Cape Canaveral, Florida - this is where the main launch pad of the Eastern Missile Test Site is located - the main space port of the United States.
Among sugarcane
Europeans who landed in the 16th century on the coast of Florida gave the cape the name Cañaveral, which in Spanish means "sugarcane thicket." After the expulsion of the indigenous population - the Indian tribes of Timakua, Kalus and Seminoles - scattered farms settled on the lands of the cape, and on the coast - fishermen and shrimp harvesters.
By the middle of the last century, the nascent American astronautics needed a testing ground for rockets. Since 1948, work began on the reorganization of the Banana River naval station (US Navy) and the creation on its basis of the US Air Force base and test center. The location was not chosen by chance. The sparseness and proximity of the Atlantic Ocean minimized the danger to the environment in the event of unsuccessful suborbital launches.
If you find Cape Canaveral (cosmodrome) on the map, you will notice the rather low latitude of the terrain - 28 ˚ N For comparison: Baikonur - 45 ˚ N This guarantees additional benefits:
- To achieve the first cosmic velocity , the kinetic energy of the Earth's rotation is used.
- An increase in rocket payload mass of up to 30%.
- Fuel economy for putting the device into geostationary orbit.
First launches
The spacecraft at Cape Canaveral sent the first two-stage launch vehicle to the sky in July 1950. The booster rocket of the Bumper-2 rocket made it possible to reach a record height of 400 km at that time. But the attempt to put the first artificial satellite into low Earth orbit in December 1957 failed - the explosion of fuel tanks destroyed the Vanguard TV-3 launch vehicle two seconds after launch. In 1958, the work on space exploration and the creation of a scientific and technical base was led by the newly created department of the federal government - NASA.
Operation of the launch complex also revealed negative terrain factors: Cape Canaveral was replete with severe hurricanes and thunderstorms. Twice the starting structures were partially destroyed by natural disasters, and for the arrangement of lightning protection, several tens of millions of dollars were additionally laid out.
Cape Canaveral - Cosmodrome or Air Force Base?
In 1962, the National Agency began construction of its own launching facilities, called the Launch Center, and in November 1963 (after the assassination of the 35th US President) they were renamed the Kennedy Space Center. In total, over thirty launch sites were erected on the cape and the neighboring Merritt Island, connected by a common infrastructure.
In the press quite often, the spaceport at Cape Canaveral refers to, in fact, two administrative units belonging to different government structures. All launches until 1965 were carried out from the Air Force base. The most famous missions:
- Launch of the first American satellite into orbit (1958).
- The first American suborbital (1961) and orbital (1962) flight of an astronaut.
- The launch of the first American crew of two (1964) and three (1968) people.
- The study of the cosmic bodies of the solar system by interplanetary automatic stations.
From Gemini to Shuttle
The beginning of the stellar epic Center them. Kennedy launched the Gemini manned spacecraft with two astronauts on board. In total, 12 space flights were completed in this mission. The main achievement was the astronaut E. White's spacewalk.
Cape Canaveral escorted all the astronauts who visited the Earth’s natural satellite. All launches under the program for the preparation and implementation of a manned flight and landing on the moon (Apollo) were made by the launch sites of the Center.
Five American Shuttles, space shuttles, began their journey on near-Earth trajectories from here. From 1981 to 2011, 135 flights were completed. 1.6 thousand tons of payloads and equipment were delivered into orbit, a lot of research and repair and installation work was carried out.
Today and tomorrow
Since 2011, Cape Canaveral has not carried out manned launches. Due to reduced funding for space programs, only four launch sites are maintained. Some complexes are re-equipped and modernized to launch new carriers. For example, the LC-39A (for the first time since 2011) is preparing to send Falcon 9FT series rockets into space. Three starts are planned for February-March 2017.
The rupture of economic ties with Russia questions some of the stellar US projects. The development of private space agencies is becoming increasingly important. Thus, SpaceX's Dragon and Falcon-9 projects are designed to reduce the industry’s dependence on components from Russia. Meanwhile, NPO Energomash confirmed its readiness to deliver to the USA within two years 14 rocket engines RD-181 according to the agreement concluded earlier.