Mercury-Redstone 1 at LC-5 in 1960 |
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| Launch site | CCAFS |
|---|---|
| Short name | LC-5 |
| Operator | US Air Force |
| Launch pad(s) | One |
| Launch history | |
| Status | Demolished |
| Launches | 23 |
| First launch | 19 July 1956 |
| Last launch | 21 July 1961 |
| Associated rockets | Jupiter-A Jupiter-C PGM-19 Jupiter Juno I PGM-11 Redstone Juno II Redstone MRLV |
Launch Complex 5 (LC-5) was a launch site at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida used for various Redstone and Jupiter launches.
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 & Missile Museum. The original consoles used to launch the Mercury-Redstone rockets are on display in the blockhouse. As of 2011[update] a tour of the blockhouse (and the museum) can be arranged through the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex's "Cape Canaveral: Then and Now" tour. One tour is offered daily, so the number of visitors is limited by the size of the tour.
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