RTV-G-4 Bumper

Bumper 8 clears its gantry at Launch Complex 3 on July 24, 1950, the first rocket ever launched from Cape Canaveral. The press cameras lined up in the foreground are the start of a tradition every launch watcher knows. The vehicle itself is a hybrid: a captured German V-2 as the first stage with a small WAC Corporal rocket mounted on its nose. The Florida coast it opened went on to launch the Moon rockets, the Shuttle and today's returning boosters.