Cape Canaveral LC18B
Site · USA
Original archive entry. The text, images and links below are kept as they were written.
Scout, Delta launch complex. The LC18 complex included two launch pads 18A and 18B. Pad 18B supported 17 Thor missile launches between 4 June 1958 and 1 March 1960. Pad 18B supported half a dozen Blue Scout I, Blue Scout II and Scout missions between 7 January 1961 and 13 April 1962. Complex 18 was deactivated on 1 February 1967.
Related
- Country
- USA
- Spacecraft
- Radio Test Spacecraft
- Launch Vehicles
- Thor DM-18, Thor DM-18A, Thor DM-18C, Blue Scout I, Blue Scout II
- Launch Sites
- Cape Canaveral
Chronology
23 events
1958 June 4
21:17 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC18B. Launch Pad: LC18B. LV Family: Thor. Launch Vehicle: Thor DM-18.- Research and development Series III test - .
Nation: USA.
Agency: USAF.
Apogee: 520 km (320 mi).
The first Air Force Thor IRBM flight test missile (Number 115) to be fired from a tactical-type launcher was launched at Cape Canaveral. The missile completed a successful flight, impacting 1,170 nautical miles downrange. This was also the first Thor to be launched without a flight readiness firing of its propulsion system. USAF Thor flight tested for the first time from a tactical-type launcher at Cape Canaveral.
1958 August 6
Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC18B. Launch Pad: LC18B. LV Family: Thor. Launch Vehicle: Thor DM-18.- Research and development Series III test - . Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 520 km (320 mi). The last of 18 Thor research and development flight test missiles was launched from Cape Canaveral. Only seven of the 18 launches were categorized as successes while 11 were failures. .
1958 December 6
00:41 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC18B. Launch Pad: LC18B. LV Family: Thor. Launch Vehicle: Thor DM-18A.1958 December 31
02:00 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC18B. Launch Pad: LC18B. LV Family: Thor. Launch Vehicle: Thor DM-18A. FAILURE: Failure. Failed Stage: 1.1959 March 22
00:58 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC18B. Launch Pad: LC18B. LV Family: Thor. Launch Vehicle: Thor DM-18A.1959 April 25
05:00 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC18B. Launch Pad: LC18B. LV Family: Thor. Launch Vehicle: Thor DM-18A.1959 May 23
02:42 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC18B. Launch Pad: LC18B. LV Family: Thor. Launch Vehicle: Thor DM-18A.1959 June 26
Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC18B. Launch Pad: LC18B. LV Family: Thor. Launch Vehicle: Thor DM-18A.1959 July 24
12:47 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC18B. Launch Pad: LC18B. LV Family: Thor. Launch Vehicle: Thor DM-18A.- Series IV research and development launch - . Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 520 km (320 mi). USAF Thor data capsule recovered near Antigua which contained movie film showing nose cone separation..
1959 August 14
09:00 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC18B. Launch Pad: LC18B. LV Family: Thor. Launch Vehicle: Thor DM-18A.1959 September 12
Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC18B. Launch Pad: LC18B. LV Family: Thor. Launch Vehicle: Thor DM-18A.1959 October 6
16:41 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC18B. Launch Pad: LC18B. LV Family: Thor. Launch Vehicle: Thor DM-18A.- Series IV research and development launch/Meteorites mission - . Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 520 km (320 mi).
1959 October 29
02:12 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC18B. Launch Pad: LC18B. LV Family: Thor. Launch Vehicle: Thor DM-18A.- Series IV research and development launch/Meteorites mission - . Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 520 km (320 mi).
1959 December 1
17:00 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC18B. Launch Pad: LC18B. LV Family: Thor. Launch Vehicle: Thor DM-18A.1960 January 14
16:35 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC18B. Launch Pad: LC18B. LV Family: Thor. Launch Vehicle: Thor DM-18C.1960 February 9
17:11 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC18B. Launch Pad: LC18B. LV Family: Thor. Launch Vehicle: Thor DM-18C.1960 February 29
Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC18B. Launch Pad: LC18B. LV Family: Thor. Launch Vehicle: Thor DM-18C.1961 January 7
17:33 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC18B. Launch Pad: LC18B. LV Family: Scout. Launch Vehicle: Blue Scout I.- HETS A1-1 Plasma / radio astronomy mission - . Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 1,600 km (900 mi).
1961 March 3
16:02 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC18B. Launch Pad: LC18B. LV Family: Scout. Launch Vehicle: Blue Scout II.1961 April 12
06:07 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC18B. Launch Pad: LC18B. LV Family: Scout. Launch Vehicle: Blue Scout II.1961 May 9
16:00 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC18B. Launch Pad: LC18B. LV Family: Scout. Launch Vehicle: Blue Scout I. FAILURE: Failure.1961 November 1
15:32 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC18B. Launch Pad: LC18B. LV Family: Scout. Launch Vehicle: Blue Scout II. FAILURE: Failure. Failed Stage: U.- Mercury MS-1 - .
Payload: Radio Test Spacecraft. Nation: USA.
Agency: USAF.
Class: Technology.
Type: Tracking network technology satellite. Spacecraft: Radio Test Spacecraft,
Mercury.
Small satellite was to have verified the readiness of the worldwide Mercury tracking network. An attempt was made to launch Mercury-Scout 1 (MS-1) into orbit with a communications package further to qualify the radar tracking of the Mercury global network prior to manned orbital flight. Shortly after lift-off, the launch vehicle developed erratic motions and attending high aerodynamic loads, and was destroyed by the Range Safety Officer after 43 seconds of flight. No further attempts were planned. The Mercury-Atlas 4 (MA-4) mission and the successful Mercury-Atlas 5 (MA-5), flown on November 29, 1961, disclosed that the network met all requirements.