@@grahamboigamer6494 They were all heroic but I think Apollo 13 is the most. Apollo 11 was the next step in a sequence of launches. Barring a relatively small issue it was exactly what they had trained for and what was expected. Apollo 13 threw that out of the window. None of the major issues they faced were conceived off and no one was trained for them.
My dad threw my bedroom door open and turned on the light. Since he always woke me up to get ready for school, I somehow figured it was just another regular morning...totally forgetting it was Saturday. He then threw the morning newspaper at me while I was wiping my eyes and struggling to figure out which end was up following this sudden and rousing wake-up-and-get-out-of-bed command. I was a NASA hound and he knew it. He knew I would follow those events closely. The entire front cover of the paper that AM was one large story about the Apollo mission that was now in serious trouble. I still have the paper from that morning and am grateful for a father who made it possible to follow events like that when they happened. He did the same many months before when the Apollo 1 tragedy occurred.
So true. There is absolutely nothing like it. Every time I watch one of these launches I am simply in awe at how something that large is able to get off the ground and how much raw energy is required to do it. Hell, the energy required just to get it into LEO is astonishing in itself.
i think its the most beautiful thing. love being able to watch these videos so easy now. when i was a kid i would have to go to the library and rent a video to be able to see this lol
at 0:43 "a few bumps and we're haulin' the mail!" At 1:14 "the clock is runnin'" at 1:54 "Houston we've cleared the tower at 13:13" just like the movie! At 4:59 "get ready for a little jolt fellas!"
Ron Howard took a little creative license when he had them go forward and then back at the jolt. The truth is this never happened because they were strapped in tight so this wouldn't happen
Seeing the launch of the mighty Saturn V is just epic. I don't think there'll ever be a rocket that can be compared to this. Not even the modern ones and the space shuttle are compared to this.
apollo 13 never made it to the moon, but at least it came back. it's a successful failure. anyway, it's beautiful to see something so huge fly towards space and the unknowm. i plan to become an astrophysicist, and i'll definitely try to become an astronaut.
+divisioneight that is true. They deemed it better than a direct turnabout, because it saved valuable energy that would be needed on reentry. thank you for correcting me. :)
So impressive, amazing to think this is the 1970's. One thing that is a little surprising is that NASA still works in miles, pounds and gallons to this day, a difficult system in science and military applications.
Philip Berthiaume Not just miles, but Nautical miles, and feet per second instead of miles per hour! Who even uses them now? We’re lucky they didn’t use knots. LOL
Nautical miles (the distance of 1" of latitude on earth, being 1852m) and knots (1 Nautical Mile per Second) are commonly used units (although not SI) in navigation (since navigation makes use of spherical coordinate systems such as the observer's sphere, geographic sphere, celestial sphere, and ecliptic sphere). NASA has mostly converted to metric since the 90s with the exception of a few old systems. In 1999, Lockheed Martin engineers ruined a $125 million Mars orbiter by using English units as opposed to metric which NASA was using. Also, in astronomy and astrophysics, it is common to see the usage of cgs (centimeters-grams-seconds) as opposed to mks (meters-kilograms-seconds). Much of astronomy has been built on the cgs system throughout the centuries, but there are some pushes to change to mks. I'm a physics student learning Astrophysics and many students have been very hesitant to perform calculations in cgs.
Brought up using the Imperial system of feet, yards, miles all throughout elementary and high school. Though the metric system is easier in calculations the conversion to metric has been nearly impossible. A huge disappointment in that now two sets of tools are necessary to work on vehicles, machines, and equipment. The mixing of Imperial and Metric on those devices has been just infuriating.
These statistics were very helpful. I did a test of Discovery's April 5th 2010 launch and compared its velocity and altitude at about 4 minutes and 41 seconds to those of Apollo 13. They are practically identical. The Saturn V may start out at a slower speed but it rapidly catches up to the shuttle in speed and altitude after dropping the first booster. Apollo 13 is at 354, 267 feet and traveling 6755 mph at this mark. Discovery is at about 354,925 feet and traveling 6699 mph.
Pretty good coverage. Very informative for the average citizen. Reminds me of the extra material the later shuttle mission got. Teaching America exactly how much goes on during these launches.
Amazing times I’m 58 now I remember watching the moon landings as a child very brave men hope they go back and we can watch in hd hopefully back to an old landing site and shut the deluded idiots up who think it’s all fake
Dynamic pressure = The effect of the dropping air pressure but the increasing speed. As the speed increases, the air pressure builds up even though the actual air pressure is dropping.
