25 Mind-Blowing Facts About the Apollo Space Missions | Smithsonian Channel 

My dad was a technician on all the Apollo missions, he passed away this morning. He will be missed.

I was born in "55. My dad was an avid space follower and as a result I am too. I still have an LP recording of John Glenn"s radio communications entire mission. My brother and I have both worked at NASA bases all over the country. He still has 1st issue stamps sent from the recovery carriers of most missions. Both of us have various items NASA that we hold precious to us. Needless to say, I cannot commend the people from NASA enough for what they have accomplished. The dedication and spirit of ALL of them is absolutely incredible. Second to none. There are so many unsung heroes in all of these clips it goes way beyond the flight crews.

These are fascinating revelations, but this would have been much more enjoyable if the events had been presented in chronological order.

This was edited together by someone who can't keep their train of thought for more than a moment but the footage is beautiful.

"The moon landing was the television event of the decade." The moon landing was the television event of ALL television and ALL history...

The timeline of this film was all over the place. Apollo 11, then Apollo 8, back to 11 then to Apollo 15 but hang on we can't forget Apollo 13. Let's take another look at Apollo 11 again. Oh did I mention Apollo 13 had a problem and did you know Apollo 8 was the first to orbit the moon? Here's some more footage of Apollo 11 just for the heck of it. Maybe they should have called this film: _Pulp Apollo._

2 THINGS...... 1. this is not just about the Apollo program because half of it is The Gemini program. 2. Put it in chrono order...... If you do these basic edits, you will have a great little documentary.

If you are someone who actually lived through the first decade of manned space exploration, you could probably enjoy these random vignettes from various moments in the space program. I think someone who is new to the story of the pioneers of space flight would be utterly bewildered by the non-chronological narrative.

Love this video!!! Please make more. Super interesting.

I listened to Apollo 8 on my NEW AM radio, Christmas 1968! It was awesome!

The significance of Rusty Schweickart's "very special" five minutes during his EVA can't be understated considering that every minute of their time is usually occupied by work. To have that five minutes to himself under these circumstances must've been akin to a psychedelic breakthrough.

Those who protested the twenty billion dollars that was spent to send people to the moon selectively ignored the fact that the same amount of money was spent during the duration of the Apollo Program on tobacco and cosmetics. The ROI (return on investment) from Apollo has been estimated at a conservative $400,000,000. Excellent program in terms of its public awareness and sharing of the accomplishment. I for one would have gone to the moon in a heartbeat had I been selected to go.

Finally some high definition footage from that time, nice

I really wanted to watch it all, love space history, but this back and forth in the timeline is just too much.

This was a pretty good and comprehensive summary, however I think the Apollo 13 coverage was the shortest and most succinct summary in history!

I was born in 1954, so I remember those times of the space program(s). I remember Kennedy's challenge to land on the moon during that decade and to safely return to earth. I can cite all of the key facts, but won't, I remember the space shuttle disasters that I feel ended that program plus the cost to replace the launch vehicles. So I feel I lived that history to some extent. All of those people did indeed have "The Right Stuff" to succeed in their mission. I feel they are our redeeming virtue.

The only thing “mind blowing” is everything is out of sequence, it’s like they had all the historic footage and flung in the air and randomly edited it together

The fact how scenes are glued together in totally chaotic order is mind blowing. Who did script and editing? Somebody heavily on drug's? And such thing looks as professionals did that... makes me cry.

Who the hell did the editing for this Video ? I hope he wasn't nominated for an award

If you are watching this 500 years later, tip your hat to the pioneers of the space age

Excellent footage, Things have never seen. Followed the space program since was a child .. 1970's ..saw skylab launch the last Saturn 5 rocket . ty from FL

I cannot think of a better way to advertise Duct Tape!! Thank God they had Duct Tape with them on Apollo 13!!

Cohesive, comprehensive chronicle of man's journey to the moon.

If i haven't already, i could watch this ninety three million times.

7:09 - A lot of people mistakenly believe that the way NASA fixed this was by using regular air. However, during every subsequent space flight after the Apollo One fire, the capsules went into space in the same, 100% pure oxygen. The "fix" was to lower the pressure from sea level, 14 psi, down to 5 psi. At 5 psi, oxygen infused items in the capsule (including the astronauts) are no longer explosively flammable. That's all they had to do, just lower the pressure. I recently had to be treated with a hyperbaric chamber (for 60 treatments) at 2.4 atmosphere... so, 35 psi. At that pressure, in 100% oxygen, I would literally explode if a spark went off in the chamber.

