In 1963 Aerojet-General built a rocket manufacturing plant in the middle of the Everglades. They were hoping to build rockets for the Apollo moon mission. The rockets were built and tested in a 150 ft. deep silo, the deepest hole ever dug in Florida. In addition to the site, they dug the largest canal cutting through the Everglades to the Atlantic ocean. Because the rockets were so big (solid fueled), they could only be transfered by barge.
The Saturn rockets ended up with liquid fuel and Aerojet never got the contract. The site was abandoned in 1969, along with the rocket in the silo. It's been sitting there for nearly 50 years.
Joey Daoud was inspired by Smile to create this film as part of our filmmaker + musician collaboration series for Borscht 7.
director: Joey Daoud
cinematography: Joey Daoud, Andrew Hevia
music: Smile
Joey Daoud is a documentary film producer, cinematographer, and photographer. His work has appeared on The New York Times, The Guardian, BoingBoing, and other media outlets. He produces short documentaries and features, including the film Bots High, currently available on iTunes and Hulu.
website: joeydaoud.com