Naaman Fletcher In 1963, Aerojet General was given a $3 million contract from the U.S. Air Force to build a manufacturing and testing site for rockets that would send astronauts to the moon. The plant was constructed in the center of Florida's Everglades in the town of Homestead. Beneath a large metal shed, a 150-foot deep silo housed the largest solid-fuel rocket motor ever built. The rocket was tested three times between 1965 and 1967. Then NASA dropped the project. The agency decided to go with liquid-fuel rocket engines instead. The plant was closed in 1969, leaving the rocket behind.   Photographer Naaman Fletcher, who blogs at What's Left of Birmingham, visited the abandoned facility in April 2010.  Here's what remains.   To reach the deserted plant, Fletcher had to bike six miles down a road that is inaccessible to vehicles. Naaman Fletcher The main complex, seen in the distance, sits on the edge of a swamp. Naaman Fletcher "There wasn't another human around me for miles. Very eerie," Fletcher told me. Naaman Fletcher A large steel shed, though rusted and overgrown with plants, remains mostly intact. Naaman Fletcher Industrial-size fans surround the walls. Naaman Fletcher Beneath the rusted floor is a 10-story-high rocket. Naaman Fletcher The underground silo is the deepest hole ever dug in Florida. Naaman Fletcher Fifty years later and the rocket's still there! Naaman Fletcher The rocket was so large it could only be transported by barge. Naaman Fletcher So a canal was dug from the manufacturing plant to the Atlantic Ocean in order to get the rockets to Cape Canaveral, where the space shuttles are launched. Naaman Fletcher The AeroJet 26 Rocket was tested three times between 1965 and 1967, creating a blast that could be seen 50 miles away in Miami, writes Fletcher. Naaman Fletcher But AeroJet never got the contract from NASA to build rockets. Naaman Fletcher The space agency decided to use liquid fuel instead of solid fuel. Naaman Fletcher The plant was closed in 1969. Naaman Fletcher It's been a ghost town ever since. Naaman Fletcher See more man-made wonders. Stefan Krasowski/Rapid Travel Chai