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NASA's Graveyards: Haunting Images Reveal Remnants of the Space Race

The facilities that once captivated us are now abandoned and left to the elements

By Alexandra Alexa - March 2, 2016

in Photography

Last night, astronaut Scott Kelly landed in Kazahkstan after spending 340 days in space. His seemingly idyllic landing and adventures over the past year (documented here in a film by TIME Magazine and PBS) have rekindled our public imagination for the deep mysteries that lie beyond Earth.

The Soyuz TMA-18M spacecraft descending under its main parachute near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan. (Photo credit: Bill Ingalls)

This fascination started with the Cold War Space Race, an early period of space exploration that became one of the most significant technological undertakings of the 20th century, culminating with Neil Armstrong's legendary first steps on the moon.

The incredible infrastructures that were erected to support this endeavor served as a symbol for the high-stakes urgency of the time period—but these once-crucial sites have been abandoned and left to become modern ruins. Over the past 25 years, photographer Roland Miller travelled to over 16 sites across the country, documenting the current state of these space-launch and research facilities.

Through images that are at once documentary and artistic, he captures the temporal nature of sites that once captivated the entire world. "These abandoned space launch and test facilities bring to mind archeological sites," he stated in an interview. "There is a spiritual quality to Launch Complex 34. The launch pedestal with its large round opening to the sky gives it the look of some ancient astronomical archaeological ruin, something like Stonehenge."

All of the images below were taken by Roland Miller. They will be collected in the forthcoming book "Abandoned in Place: Preserving America's Space History" to be published in March 2016 by the University of New Mexico Press.

Launch Pad and Gantry with Hermes A-1 Rocket, V2 Launch Complex 33, White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, 2006

Launch Ring, Launch Complex 34 (Apollo Saturn), Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, 1990

Apollo Saturn V F1 Engine Cluster, NASA Johnson Space Center, Texas, 1996

Atlas Rocket, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, 1993

Wind Tunnel Test Chamber with Model, NASA Langley Research Center, Virginia, 1997

Mobile Service Tower Platforms, Atlas Launch Complex 36B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, 2005

Rubber Room, Launch Pad 39B, Kennedy Space Center

Telemetry Receivers, Strip Chart Recorders, Blockhouse, Redstone Complex 36, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, 2000

Missile Fuel Tank, Atlas Launch Complex 13, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, 1992

Saturn V F1 Engine, Kennedy Space Center, Florida, 1997

Launch Complex 34 Apollo Saturn Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, 2000

Horizontal Gantry from Base, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, 1991

Flooded Room Beneath Pad 19, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, 1992

Launch Control Room, Titan II ICBM Silo 395-C Vandenburg Air Force Base, California, 1995

Pressure Gauge Panel, Apollo Saturn V F1 Engine Test Stand Boeing Facility, Santa Susana Field Laboratory, California, 1998

Solar Simulator and 120-Foot Vacuum Chamber A, NASA Johnson Space Center, Texas, 1996

Liquid Fuel Tank Support, Launch Complex 37 Apollo Saturn Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, 1993

Blockhouse, Launch Complex 37 Apollo Saturn Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, 1992

Plug Board, Complex 26 Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida

Fuel Tank, Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center

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Ken Jacques

8 years ago

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Anton,
The oldest reference to the image I can find through google images is from a gallery by the photographer.
http://www.rolandmiller.com/pages/santa_susana.html
Another image from that location also had Cyrillic nomenclature.

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Anton Ruckman

8 years ago

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Why is a Russian text/font on the picture number 6 from the end?

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Daniel Tang

8 years ago

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Fascinating stuff,Thanks for sharing this!

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Sean Horita

8 years ago

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So awesome.

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Matt Bowman

8 years ago

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Lovely Photos!

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