Launch Complex 26

Launch Complex 26. LC-26 Blockhouse. , This building served as the control center for the two launch pads that made up Launch Complex 26. Between 1957 and 1963 was used to support the U.S. Army's Redstone, Jupiter, and Juno ballistic missile and launch vehicle programs. Explorer I, the first successful American satellite was launched from Pad A on 31 January 1958. There "monkeynauts" (Gordo, Able, and Baker) were launched from Pad B in 1958 and 1959, paving the way for future manned space flight. Italian and Turkish NATO combat crews trained to operate the Jupiter missile in this facility. Complex 26 was deactivated in 1963 after 36 launches and set aside for use as a "space museum” the following year., The Blockhouse has a number of unique features designed to help protect the launch crews in the event of catastrophic failure of a lunch vehicle located only 400 feet away. The building is constructed of reinforced concrete with two-foot-thick walls and a dome shaped roof that varies from five to eight feet in thickness. The windows consist of 45 layers of glass, making them twelve inches thick. Heavy armor plating cover the inner and outer blast doors. Most of the light fixtures, paint schemes, and wiring paths are original to the building. Three foot deep cableways still connect the Blockhouse to the launch pads., (captions) , This 1950s-era drawing shows the orientation of the Blockhouse with surrounding structures. Note the dual launch pads connected to the Blockhouse via cableways. Rails going through and around the pads allowed mobile gantries to prepare rockets for launch., The U.S. Army test launched this Redstone missile on 21 July 1959 from Launch Pad 26A. It launched successfully, but experienced a malfunction during re-entry missing its target., Werner von Braun’s ABMA team successfully ushered America into the Cold War Space Race with the successful launch of Explorer I on a Juno booster, 31 January 1958., The launch crew prepares the Juno rocket carrying Explorer I for launch in Firing Room A of the Blockhouse. Albert Zeiler, Capt. Ballard Small, Terry Greenfield, C.D. Sweat, Ike Rigell, Carl Whiteside, Curly Chandler, Bob Moser, and Milt Chambers are among the lunch crew pictured.