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Old 07-12-2019, 10:24 AM
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tbzep tbzep is offline
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Default Apollo XI Anniversary TV Shows

I've recorded and continue to record all of the Apollo related TV programming I can find. Most of it is from the Smithsonian and National Geographic channels, but a few others have popped up. I have watched them in bits and pieces when I've had time, usually when I should be asleep. I have a few thoughts on them.

1. There is very little in these programs, if anything, that I didn't already know thanks to my rocketry hobby, books, older shows, etc. I'm watching them anyway. I never get tired of a Saturn (I, IB, and V) liftoff, astronauts falling on the moon, etc.

2. Video footage of Gemini capsule re-entry has to be by far the most used and abused footage in the history of manned spaceflight. It has been used to embellish stories on all three manned programs, unmanned programs, liftoffs, dockings, Armstrong's out of control spinning, and just about everything else rocket related. (And we know it's also been used in all kinds of TV shows and never as a capsule re-entry.) Saturn V staging is abused a lot but doesn't come close to Gemini. (1st stage separation with interstage is used a lot and also footage of the Saturn V "3rd stage" which is actually a Saturn 1B 2nd stage.)

3. Experts continue to get stuff horribly wrong. The usual things abound, such as using completely different booster footage: Examples: An Atlas instead of a Saturn liftoff, totally unrelated ground testing or simulation footage like abort test shots, and common untrue myths stated as facts...the list goes on and on. I finally heard a new one last night that I've never heard before. An expert claimed the LM ascent engine was a solid rocket motor. To the best of my knowledge, he was right that it didn't gimbal and wasn't throttle-able, however, I'm about 99.99999% sure it is a pressure fed liquid hypergolic motor developed by Bell with a Rocketdyne designed injector plate.
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Old 07-12-2019, 04:57 PM
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Yeah, the LM ascent motor was NOT a solid. Boy, you're right; somebody blew that one. Just pressure fed: blow the burst discs and off she went. I don't rememeber all the details on the injector, but like you said, there were issues with its development and others had to be brought in to straighten things out.

As relaitvely simple as it was, I'd sure been crossing my fingers if I'd been one of the two standing in the LM ascent stage waiting for liftoff from the moon.


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Old 07-13-2019, 09:56 AM
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I am really enjoying the Apollo Moon Shot episodes on the Smithsonian Channel. They are showing footage I hadn't seen before and including modern day segments showing artifacts in the museum's collection.

Another really good one if the Apollo 11 documentary which was in theaters and shown recently on CNN.

I am looking forward to a show one of our local TV channels has produced. It airs Tuesday night.
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Old 07-14-2019, 05:09 AM
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I have noticed a lot of the early test failures before manned launches. They mention them but never get into why they failed and what had to happen to fix them. But yet they talk about how important these failures were.
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Old 08-01-2019, 07:55 AM
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In the History Channel's "Moon Landing: The Lost Tapes" the lift-off of Apollo 11 is shown multiple times wth the Saturn V slowly rising, then a cut to a Saturn 1B sprinting off the pad, then a cut back to the Saturn V. Then, after the Eagle undocks from Columbia it is shown floating in space without the descent stage. Then, being the History Channel, after the landing they included some obviously fake audio about UFOs.

But, the program does feature audio recordings that the astronauts made before and after the flight for Life magazine which is pretty cool.

Last edited by jadebox : 08-01-2019 at 08:11 AM.
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Old 08-01-2019, 08:18 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tbzep
3. Experts continue to get stuff horribly wrong.

Should these read, "journalists," instead of "experts?"
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Last edited by astronwolf : 08-01-2019 at 08:19 AM. Reason: typo
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Old 08-01-2019, 09:30 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by astronwolf
Should these read, "journalists," instead of "experts?"

They weren't very good "experts" or "journalists".
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Old 08-01-2019, 09:31 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jadebox
Then, being the History Channel, after the landing they included some obviously fake audio about UFOs.

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Old 08-02-2019, 07:03 AM
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"Chasing the Moon" on PBS seems pretty solid. I'm about halfway through the second of three installments.
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Old 08-02-2019, 08:24 AM
BARGeezer BARGeezer is offline
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+1 on Chasing the Moon. Lots of stuff I had never seen or been aware of before. Shows the politics behind the Moon landing effort. Always wondered why Mission Control was at a different site than the launches at the Cape. Also the Soviet perspective through Kruschev's son, who was a rocket scientist. Pulls no punches, upends some myths about the program and personalities.
Highly recommended.
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