posted 09-05-2014 06:13 PM               

Air Force using lasers to preserve historic launch pads

The U.S. Air Force has a new tool in its effort to preserve space history: lasers.

The 45th Space Wing at Patrick Air Force Base in Florida has partnered with the University of South Florida Alliance for Integrated Spatial Technologies (AIST) to use a laser scanner to survey, map and create virtual models of some of the historic space launch complexes at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS).

"Some of these [launch] complexes are in poor shape," Tom Penders, the cultural resources manager for the 45th Space Wing, said in an Air Force interview. "A couple [of the structures] are on the verge of collapsing, so I wanted highly detailed documentation before something happens."