Roland Miller has been documenting the slow crumble of abandoned NASA facilities for the past 25 years. Recently, his two-plus decades of work were published as Abandoned in Place, out now through the University of New Mexico Press.

The title comes from NASA's own designation for abandoned facilities that aren't easy to deconstruct, whether it's due to the thousands of tons of concrete used in construction or any number of other factors. Miller's photos show how the seaside environment at Kennedy Space Center in Florida has taken its toll on these facilities.

That location gives a safe place for rockets to crash away from inhabited areas if something goes wrong, but also leaves the facilities prone to briny, humid air that can chip away at buildings and infrastructure, bit by bit. Some of these unused facilities could cost millions to repair, something a cash-strapped NASA just doesn't have.

"I think the reality is that most of those launch complexes would be impossible to save even if the funding were available," Miller said in a phone interview.



The book travels to the facilities at Kennedy that were used in the early space program, roughly from Mercury up to Apollo. It took 25 years to complete the project, partly because of the slow process of retiring some of the facilities.

Many facilities struck Miller as he went along, but perhaps one of the biggest, he says, was Launch Complexes 31 and 32. There's "not a lot left," just some missile silos and sand bags. But inside those silos are the remains of the Space Shuttle Challenger, one of the few casualties of the space program.

"It's a poignant and peaceful place," he said.

You can check out some of the photos below, and read more about the project at Miller's site. All pictures were taken at Kennedy Space Center or Cape Canaveral Air Force Station unless otherwise indicated.