Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 5

Last updated
Launch Complex 5
Mg-KSC-61C-181.jpg
Mercury-Redstone 1 at LC-5 in 1960
Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 5
Launch site Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
Location 28°26′22″N80°34′24″W / 28.43944°N 80.57333°W / 28.43944; -80.57333
Time zone UTC−05:00 (EST)
 Summer (DST)
UTC−04:00 (EDT)
Short nameLC-5
Operator United States Space Force
Launch history
StatusDemolished
Launches23
First launch19 July 1956
Jupiter-A
Last launch21 July 1961
MRLV (Mercury-Redstone 4)
Associated
rockets
Jupiter-A
Jupiter-C
PGM-19 Jupiter
Juno I
PGM-11 Redstone
Juno II
Redstone MRLV
Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 5
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4km
2.5miles
28
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27
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26
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25
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24
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23
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22
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21
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20
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19
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18
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17
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16
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15
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13
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11
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10
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8
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7
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6
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5
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4
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  Active pads
  Active pads not used for launches
  Inactive leased pads
  Inactive unleased pads
1
LC-39B
2
LC-39A
3
LC-48
4
SLC-41
5
SLC-40
6
LC-47
7
SLC-37
8
LC-34
9
SLC-20
10
LC-19
11
LC-16
12
LC-15
13
LC-14
14
LC-13 (LZ-1 & LZ-2)
15
LC-12
16
LC-11
17
LC-36
18
LC-1, LC-2, LC-3, and LC-4
19
SLC-46
20
LC-21 and LC-22
21
LC-31 and LC-32
22
LC-18
23
SLC-17
24
LC-26
25
LC-5 and LC-6
26
LC-30
27
LC-25
28
LC-29

Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 5 (LC-5) was a launch site at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida used for various Redstone and Jupiter launches.

Contents

It is most well known as the launch site for NASA's 1961 suborbital Mercury-Redstone 3 flight, which made Alan Shepard the first American in space. It was also the launch site of Gus Grissom's July, 1961, Mercury-Redstone 4 flight. The Mercury-Redstone 1 pad abort, Mercury-Redstone 1A, and the January, 1961, Mercury-Redstone 2 with a chimpanzee, Ham, aboard, also used LC-5.

A total of 23 launches were conducted from LC-5: one Jupiter-A, six Jupiter IRBMs, one Jupiter-C, four Juno Is, four Juno IIs and seven Redstones. The first launch from the complex was a Jupiter-A on July 19, 1956 and the final launch was Gus Grissom's Liberty Bell 7 capsule on July 21, 1961. [1]

LC-5 is located next to the Cape Canaveral Space Force Museum which is located at LC-26. The original launch consoles and computers are on display in the LC-5 blockhouse. [2] [3] As of 2020, a tour of the museum can be arranged through the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex's "Cape Canaveral: Early Space Tour". One tour is offered daily, so the number of visitors is limited by the size of the tour.

Launch statistics

1
2
3
4
5
6
1956
1957
1958
1959

All launches before October 1958 operated by the United States Army. All launches since operated by NASA.

