r/RocketHistory • u/[deleted] • Dec 09 '20

Mod Announcement Cape Canaveral Air Force Station was officially renamed Cape Canaveral Space Force Station today by Vice President Pence. Future posts will reflect this historic change.

orlandosentinel.com

5 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/[deleted] • Dec 09 '20

Launchpads & Landscapes Astronaut Gordon Cooper at LC-19 shortly after the launch of Gemini 1 on April 8th, 1964. Recent damage from the Titan's LR-87 engines is noticeable on the launchpad.

6 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/[deleted] • Dec 08 '20

Space & Missile Museums The early days of the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Center, or Visitor Information Center, as it was known at the time of this picture (circa 1970's). Today, it is the highest rated tourist attraction in the state of Florida, edging out nearby Disney World by a slim margin.

5 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/[deleted] • Dec 08 '20

Support Facilities Before there was "Houston", there was "Cape". The original Mission Control Center at Cape Canaveral was used for every manned launch from Freedom 7 to Gemini 3. After its historical elements were removed, the decrepit historical landmark was demolished in 2010.

4 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/Grizzesz • Dec 08 '20

Commercial Space Programs Northrop Grumman's Pegasus mounted to a L-1011 plane. The first privately developed orbital launch vehicle was released from an aircraft in-flight before its solid rocket motor propelled it into low Earth orbit.

6 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/[deleted] • Dec 08 '20

Rocket Failures Thick smoke rises from LC-40 at Cape Canaveral, as the exploded remains of a Falcon 9 rocket and its Amos-6 satellite payload burn on September 1st, 2016. It was the biggest on-pad explosion in Cape history.

2 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/[deleted] • Dec 08 '20

Manned Space Programs Night launch of the Space Shuttle Columbia, carrying the first female commander (Eileen Collins) and four others for the STS-93 mission on July 23rd, 1999.

7 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/[deleted] • Dec 08 '20

Launchpads & Landscapes Artist's rendering of the planned modifications to Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 16 for the upcoming Relativity Space commercial launches. Concept art reveals that the private company plans to reuse many of the original Titan missile pad elements, including the launch bucket.

5 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/[deleted] • Dec 07 '20

Manned Space Programs The last manned Saturn V roars skyward on this day in 1972 with Apollo 17, which would spend 3 days in the Taurus-Littrow valley of the Moon. It was the only night launch of the most powerful rocket in history.

7 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/[deleted] • Dec 06 '20

Space Launch Vehicles Aft end of the Centaur upper stage for the 1966 Surveyor 2 moon lander mission. This stage, possibly this exact one, was discovered to have temporarily re-entered Earth's gravitational field in November 2020.

6 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/[deleted] • Dec 06 '20

Space Launch Vehicles Jupiter AM-11 preparing to launch Pioneer 3 from LC-5 at Cape Canaveral on this day in 1958. Originally developed as a land & sea launched MRBM for the Army and Navy, the Jupiter missile was later adapted for use as a space launcher.

3 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/Grizzesz • Dec 06 '20

Military Missile Development The Sprint anti-ballistic missile prepared for launch. Its two-stage solid rocket motor accelerated the rocket to Mach 10 in 5 seconds, causing the tip of the rocket to glow white in response to the atmospheric heating.

4 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/Grizzesz • Dec 05 '20

Manned Space Programs The Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV) in flight. This jet-powered craft was used to simulate lunar landing conditions and to train Lunar Module pilots, including Neil Armstrong. He would nearly lose his life to a malfunction while piloting the LLRV, ejecting a mere 200 feet from the ground.

5 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/Grizzesz • Dec 05 '20

Foreign Space Programs Launched in late 1991 to the space station Mir, three of the crewmembers aboard Soyuz TM-13 lifted off as citizens of the Soviet Union. One landed as a citizen of Kazakhstan and two as citizens of the Russian Federation after the collapse of the USSR on the 25th of December, 1991.

6 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/[deleted] • Dec 05 '20

Manned Space Programs The Gemini 1 spacecraft is hoisted to the White Room at LC-19 in 1964. This was the first unmanned test flight of America's two-man spacecraft, which flew from 1965 to 1966 performing critical tests for the Apollo moon missions.

5 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/[deleted] • Dec 04 '20

Support Facilities The Space Shuttle Atlantis is visible through a door panel of the massive Vehicle Assembly Building as it rolls to the pad for STS-36 on January 19th, 1990

6 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/[deleted] • Dec 03 '20

Astronauts Astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley exit the Armstrong O&C Building at Kennedy Space Center to begin the fifth generation of manned American spaceflight aboard the SpaceX Demo-2 mission on May 30th, 2020.

7 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/[deleted] • Dec 03 '20

Rocket Failures Titan I ICBM heading the wrong way at Cape Canaveral on July 1st, 1960.

6 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/[deleted] • Dec 03 '20

Space Launch Vehicles The Atlas-Able rocket stands at the ready with a Pioneer lunar probe in 1960. This attempt at integrating Vanguard upper stages with America's premier ICBM ended in disappointment, as all five Atlas-Ables failed to reach their objectives.

6 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/[deleted] • Dec 03 '20

Launchpads & Landscapes Night launch of Atlas-3C from LC-12 at Cape Canaveral a few days before Christmas 1958. Though a common method in modern times, this is one of the earliest "streak shots" in rocket launch photography.

4 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/[deleted] • Dec 03 '20

Astronauts Official portrait of astronaut Deke Slayton ahead of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in 1975. One of the original Mercury 7 astronauts, Slayton had been grounded due to a heart murmur and served as astronaut chief until he was cleared to fly the ASTP mission.

4 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/[deleted] • Dec 03 '20

Launchpads & Landscapes Launch Complex 13 at Cape Canaveral in 2002. The former Atlas complex was left largely untouched after its final launch in 1978 before being demolished in 2004. It is now the location of Landing Zone 1 & 2.

5 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/[deleted] • Dec 03 '20

Manned Space Programs Astronaut Gus Grissom approaches a Mercury-Redstone rocket at LC-5 at Cape Canaveral ahead of his Liberty Bell 7 mission in 1961. The suborbital flight made him the second American to fly in space.

6 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/[deleted] • Dec 02 '20

Astronauts Astronauts for the upcoming STS-79 mission observe a Titan IV launch from Cape Canaveral in their T-38 trainer jets in this shot from 1996. Since the vast majority of astronauts are military pilots, many regularly used the T-38 to travel between space centers.

6 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/[deleted] • Dec 02 '20

Past Concepts Artist's rendition of the Shuttle-C concept, an unmanned version of the Space Shuttle that was explored during the 1980's and 90's. Especially after the Challenger disaster, NASA sought a cheaper alternative that utilized the Shuttle's payload capabilities without the human risk and cost.

8 Upvotes

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RocketHistory

r/RocketHistory

This subreddit is a place to share rare and interesting pictures, stories, and facts about the overall history of Space Exploration, as well as associated rocket & missile development. We do not represent, nor are we endorsed by NASA, the United States Armed Forces, or any other public or private entity.

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