This was put together like the editor was suffering from a lack of oxygen

Great video! I hadn't heard of several entries (besides anything A13 related) and I really enjoyed the extra tidbits.

I 've not watched this program yet because it's subject is 'About the Apollo Space Missions' yet a Gemini capsule is shown in the preview thumbnail. There is such a big difference between the two spacecraft, I can't believe that anyone not noticing the difference could accurately deliver information on this subject.

I like how the Gemini capsule is on the thumbnail

Odd that you use an Image of the Gemini Capsule instead of the actual Apollo Capsule.

The “Rocket Equation!” Wp = Wi * (1 - e**(-dV/g*ISP)) Where, Wp = weight of propellant expended during the thrust arc Wi = initial weight of the vehicle V = delta velocity change g = Earth's gravitational acceleration (32.174 ft/sec^2) ISP = specific impulse of the engine (and fuel) in use Solving for dV (the final rocket velocity), the equation becomes: dV = -g*ISP*ln(1- Wp/Wi)

Damn when I was 30 I would have loved to be put through those tests. How fun! When I was a toddler, pilots flew over our house toward the Pacific Ocean breaking the sound barrier. We heard sonic booms everyday.

This footage looks AMAZING who remastered it?

Mind-Blowing that something so poorly edited was produced by the Smithsonian Channel

These guys have "The Right Stuff" 👍

You'd think that someone who does a video like this would know the difference between a *Gemini* spacecraft and an *Apollo* Spacecraft! Smooth move with the thumbnail, Ace!

Needs a re-edit. An overview of the program timeline would have been helpful, also a better chronological order. Grissom dies, then later is flying; 13 canister problem repeats, etc. But overall an interesting video; thanks. These were such brave men!

Excellent film! I didn't know all of these facts. I was too little at the time. Thank you so much for posting. I really enjoyed it. Blessings🙏

10:28 another fact - the “beat army” sign was there to wind up the other crew. It’s a Navy vs Air Force thing. Also, re: Apollo 1. Another fact - all previous Mercury and Gemini flights were also 100% pure oxygen. Had nothing to do with the Apollo spacecraft in particular - was pure luck it didn’t happen during Gemini or Mercury. Also, the hatch was inward opening largely due to Gus Grissom’s hatch exploding out after landing and Liberty Bell sinking during Mercury. Another fact - Gemini craft were originally designed to land as a paraglider. Also it’s the only craft of the first 3 programs that didn’t have an escape tower - it had ejection seats to save weight. Oh and Gemini 6 wasn’t Gemini 6 - it was 6A. You’d think the historian would know that. 11:41 Gus Grissom comes back to life. 13:06 “the next flight they’ll open the hatch on purpose in space” - then immediately jumps to Gemini 8 where oddly the hatch doesn’t open, and the “10 times faster than a bullet” comment is relative. Both craft are travelling at that same speed +/- 5ft/second.. This video is all over the place. The rest of this is 13. Bonus facts: Apollo 16 - first flight featuring the word “f**k” while on the moon. John Young: “I’ve got the farts again Charlie… I haven’t eaten this much citrus fruit in 20 years. And I’ll tell you in another 12 f**king days, I ain’t never eating any more”. Pete Conrad on Apollo 12: “I wish I could sh*t; I’d feel a lot better about it. I don’t - have the slightest inclination, but I just know what’s going to happen. It’s going to be the first sh*t on the lunar surface”. Talking of which - Bill Anders on Apollo 8 didn’t take a crap for the whole 6 day 4 hour flight.

The date shown for the launch of Apollo 8 was December 21, 1969 when in fact it was in 1968.

Engineering of lunar rover and the designs are super cool!

Holy floating cats, Bat Man!

Some of this footage is so incredibly clean, it looks like it could have been shot yesterday. It’s jarring to see 60 year old technology, fashion and history through such a clear lens, so to speak.

That earth fragment found on the moon got there, because of the Great Flood, when earth rocks were blasted into space by the breakup of the main continent into seven smaller ones, and various Islands.

Lol I love the cats in vomit comet

At 72 years of age I was able to witness it all.

I hit the floor when I saw those cats!!! Unbelievable!!!😮

Neil Armstrong has been my favorite person of all time since I can remember. I remember telling anyone who wanted to know lol.

That woulda been one helluva time to be alive. My Father musta had a blast.

