"3...2...1...Blasting into the Future" was the call from Adrian Lafitte, Atlas Program Manager for Lockheed Martin.

The countdown officially ended one era while beginning another, as two huge towers were demolished at historic Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Station.

At 10:07 a.m. ET, a symbolic plunger was pressed by 7-year-old Patrick Olski, whose father, Jack Olski, had purchased the winning $5 raffle ticket which gave the youngster an opportunity to be a part of history.

Then, after a heart stopping delay of several seconds, there was one blast, then another, when the real plunger was pressed by Dykon, Inc. engineer Jim Rydak, whose company was placed in charge of setting the explosives. The detonation occurred 7 minutes behind schedule.

Indeed, the visuals were somewhat less stellar than anticipated, with the 200-foot tall, 2-million pound Umbilical Tower (UT) hitting the ground about 8 seconds after detonation. The 265-foot tall, 5-million pound Mobile Service Tower (MST) took about 10 seconds to hit the ground after detonation.

Initial estimates were that the massive structures would take 30 to 60 seconds to fall. Nevertheless, Lockheed Martin officials were not disappointed. "This was perfect, just perfect," said Lockheed Martin Launch Site Manager Tim Meehan. "We couldn't have asked for better. It's a credit to all the fine planning that went into this."

The huge piles of metal will now be carved up like a Thanksgiving turkey and sold to a local recycler. A few tender morsels are also expected to make their way into the hands of space memorabilia collectors like Ken Havekotte, president of Space Coast Cover Service.

"Launch Complex 41 has a very important role in NASA history, having supported both Viking (Mars) missions and both Voyager (deep space) missions. I'm hoping the Air Force will allow some of the metal from these important relics to be preserved," said Havekotte.

It should take about a month for all the debris to be removed, during which time construction activity at the site will continue. Lockheed Martin has signed a 20-year renewable lease with the Air Force to use Launch Complex 41 as a launch site for the company's new Atlas V rocket.

"With launch processing time of about 23 days maximum -- weather permitting -- for each Atlas V, we initially plan to launch 12 vehicles per year. That may be increased to 24-per-year if we can lease other existing facilities from the Air Force in the future," said Lafitte.

That's compared to an average of 6 months of processing time for the Air Force Titan IVB, the most recent rocket launched at Launch Complex 41.

"We're sad to see the Titan rocket program at the Cape drawing to a close, but we all agree that being able to support so many more launches is great for everybody," said Lt. Col. Tony Goins, Commander of Air Force launch operations at the Cape.

As for some veterans shedding tears over the sudden and dramatic change in the Cape skyline, Julius "Bud" Conti may have summed up the issue best. Conti was Air Force Commander of Titan Operations at the Cape from 1970 to 1972.

Following the demolition, Conti explained, "Hey, I never expected all that metal to be saved. It was all going to rot away eventually. I just think it's a credit to those of us involved in the early days to see that so much of what we built is going to still be used in the new launch facility."

Much of the complex, including the original cement launch pad first used in 1965, will be incorporated. In a mix of old and new, Lockheed Martin expects the renovated Launch Complex 41 to be completed in the first quarter of 2001. The first Atlas V launch there is targeted for the fourth quarter of the same year.