Space History Photo: Icicles on the Launch Tower

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Overnight on Jan. 28, 1986 icicles formed on the launch pad and service tower. (Image credit: NASA.)

In this historical photo from the U.S. space agency, icicles formed on the launch pad and service tower in the evening and early morning hours on January 28, 1986. When it was determined that air temperatures combined with wind speeds were going to cause freezing conditions, a decision was made to leave all water supply lines on slow "trickle" to prevent line burst. This action resulted in a surreal scene for the Florida launch facility.

Each weekday, SPACE.com looks back at the history of spaceflight through photos (archive).

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U.S. Space Agency

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is the U.S. government agency in charge of the civilian space program as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. Founded in 1958, NASA is a civilian space agency aimed at exploring the universe with space telescopes,  satellites, robotic spacecraft, astronauts and more. The space agency has 10 major centers based across the U.S. and launches robotic and crewed missions from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral Florida. It's astronaut corps is based at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. To follow NASA's latest mission, follow the space agency on Twitter or any other social channel, of visit: nasa.gov. 

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