Dropping the hammerhead

VANDENBERG AIR FACE BASE, Calif. -- Construction crews began tearing down the mobile service tower at Space Launch Complex-4 East in preparation for the Space Exploration Technologies Falcon Heavy mission here, Aug. 2, 2011. The Falcon Heavy, which is touted to be the most powerful vehicle in the world since the Saturn V moon rocket, is expected to have about four million pounds of thrust and the ability to carry payloads weighing more than 53 metric tons. (U.S. Air Force/Staff Sgt. Levi Riendeau)

Dropping the hammerhead

VANDENBERG AIR FACE BASE, Calif. -- Construction crews began tearing down the mobile service tower at Space Launch Complex-4 East in preparation for the Space Exploration Technologies Falcon Heavy mission here, Aug. 2, 2011. The Falcon Heavy, which is touted to be the most powerful vehicle in the world since the Saturn V moon rocket, is expected to have about four million pounds of thrust and the ability to carry payloads weighing more than 53 metric tons. (U.S. Air Force/Staff Sgt. Levi Riendeau)

Vandenberg welcomes SpaceX

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Col. Richard Boltz, the 30th Space Wing commander, speaks during the ground breaking ceremony at Space Launch Complex 4 East here Wednesday, July 14, 2011. SpaceX has plans to launch their Falcon Heavy from Vandenberg in 2013. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Andrew Satran)

Vandenberg welcomes SpaceX

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Lompoc Mayor John Linn, speaks during the ground breaking ceremony at Space Launch Complex 4 East here Wednesday, July 14, 2011. SpaceX has plans to launch their Falcon Heavy from Vandenberg in 2013. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Andrew Satran)

Minuteman III burns through fog at Vandenberg

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Team Vandenberg launched an unarmed operational test Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile at 6:35 a.m., Wednesday, June 22, 2011 from Launch Facility-10 here. The missile's single reentry test vehicle traveled approximately 4,200 miles to a pre-determined target near the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. (U.S. Air Force photo/Joe Davila)

Team Vandenberg launches Delta II rocket

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Team Vandenberg launched a Delta II rocket carrying the Aquarius/SAC-D (Satelite de Aplicaciones Cientificas) observatory from Space Launch Complex-2 here at 7:20 a.m. PDT Friday, June 10, 2011. The Aquarius/SAC-D observatory is a collaboration between NASA and Argentina's space agency, Comision Nacional de Actividades Espaciales (CONAE). Aquarius is the NASA-built primary instrument on the SAC-D spacecraft, built by CONAE. Aquarius will map global changes in salinity -- the concentration of dissolved salt -- at the ocean surface. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Lael Huss)