In the early '80s and another career ago, my work took me to NASA Ames in the Bay Area. During a break in one of our meetings an Ames colleague asked if we wanted to see something interesting. We said yes and followed her throught the building and outside to another. When we entered it was a large room, dark and containing a mix of items. In the back corner, on a wooden platform, was the Apollo 17 capsule -- the last to take men to the moon.

Miss you Mr Virgil Ivan "Gus" Grissom. You with Mr Edward White, and Mr Roger B. Chaffee will always be missed along with all the loses of the Shuttle. Each one of these guys had a first attached to his name. Gus Grisson was one of the first seven selected for space exploration. Edward White was the first American to walk in outer space. White became the first American to make an EVA. Then Roger Chaffee was the first rookie to be selected for the Apollo mission.

I love seeing the cats reaction to being weightless😂I hope it didn't hurt them, I doubt it did, didn't hurt the astronauts😉

This is a nice presentation. I was in high school (graduating just weeks after Apollo13 made it home. The one thing folks of today need to appreciate is howtelatively "primative" technology was in that time compared to today. Plus we were flying to the Moon, landing, walking around (or driving. In the years since, we have only travelled to low earth orbit and Musk, Bezos, and company aren't even reaching orbit. The one thing that has always amazes me was the surprising fidelity of music reproduction in that time; kinda amazing...

2:39 I had that feeling of weightlessness once, but only for about a second. It was when the plane, while flying over Greenland, hit some of the worst turbulence I ever experienced. It picked me up out of my seat where I was introduced with a slam to the roof, and thrown back into my seat. The flight attendant asked me, "Are you okay?" And I said, "Can we ride again? Can we? Can we?" Oh, the expression on her face . . . if looks could kill, she would've gotten life without parole. EPILOG: The airline that treated me to that instant weightlessness adventure is no longer in business. I guess space rides never caught on as well as I imagined. But then, I'm just a cat.

3:18 got my two cats on each side of me asleep and I’m just trying to hold my laughter in so they don’t run off 🤣😂

People complaining about events out of sequence but as I'm listening on headphones and not watching, it's rather informative.

As a life long fan of human spaceflight, this presentation hit the spot! True American heroes.

A very interesting subject matter, but the ping-pong editing almost ruins the whole thing.

This video timeline is all over the place…wish it stuck to a single time line.

Thanks for this. Amazing. I remember the moon landing as a little kid.

Very interesting keep it up

This was a great video

The cat floating is so cute and funny lol

The 'Vomit Comet' comparison to a rollercoaster is quite apt as probably the best prank I've seen at Six Flags St. Louis was someone who smuggled a bowl of flour onto the ride. When the first drop occurred - the flour rose out of the bowl and immediately smacked into the riders behind him. Pretty sure he set some foot speed records getting out of there after the ride ended (being in the front he was able to get a bit of a head start).

I went to see Buzz Aldrin speak at the Aeronautics Museum on Long Island a number of years back, and while we were there we got into a discussion with a guy who had brought his kids to see the same presentation. Turns out he worked at the museum. At this museum, they have on display the Moon lander that was built as the replica designated to stay here on Earth for mission control to reference during the mission. He brought us not only into the display area, but past all of the security areas and we got right up next to it. I touched history, it was amazing...

R.I.P appollo 1 astronauts!

I love this show!!!

Great video. Thanks!

Here's an Idea for a new video "Moon Rocks, the legacy of the most expensive stones in history." I'd watch it...

The only reason I can't give this a thumbs up is because of the disjointed editing. But some of the footage was pretty awesome.

I'm sure Ron Howard, wouldn't have put this out as a back and forth hodge podge.

I hope Smithsonian realizes that their tag photo is of a Gemini spacecraft, not an Apollo spacecraft.

These are some very interesting facts

I would have thought that The Smithsonian could nave done a better job with continuity. 25 MIND BLOWING facts, about the Apollo Space Missions. Just watched TWO different stories, about Gemini! The "interesting" thing about Apollo 13, was the O2 canister blowing up. While the Co2 scrubbing canister IS important, the rest of that recovery is SO much more. steve

I remember many of those Gemini launches, although I had thankfully forgotten the Apollo I test.

I actually worked on the Space Program when I was a 19 year old in 1970. I worked doing tests how Sun in relation two different phases of the space station flight would affect routine job tasks. I it amounted to working in different lighting conditions it was for the space station program. I worked at N.A.S.A. in Mountain View California at Moffett Field Air Base. I got the job through Foothill College and because I had Superior vision and reflexes they took me long hair and all. After I show them my pass at the gate I could see the armed guards with the rifles, though they snap saluted me they kind of had who's this guy look on their faces. Because I flunked a class I lost my college deferment. This job kept me from ending up in Vietnam and it paid hella good. Considering the last job I had from the college job board had me pushing a wheelbarrow for 4 hours minimum wage . What a long strange trip it's been.

