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"Jupiter AM-7 flew 2,235 km (1,207 nautical miles) on August 27, 1958 from LC 26A. The inertial guidance flight carried the first solid propellant vernier and spin motors on its aft unit and the first live fusing system for its inert warhead. Prior flights had used a liquid hydrogen peroxide monopropellant vernier."
Above per:
www.spacelaunchreport.com/jupiter4.html
Jupiter AM-N??? The date of the photo coincides with the launch of Jupiter AM-7. However, this is definitely an 'N', which I can find nothing on.
AM-N markings = AM-7 vehicle???
Maybe 'N' for...nuclear...so possibly a covert TS/SCI, "EYES ONLY" launch? That's gotta be it! It even has the wrong date/location hand annotated along the bottom white border to throw the casual observer off. Brilliant misdirection & OPSEC!
Juno II AM-19F (AM = Army Missile?) stands ready at Launch Complex 26B, Cape Canaveral, to continue the underwhelming heritage & legacy of the Juno II family of launch vehicles, in preparation for its impending failure on 25 February 1961.
Note the date discrepancies. Most sites reference the above.
From the Space Launch Report website:
"Vehicle AM-19F flew next, on February 24, 1961. This was a failed attempt to orbit the 75-lb Explorer S-45 ionosphere beacon satellite, a spacecraft meant to measure the ionosphere’s effect on radio signals. First stage performance was normal, but something went wrong shortly after the stage separated from the guidance compartment. The most likely failure mode was thought to be a sensor cable coming loose from the side of the payload shroud and wrapping itself around the spinning high speed stage cluster. Stage 4 and the payload were likely ripped free from the cluster and the stage 3 and 4 firing timer was likely damaged. Although the instrument compartment regained control of the cluster, only the second stage fired and orbit was not achieved."
At:
www.spacelaunchreport.com/jupiter5.html
And, from Gunter's stellar site:
space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/explorer_s45.htm
Complex - 26 - Launch site of Explorer - 1 America's first Satellite
Project Mercury Memorial
Cape Canaveral LightHouse
Challenger - left side body panel January 28, 1986
Complex - 26 - Launch site of Explorer - 1 America's first Satellite
Sojourner Rover - Mars Pathfinder Mission
A model of Explorer 1/Explorer I, the first satellite launched by the United States, 31 January 1958. This 18-lb. satellite was placed in orbit 1 February 1958 by the Jupiter-C RS-29 rocket. It was also the first to carry scientific instruments. Explorer I discovered the first of two circular radiation belts surrounding the Earth.
www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/explorer/explorer.html
www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/explorer/explorer-overview.html
history.nasa.gov/sputnik/expinfo.html
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/Explorer1.jpg
mix.msfc.nasa.gov/abstracts.php?p=1978
Too late for the museum hours, but still can look through the window. The blockhouse to Complex 26 has been turned into the Air Force Space & Missile Museum. This was once the site of America's first satellite launch, Explorer-1
