Paper Session I-B - Painting by Numbers a Statistical Analysis of Cape Canaveral Launches, the First 50 Years (1950-1999)

It seems sad to say, but no one knows exactly how many rockets and missiles have been launched from Cape Canaveral. The first Cape launch, that of a two-stage German V-2 rocket called Bumper #8, occurred on July 24, 1950. From that point on, launch activity at Cape Canaveral literally exploded. Because much of the launch activity was classified and took place at a rapid pace, no one organization or individual was able to accurately maintain a list of all the launches. My own research on the subject began in 1994, shortly after I became a volunteer at the Air Force Space and Missile Museum on Cape Canaveral Air Station. I had been asked by Museum leadership to consider writing a book on the history of Cape Canaveral. This request coincided with the release of the first reliable, comprehensive Cape Canaveral launch chronologies by the 45th Space Wing History Office. Although the 45th Space Wing History Office chronologies are excellent, they did not contain all of the information I was looking for