Launch
Complex 5 - Site of Alan Shepard's Historical
Flight
A little more than 47 years ago on
May 5, 1961 Alan Shepard was climbed in his
Mercury capsule dubbed "Freedom 7" at
LC-5 and launched on a sub-orbital flight into
space. Visiting the site I was struck how simple
our first step into space was. The Redstone was
attached to a simple iron launch ring. The
blockhouse just a few hundred yards away and the
small rocket was equipped with just a single
engine and a single stage. From these simple
steps and just eight years later America would
land on the Moon using the world's largest rocket
and a launch facility that dwarfs this facility.
Yet, the heroism and bravery of what Alan Shepard
and the early Mercury and Gemini astronauts
accomplished is in no way any less impressive. In
both instances we accomplished so much with so
little.
Launch
Complex 5 on May 5, 1961 as
Alan Shepard became the first American
to reach space.
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Launch
Complex 5 on October 24, 2007 with a
replica of the Redstone rocket and
Freedom 7 capsule standing on the
original launch pad.
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Click on
any image below for a larger version
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The
original blockhouse sits just a few
hundred yards from the launch pad.
Standing here gives you a real feel for
how connected and integrated the launch
personnel were to the astronaut and the
rocket. The mission personnel and
astronaut were within eyesight and
walking distance of each other. |
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This tribute to
Alan Shepard is affixed to the blockhouse
wall just to the left of the entrance. |
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The blast doors to
the thick concrete blockhouse. The
proximity to the launchpad and the
sturdiness didn't seem a concern most
likely due to the relatively small size
of the Redstone. |
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The firing console
inside the blockhouse. The inside in
cramped and loaded with equipment. It
would have been a very crowded space on
launch day. |
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This is what the
blockhouse glass windows look like. Thick
and tinted green. Several windows show
dings, chips and cracks where flying
debris kicked up by the rocket engine
struck the glass. |
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The firing console
directly facing the Redstone. Visible
through the glass is the replica Redstone
standing on the pad. It is highly likely
Wernher Von Braun stood in this exact
spot and watched the launch of America's
first man in space. |
Next: The Surviving Lunar Excursion
Modules (LEMs)
Back to the
Main Space Gallery Index
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