Launch Complex 34 (LC-34) is a deactivated launch site on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. LC-34 and its companion

LC-37 Space Launch Complex 37 (SLC-37), previously Launch Complex 37 (LC-37), is a launch complex on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. Construction began in 1959 and the site was accepted by NASA to support the Saturn I (rocket), Saturn I pr ...

to the north were used by NASA from 1961 through 1968 to launch Saturn I and IB rockets as part of the Apollo program. It was the site of the Apollo 1 fire, which claimed the lives of

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

s Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee on January 27, 1967. The first crewed Apollo launch —

Apollo 7 Apollo 7 (October 1122, 1968) was the first crewed flight in NASA's Apollo program, and saw the resumption of human spaceflight by the agency after the fire that killed the three Apollo 1 astronauts during a launch rehearsal test on Ja ...

on October 11, 1968 — was the last time LC-34 was used.

History

Construction

Work began on LC-34 in 1960, and it was formally dedicated on June 5, 1961. The complex consisted of a launch platform, umbilical tower, mobile service tower, fueling facilities, and a

blockhouse A blockhouse is a small fortification, usually consisting of one or more rooms with loopholes, allowing its defenders to fire in various directions. It is usually an isolated fort in the form of a single building, serving as a defensive stro ...

. Two steel flame deflectors were mounted on rails to allow placement beneath the launch platform. The

service tower A service structure is a steel framework or tower that is built on a rocket launch pad to facilitate assembly and servicing. An umbilical tower also usually includes an elevator which allows maintenance and crew access. Immediately before igniti ...

was likewise mounted on rails, and it was moved to a position 185 meters west of the pad before launch. At 95 meters high, it was the tallest structure at LC-34. The blockhouse, located 320 meters from the pad, was modeled after the domed reinforced concrete structure at

LC-20 Space Launch Complex 20 (SLC-20), previously designated Launch Complex 20 (LC-20), is a launch site at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. SLC-20 is located at the northern terminus of ICBM Road, between Space Launch Complex 19 and Space ...

. During a launch, it could accommodate 130 people as well as test and instrumentation equipment. Periscopes afforded views outside the windowless facility.

Saturn I series

LC-34 saw its first launch on October 27, 1961. The first Saturn I, Block I, mission SA-1, lofted a dummy upper stage on a

suborbital A sub-orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which the spacecraft reaches outer space, but its trajectory intersects the atmosphere or surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched, so that it will not complete one orbital r ...

trajectory into the Atlantic. The subsequent three Saturn I launches took place at LC-34, ending with SA-4 on March 28, 1963. The six ensuing Saturn I, Block II launches were conducted at

. On November 29, 1963, following the death of President John F. Kennedy, his successor Lyndon B. Johnson issued

Executive Order 11129 Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dire ...

renaming both NASA's Merrit Island Launch Operations Center and "the facilities of Station No. 1 of the Atlantic Missile Range" (a reference to Canaveral AFB) the "John F. Kennedy Space Center". He had also convinced Gov.

C. Farris Bryant Cecil Farris Bryant (July 26, 1914 – March 1, 2002) was an American politician serving as the 34th Governor of Florida. He also served on the United States National Security Council as director of the Office of Emergency Planning during t ...

(D-Fla.) to change the name of

Cape Canaveral , image = cape canaveral.jpg , image_size = 300 , caption = View of Cape Canaveral from space in 1991 , map = Florida#USA , map_width = 300 , type =Cape , map_caption = Location in Florida , location ...

to ''Cape Kennedy''. This resulted in some confusion in public perception, which

conflated Conflation is the merging of two or more sets of information, texts, ideas, opinions, etc., into one, often in error. Conflation is often misunderstood. It originally meant to fuse or blend, but has since come to mean the same as equate, treati ...

the two. NASA Administrator James E. Webb clarified this by issuing a directive stating the ''Kennedy Space Center'' name applied only to Merritt Island, while the Air Force issued a general order renaming the Air Force Station launch site ''Cape Kennedy Air Force Station''.