No.DateTime (UTC)Launch vehiclePayload/missionResultRemarks
119 July 195608:45 Jupiter-A Suborbital testSuccessFirst launch from LC-5.
220 September 195606:45 Jupiter-C Suborbital testSuccess
31 March 195721:51 PGM-19 Jupiter Suborbital testFailureMaiden flight of the PGM-19 Jupiter. Heating in tail section led to vehicle breakup 7 seconds after launch.
426 April 195720:12 PGM-19 Jupiter Suborbital testPartial failurePropellant slosh led to vehicle breakup 93 seconds after launch. Flight considered a success.
531 May 195718:08 PGM-19 Jupiter Suborbital testSuccessFirst fully successful flight of the PGM-19 Jupiter and of a Western IRBM.
626 March 195817:38 Juno I Explorer 3 SuccessPart of the Explorer program, aiming to confirm findings studied by Explorer 1. First orbital launch and Juno I flight from LC-5.
717 May 195800:05 PGM-11 Redstone Suborbital testSuccess
826 July 195815:00 Juno I Explorer 4 SuccessPart of the Explorer program, aiming to study the Van Allen radiation belts and the magnetosphere.
924 August 195806:17 Juno I Explorer 5 FailurePart of the Explorer program, aiming to study the Van Allen radiation belts and the magnetosphere. Mishap during staging led to loss of control and failure to reach orbit.
1023 October 195803:21 Juno I Beacon 1 FailurePart of Project Beacon, a balloon satellite designed to study atmospheric density. Upper stages separated prematurely, leading to failure to reach orbit. Last flight of the Juno I.
116 December 195805:44 Juno II Pioneer 3 Partial failurePart of the Pioneer program, aiming to study the Moon. Maiden flight of the Juno II. Circuit malfunction caused premature first stage cutoff, placing satellite on steep suborbital trajectory.
1222 January 195900:10 PGM-19 Jupiter Suborbital testSuccess
133 March 195905:10 Juno II Pioneer 4 SuccessPart of the Pioneer program, aiming to study the Moon. Maiden flight of the Juno II. First successful American mission to the Moon, and first American satellite to enter heliocentric orbit.
1414 May 195905:52 PGM-19 Jupiter Suborbital testSuccess
1516 July 195917:37 Juno II Explorer S-1 FailurePart of the Explorer program, aiming to study cosmic rays such as Lyman-alpha x-rays. Shorted diode led to control failure immediately after liftoff, causing range safety protocols 5 seconds after launch.
1627 August 195901:30 PGM-19 Jupiter Suborbital testSuccess
1713 October 195915:30 Juno II Explorer 7 SuccessPart of the Explorer program, aiming to study cosmic rays such as Lyman-alpha x-rays. Reflight of Explorer S-1's objective. Final orbital launch from LC-5.
1821 November 196014:00 Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle Mercury-Redstone 1 FailureMaiden flight of the MRLV, designed to perform an uncrewed suborbital flight for Project Mercury. Redstone engine shutdown immediately after launch, settling back onto the pad, becoming known as the "four-inch flight".
1919 December 196016:15 Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle Mercury-Redstone 1A SuccessReflight of MR-1. First successful flight of the MRLV, reusing the capsule used in MR-1.
2031 January 196116:54 Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle Mercury-Redstone 2 SuccessCarried chimpanzee Ham into space as a live rehearsal for a crewed flight. Ham became the first great ape to be put in space.
2124 March 196117:30 Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle Mercury-Redstone BD SuccessTest flight for the MRLV, carrying a boilerplate Mercury capsule. Developed by Wernher Von Braun to certify human rating.
225 May 196114:34 Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle Mercury-Redstone 3
(Freedom 7)
SuccessFirst crewed orbital flight from the United States, first crewed launch of Project Mercury, and first crewed launch from LC-5. Carried astronaut Alan Shepard on a suborbital trajectory, becoming the first American and second person (after Yuri Gagarin) into space.
2321 July 196112:20 Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle Mercury-Redstone 4
(Liberty Bell 7)
SuccessSecond crewed American spaceflight, carrying astronaut Gus Grissom into space. Emergency hatch procedures accidentally fired, causing capsule to sink and Grissom to almost drown. Last American suborbital spaceflight from a rocket until Blue Origin NS-16 in 2021 and most recent crewed suborbital launch from Cape Canaveral. Final launch from LC-5 before conversion into the Cape Canaveral Space Force Museum.

See also

References

  1. "Cape Canaveral LC5". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 2009-04-14. Retrieved 2009-04-14.
  2. "Cape Canaveral Space Force Museum". ccspacemuseum.org. Retrieved 2025-01-10.
  3. "Cape Canaveral Space Force Museum". ccspacemuseum.org. Retrieved 2025-01-10.