With a warning siren, a final 3-2-1 countdown and cry of “fire in the hole!”, explosives flashed with loud bangs near the bases of the nearly 200-foot-tall mobile and fixed towers at pads 17A and 17B, sending them toppling sideways in opposite directions.
Complex 17 was activated in 1957 for test launches of Thor ballistic missile, and was later known for space missions by Delta rockets. In all, it hosted 325 launches.