Yes, it's an amazing story of amazing stories. But it's hard to follow, the clips are all over the place. Impossible to follow in any semblance of order. The unfortunate result is that nothing makes much sense. One minute they are launching, the next it's multiple launches later. The timeline is not linear in any way. It does take away from the accomplishments of everyone involved.

I can tell you from personal experience; the Apollo crews "infected" people like myself with curiosity about our universe and space exploration.

Thank I for posting this

Not a mention of the sheared off switch on 11's Lunar Module. That switch controlled the ability to lift off of the Moon's surface. They ended up sticking a pen in the slot and it worked. I was lucky enough to speak to Buzz twice in my life and asked him what the moon smelled like. "Smelled like? We'll that's a new one. It was musty, we only smelled the dust that stuck to our suits and when we took them off there was a definite dusty smell." He's a hell of a guy and my only suggestion is that you never mention a possible fake landing to him. He will deck you.

I remember the horrible accident that killed the entire crew of the first Apollo mission. I was 8yrs old in the 2nd grade at Baily Gatzert Elementary, I and my class mates talked about it

Now, the Agena spinning event kinda makes that centrifugal spinning machine seem not so silly....

"Micro mouse fart" is the greatest phrase I've ever heard.

#1 mind blowing item: The cover picture is of a GEMINI CAPSULE GENIUSES!

The Brave men from the Apollo gave me a reason to join the U. S. Marines.

Am I the only one who thought it odd that the thumbnail isnt an apollo capsule? :')

The editing on this is pure chaos 😂

I started going back to see what i missed after a while i just gave up. This video is all over the place.

I turned 10 years old three weeks before Apollo 11 landed on the moon. For those few days the people of our nation and of the entire world were united.

Every dollar spent on the space program went to pay people , working for a living, who paid taxes and bought groceries, cars, raised their children who were educated and went on to follow their parents. Working for a living, not asking for another handout.

The thumbnail used for this video with the “Beat Army” is actually from the Gemini 7 mission. I expect a little better from Smithsonian….

43:08 “Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country,”

Mrs Richards: "I paid for a room with a view !" Basil: (pointing to the lovely view) "That is Torquay, Madam." Mrs Richards: "It's not good enough!" Basil: "May I ask what you were expecting to see out of a Torquay hotel bedroom window? Sydney Opera House, perhaps? the Hanging Gardens of Babylon? Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically past?..." Mrs Richards: "Don't be silly! I expect to be able to see the sea !" Basil: "You can see the sea, it's over there between the land and the sky." Mrs Richards: "I'm not satisfied. But I shall stay. But I expect a reduction." Basil: "Why?! Because Krakatoa's not erupting at the moment ?"

The rebellion on Apollo 7 had a personal price since those that flew were always decorated upon returning, but they weren't and by the time NASA relented decades later two of the crew had passed away. One result of their defiance had an upside was the recognition that crews were being so badly over burdened with tasks often timed to the minute that those that flew afterwards had free time going forward in the set aside. Even before Apollo 11 landed missions were already curtailed and what equipment that was left launched Skylab to the Apollo-Soyuz rendezvous. In the nearly 50yrs since the last Moonwalk humans have only gone into Earth Orbit and may not leave it again perhaps until the 75th Anniversary of the first manned mission that orbited the Moon or at all anytime soon...

Anyone else see Smarter Everyday's video where one of the LLTV engineers said the mishap was human error due to a test engineer being timid with a knock it off call? That blew my mind a bit.

Awesome editing by Random Man

I lived through those exciting times, yet I either forgot alot or I just wasn't aware of these little tid-bits this vid showed. I just wish the information was given in the launch sequence, as in Gemini/Apollo 1> what was the last mission? 15, anyway not all us seniors are so forgetful, ha ha. Excellent video, anymore like this???

In 1966 I was about 8 and my friend and I made one of those spinny things by suspending a chair on a pole that was suspended from a board that was in turn suspended from the ceiling in the basement. Donning a football helmet one of us would get tied into the chair and the other would spin the char around as many axes as possible. Then my mom came downstairs to see what we were doing. End of experiment. Oh well.

3:19 - Weightlessness and the pussycats made me laugh hard 😂😂😂

Despite the fact that this was replete with errors and made no contextual sense, I enjoyed it just for the memories of it.