Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 5

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 5 (LC-5) was a Launch Site at Merritt Island, Cape Canaveral, Florida. The site was used for various Redstone and Jupiter launches.

It is most well known as the launch site for NASAs 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 “Flight”, Mercury-Redstone 1A, and Mercury-Redstone 2, with Ham aboard, also used LC-5.

A total of twenty-three launches (sixteen Redstone and seven Jupiter) were made from LC-5. The first launch from this complex was July 19, 1956, and the final launch was Gus Grissom's Liberty Bell 7 capsule on July 21, 1961.

Launch Complex 5 is currently a museum, and a tour of the blockhouse can be arranged through the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Center. All original equipment used to launch the Mercury-Redstone rockets is on display in the blockhouse.

As of 2008, it should be noted that Launch Complex 5 has become dilapidated and all but forgotten. While the grass is still taken care of, and there are several people dedicated to the preservation of the site, it rarely visited due to the fact that it requires special admittance to get to the location. The site is part of the Air Force Space & Missile Museum, which shares the same fate.

ee also

*Air Force Space & Missile Museum
*List of Merritt Island launch sites
*Merritt Island
*Project Mercury
*Jupiter
*Redstone

External links

*http://www.astronautix.com/sites/capallc5.htm