The Air Force Space and Missile Museum is located at Launch Complex 26 at

Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) is an installation of the United States Space Force's Space Launch Delta 45, located on Cape Canaveral in Brevard County, Florida. Headquartered at the nearby Patrick Space Force Base, the statio ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. It includes artifacts from the early American space program and includes an outdoor area displaying rockets, missiles, and space-related equipment chronicling the space and missile history of the

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sig ...

, the

US Space Force The United States Space Force (USSF) is the space service branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and the world's only independent space force. Along with its sister branch, the U.S. Air Force, the Space ...

and other military branches. The museum is accessible to the public as a part of the "Cape Canaveral Early Space Tour" offered by the

Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is the visitor center at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida. It features exhibits and displays, historic spacecraft and memorabilia, shows, two IMAX theaters, and a range of bus to ...

four days per week. Free tours were also offered by the former Air Force 45th Space Wing Community Relations office until June 2013. The 45th Space Wing became

Space Launch Delta 45 The Space Launch Delta 45 (SLD 45) is a unit of the United States Space Force. The Space Launch Delta 45 is assigned to Space Systems Command and headquartered at Patrick Space Force Base, Florida. The wing also controls Cape Canaveral Space ...

in May 2021 following establishment of the Space Force. The Sands Space History Center, a companion to the museum, is open to the general public six days a week. The History Center is located just outside the south gate of Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Sands Space History Center

The Sands Space History Center (formerly known as the United States Air Force Space and Missile History Center) is an extension of the Air Force Space and Missile Museum outside the gate 1 of the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station which opened to the public August 14, 2010. It is located in a facility and highlights the progress and history of the space program.

Brevard Business News ''Brevard Business News'' is a weekly newspaper in Melbourne, Florida, United States covering business news and trends for the Space Coast region of Central Florida Central Florida is a region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources ...

. ''Air Force's Missile History Center opens, showcases many exhibits'' (Melbourne, Florida: Brevard Business News, September 06, 2010), p. 4. The museum features displays which chronicle the story of each of the launch pads from its establishment in 1949 as the

Joint Long Range Proving Ground Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) is an installation of the United States Space Force's Space Launch Delta 45, located on Cape Canaveral in Brevard County, Florida. Headquartered at the nearby Patrick Space Force Base, the statio ...

. Exhibits contain artifacts dating back to the 1950s and include parts to launch vehicles and control systems. Unlike the Air Force Space and Missile Museum, its sister museum which is located inside gates of the

, the center does not require special arrangements or a fee-based tour to visit. Admission is free and it is open to the public six days per week. As of 2017, it is open 9AM-2PM Tuesday through Friday, 9AM-5PM Saturday, and noon-4PM Sunday.

Hangar C

During the museum's early history, an extensive outdoor display (much of which included once flight-capable hardware), known as the "Rocket Garden" provided a large, open-air exhibit area. Over the years, the central Florida heat, humidity, and ocean air gradually took their toll, degrading the outward appearance and internal structure of most of the exhibits. One-by-one, these degrading artifacts were removed from outdoor display, professionally refurbished, and returned to a pristine (almost "factory new") appearance. Not wanting to repeat the process, the museum placed them in protective storage (out of public view) until such time as a suitable display area could be secured. Toward the end of this years-long process, historic Hangar C was secured as the future public display area. The oldest hangar on the Cape (Hangars A and B were built on Patrick Space Force Base), for a time served as a central missile assembly facility for nearly all Cape launch activity. Once it was determined that Hangar C would serve as a central display area for much of the museum's large artifacts, it underwent extensive renovation to make it suitable for public access. In early 2020 public tours conducted by the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex began making stops at Hangar C as part of the newly introduced "Rise to Space" tour (separate and distinct from the "Early Space" tour). The museum provides a volunteer staff, many of whom are seasoned space and missile professionals, to act as exhibit interpreters.

Gallery

File:LC26.jpg, Rocket garden before artifact relocation File:Gemini2x.jpg, Gemini 2 spacecraft File:GeminiBP.jpg, Boilerplate version of

Gemini spacecraft Project Gemini () was NASA's second human spaceflight program. Conducted between projects Mercury and Apollo, Gemini started in 1961 and concluded in 1966. The Gemini spacecraft carried a two-astronaut crew. Ten Gemini crews and 16 individual ...

(now on display in Hangar C) File:EMDSW8.jpg, EMD SW8 switching locomotive from the U.S. Air Force Titan program; LC-19 white room at right (interior not accessible) File:Rocket Garden Delta II.jpg, Delta launch as seen from rocket garden File:GPS monitor station.jpg,

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...

ground monitor station File:LC-26 blockhouse.jpg,

LC-26 Blockhouse of LC-26 Launch Complex 26 (LC-26) is a deactivated launch site at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. LC-26 consisted of two pads, ''A'' and ''B''. Pad A was used for the Jupiter-C and Juno I rockets, and was the launch site ...

blockhouse, now housing part of the museum File:LC-26B Thor-Able.jpg, Thor-Able (now on display in Hangar C)Museum
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References

External links

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Museum outside base at gate 1

Air Force Space and Missile Museum Factsheet
Official factsheet prepared by the

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

. *Fan sites
Air Force Space and Missile Museum

Virtual Tour

{{DEFAULTSORT:Air Force Space and Missile Museum Aerospace museums in Florida Air force museums in the United States Cape Canaveral Space Force Station History centers Military and war museums in Florida Museums in Brevard County, Florida Space-related tourist attractions Museums established in 1966 1966 establishments in Florida

Sands Space History Center

Hangar C

Gallery

See also

References

External links