Jupiter Descending...

Weather has a lot of consequences in a place like Texas. It can be unpredictable and fairly violent at times. It can postpone rocket contests (like it did with Megalaunch this weekend) or it can have even more profound effects....historic, even.

Let me back up a little. For years I have been participating in Moon Day with John Dyer, Suzy Sprague, Jack Sprague, and many others from DARS. Moon Day takes place at the Frontiers of Flight Museum at Love Field, which boasts many historic air and space craft (the star being Apollo 7). One of the lesser players was a Jupiter missile that was kept in a side parking lot. I say was, because it is no more.

My wife is into recycling. She would, if she could, single-handedly save the planet. Part of her program is to take cans and other metal bits to the local scrap yard in Garland. Since I was off this week for Spring Break, I tagged along. When we pulled in the gate, we saw this:

After the shock of running into a ballistic missile in our local scrap yard wore off, I told Laurie that it sure looked like the old Jupiter missile from the Frontiers of Flight Museum. We asked the lady at the front desk about it and she said that it was the same. She said the recent wind storms pushed it into a fence and almost onto a road and had damaged it. She said the museum decided that it was a liability so "someone that knew someone" called them to scrap it! However, she also said, "Don't worry, it will never be cut up. We just can't do it. It's history! Its worth more to us like it is!"
She then went on to show us that she had a pretty darn good grasp of U.S. history herself, talking about the Cuban missile crises and related events.

So, if you want to see this old war bird, just go to DFW Industrial Metals & Recycling at 1340 Commerce in Garland, Texas. They encouraged me to tell everyone in DARS about the missile, and to mention that if you have any metal to recycle, they can certainly help you! It's good to know they appreciate history, too!

Until next time, fly 'em fast and high!