleasure to read the well written text and to look at the photographs, some of which date back to 1990. You can see some of them and read more about the book on the author's web site: http://www.abandonedinplace.com/.

According to wikipedia, "Industrial archaeology is the systematic study of material evidence associated with the industrial past" - what is interesting here is that we are not talking about the 1800s but rather a period time starting in the 1960s with the Mercury program and continuing through Gemini and Apollo in the early 1970s - the test and launch sites for these three are the main focus. Not so long ago, but the huge concrete and steel structures were not built to last, apparently.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up this book in the Kickstarter for the author's _Interior Space_. This book, _Abandoned In Place_ is a journey through the many places that were built during the race to the moon. Each has been "Abandoned in Place" as there wasn't the interest to demolish them. So they sit as relics of a past era of space flight.

The amount of supporting infrastructure required for Apollo is simply amazing. I hadn't thought of all the structures that have been built to handle some aspect of the program.

All of the photographs are from the author's trips to the facilities in an effort to document them before they either crumble to dust or are eventually knocked down. In a couple places the structural engineers state they would need to invent new methods of demolition in order to remove the facilities, as some were built to withstand rocket engins.

Amazing history.

[Gemini · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cannot recommend this book enough. It's quite a sad book, with beautiful photos of what is left of the age of space. The early age, that is. In these buildings, men prepared to be launched into space aboard a fiery rocket, not knowing what would happen. They were pioneers. Some, like the Apollo 1 crew, lost their lives, and part of that area still stands, thankfully. I was too young to remember much about the moon landings, but the book still brought back a sad memory, of when Americans had pride, astronauts were heroes, and we had such optimism about a New Frontier. Great gift for space history buffs, architecture, midcentury, etc.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kind of sad seeing all these places and important structures just rusting away.

[Holly Mcentee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Poignant, artsy, historic (for the right interest group). Happy my public library had this!

[Benjamin Wetmore · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decent photos, awful writing.