Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 5

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

Launch Complex 5
Mercury-Redstone 1 at LC-5 in 1960
Launch siteCape Canaveral Space Force Station
Location28°26′22″N 80°34′24″W
Short nameLC-5
OperatorU.S. Space Force
Launch history
StatusDemolished
Launches23
First launch19 July 1956
Last launch21 July 1961
Associated
rockets		Jupiter-A
Jupiter-C
PGM-19 Jupiter
Juno I
PGM-11 Redstone
Juno II
Redstone MRLV

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 Mercury-Redstone 4 flight. The Mercury-Redstone 1 pad abort, Mercury-Redstone 1A, and Mercury-Redstone 2, with 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 Air Force Space and Missile Museum which is located at LC-26. The original launch consoles and computers are on display in the LC-5 blockhouse. 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 chronology
  • July 19, 1956: Jupiter-A CC-13
  • September 20, 1956: Jupiter-C RS-27
  • March 1, 1957: Jupiter IRBM AM-1A
  • April 26, 1957: Jupiter IRBM AM-1B
  • May 31, 1957: Jupiter IRBM AM-1
  • March 26, 1958: Juno I RS-24 (Explorer 3)
  • May 17, 1958: Redstone RS-1002
  • July 26, 1958: Juno I RS/CC-44 (Explorer 4)
  • August 24, 1958: Juno I RS/CC-47 (Explorer 5)
  • October 23, 1958: Juno I RS/CC-49 (Beacon 1)
  • December 6, 1958: Juno II AM-11 (Pioneer 3)
  • January 22, 1959: Jupiter IRBM CM-21
  • March 3, 1959: Juno II AM-14 (Pioneer 4)
  • May 14, 1959: Jupiter IRBM AM-17
  • July 16, 1959: Juno II AM-16 (Explorer S-1, failed)
  • August 27, 1959: Jupiter IRBM AM-19
  • October 13, 1959: Juno II AM-19A (Explorer 7)
  • November 21, 1960: Redstone MRLV-1 (MR-1)
  • December 19, 1960: Redstone MRLV-3 (MR-1A)
  • January 31, 1961: Redstone MRLV-2 (MR-2)
  • March 24, 1961: Redstone MRLV-5 (MR-BD)
  • May 5, 1961: Redstone MRLV-7 (MR-3)
  • July 21, 1961: Redstone MRLV-8 (MR-4)
  • Preparations on May 16, 1958 for the first PGM-11 Redstone launch on May 17 conducted by US Army troops
  • Launch of Liberty Bell 7 (MR-4)
  • Blockhouse (2010)
  • Firing button (2010)
  • LC-5 with display Redstone (2010)
  • LC 5&6 blockhouse (now museum)

See also

Notes
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-04-14. Retrieved 2009-04-14.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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