Saturn IB series

LC-34 was extensively modified to support

Saturn IB The Saturn IB (also known as the uprated Saturn I) was an American launch vehicle commissioned by the NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for the Apollo program. It uprated the Saturn I by replacing the S-IV second stage (, ...

launches, which began in February 1966. New anchor points were built to fasten the service structure in place during high winds. Access arms on the umbilical tower were rebuilt to match the larger rocket. At the 67-meter level, the swing arm was outfitted with a white room to permit access to the command module at the top of a rocket. Two Saturn IBs (

AS-201 AS-201 (or SA-201), flown February 26, 1966, was the first uncrewed test flight of an entire production Block I Apollo command and service module and the Saturn IB launch vehicle. The spacecraft consisted of the second Block I command module ...

and AS-202) were successfully launched from LC-34 before the Apollo 1 fire brought Apollo activities at the spaceport to an abrupt halt. After the fire, extinguishing equipment was installed at the top of the umbilical tower, and a slide wire was set up to provide astronauts a quick escape in the event of an emergency. The first crewed Apollo launch—

on October 11, 1968—was the last time LC-34 was used. NASA considered reactivating both LC-34 and

for the Apollo Applications Program, but instead LC-39B was modified to launch Saturn IBs. The geographical name change from ''Cape Canaveral'' to ''Cape Kennedy'' proved to be unpopular, owing to the historical longevity of Cape Canaveral. In 1973, both the Air Force Base and the geographical Cape names were reverted to Canaveral.

Launch Complex 34 today

After the decommissioning of LC-34, the umbilical tower and service structure were razed, leaving only the launch platform standing at the center of the pad. It serves as a memorial to the crew of Apollo 1. A dedicatory plaque affixed to the structure bears the inscription:

LAUNCH COMPLEX 34 Friday, 27 January 1967 1831 Hours Dedicated to the living memory of the crew of the Apollo 1 U.S.A.F. Lt. Colonel Virgil I. Grissom U.S.A.F. Lt. Colonel Edward H. White, II U.S.N. Lt. Commander Roger B. Chaffee They gave their lives in service to their country in the ongoing exploration of humankind's final frontier. Remember them not for how they died but for those ideals for which they lived.

Another plaque (which was shown in the film '' Armageddon'')CollectSpace
/ref> reads:

IN MEMORY OF THOSE WHO MADE THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE SO OTHERS COULD REACH THE STARS
AD ASTRA PER ASPERA ''Ad astra'' is a Latin phrase meaning "to the stars". The phrase has origins with Virgil, who wrote in his ''Aeneid'': "''sic itur ad astra''" ('thus one journeys to the stars') and "''opta ardua pennis astra sequi''" ('desire to pursue the h ...
(A ROUGH ROAD LEADS TO THE STARS) GOD SPEED TO THE CREW OF APOLLO 1

Also surviving at the LC-34 site are the two flame deflectors and the blockhouse. The original spherical Liquid Oxygen (LOX) tank at LC-34 was purchased by

SpaceX Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is an American spacecraft manufacturer, launcher, and a satellite communications corporation headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the stated goal of ...

in 2008, moved to LC-40, refurbished (cleaned, pressure tested, painted white), and now used for Falcon 9 flights.

Gallery

File:Apollo 1 launch site 2009.jpg, Pad 34 after being turned into a memorial site File:Pad 34 flame deflectors.jpg, Saturn I and IB flame deflectors. Pad 37 is in the background. File:Pad 34 blockhouse.jpg, Blockhouse File:JFK Tour of KSC - GPN-2000-000605.jpg, NASA administrator James Webb, VP Johnson and President Kennedy are briefed during a tour of Blockhouse 34 in 1962 File:Pad 34 looking up.jpg, Underside File:Pad 34 abandon.jpg, "Abandon in place", which means to abandon it "as is", with no maintenance. Most of the historical launch sites at Cape Canaveral are categorized in this manner. File:Pad 34 astronaut memorial.jpg, Astronaut memorial kiosk Image:LC34 memorial benches.jpg, Granite memorial benches on the southern edge of the launch pad

Launch history

This is a complete list of all launches made from LC-34.

References

Moonport: A History of Apollo Launch Facilities and Operations

External links

{{Merritt Island Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Apollo program Apollo 1 Apollo 7 Launch complexes of the United States Space Force 1961 establishments in Florida