April 11, 1970 - I was 20 years old and a SP4 Combat Engineer in Vietnam near Tan An, a third way through my one year tour. Two weeks later I was in Cambodia… 571st Eng, 3rd Bge, 9th Inf
During the climb to earth orbit, one of the second-stage engines shut down early, which forced the remaining second-stage engines to fire longer to exhaust the stage's fuel. As a result, it took a couple of minutes longer than usual for the rocket to reach orbit. At the time, everyone thought that would be the dramatic moment of Apollo 13. Fifty-six hours later, though.........
I can remember whaching this launch when I was 6 years old I also remember this mission didnt make it to the surface the moon. I whached many Saturn 5 launches from Apollo 11 to 18 Skylab and Soyuz they were the most memorable TV moments from my childhood. I also whached many countless live shuttle launches on TV too including the imfamous Challenger disaster.
Thanks for posting these. I was a baby at the time, the first mission I can recall seeing was either 15 or 17, I'm still not sure which as my parents said I watched 15 on through to current times on TV...
maddoxjets.com I was a ten year old at that time and glued to the TV and radio, I remember the whole world was holding it's breath for days, my teacher brought a TV into the class room and we all stopped what we were doing when there was an update.
7.6 million pounds of thrust and that's static thrust at lift off. At center engine cut off, it was making closer to 9.4 million pounds as 5 gee of acceleration added to the efficiency of the turbo pumps.
Truly the greatest Rocket ever built! The mighty Saturn V ! If you were within 50 miles you could see and feel that Rocket shake the ground and sky. Godspeed to all those great American's that help build and launch those missions. One of the greatest team efforts EVER!!!!!!
Its called the emergency escape jet. This tower can pull the capsule off and away from the main rocket in the event of an abort. The capsule will be pulled away and place it with the heat sheild facing downward and allow the parachutes to deploy. For a sage touchdown in the ocean
@nubbie1944 in theory you're right, but bear in mind: Up to date there had been 133 Space Shuttle Missions (out of 135 planned), 2 of them ended in desaster (STS-51L and STS-107). The Apollo program consisted of only 11 manned missions, after 11 missions the fatality rate of the Space Shuttle program was still zero. You might want to compare this with the Soyuz mission program - 131 missions, 2 of them fatal. And the Soyuz has a reputation for being a reliable system(!).
I'm trying to find the audio loop between the crew and the ground when the S2 stage center engine cut off prematurely. I wanted to see what their reactions were, and if they were as nervous as portrayed in the film.
GET 6.10. Lovell: “What’s the story on Engine 5?” Kerwin: “Jim, Houston. We don't have the story on why the inboard out was early, but the other engines are GO and you are GO.” They burned the other four engines longer on stage 2, and even had a slight boost from stage 3 (the S-IV-B) to finish the job.
Christopher U.S. Smith The first stage center engine was scheduled to cut off to lighten the G load. As the fuel burned, thrust was constant but weight was dropping. The Gs jumped from 2.5 at 100 seconds to to about 3.7 G at 130 seconds. After center engine cutoff, Gs were under 3 but STILL hit almost 4 about 20 seconds later. The second stage center engine cutoff? That was unexpected. An erroneous sensor shut down the center engine. And it was another strange luck thing because that center engine has a pogo oscillation flexing it 3 inches 16 times a second. It probably would have destroyed the second stage had it not occurred.
Lovell said before 13 that it would be his last flight up there, but it would have been nice to see Haise and Swigert have another go. Maybe give the commander position to Swigert so he can go down to the surface of the Moon too.
+Ranul Pallemulle UTC was 19:13 which is 2:13 EST, so it'd have been 1:13CST, thus 13:13. It gets a little wacky with Daylight savings but hey at least it was 13 past whatever the hour was. :)
@MrLookout73 i agree with you man.. The saturn model was very accurate & ahead of its time :) & ur totally right the making of those rockets was unreal!!
I wish I wasn't an infant the last time a Saturn V rocket launched, but I can't help thinking of the very early days of MTV whenever I see a launch like this.
i could tell him that but hay i have tried already he claims that CGI is to obvious well i guess when i will assume that the movie day after tomorrow is all real footage!
Your science teacher is wrong. Digital Domain was commissioned to do the effects for this film. The work for the launch sequence is detailed in the book Digital Domain: The Leading Edge of Visual Effects. Additionally the Blu-ray/DVD commentary specifically mentions the effects. Also the Saturn V had incorrect markings.
I like the part where they say building 7.6 million lbs of thrust no other rocket has produced that much on lift off yet actually made it into orbit. 2nd stage hits going 6500 mph
jpamusher Probably because the Mercury and Gemini missions were Earth orbit only (sub-orbital for MR3 & MR4), and when you have less mass passing through you also have less friction. Tack on the extra weight of the Apollo CSM, Saturn V rocket and LM, and you have a lot more friction.
Gemini didn't have one because it didn't have an escape tower-it used ejector seats. And I honestly don't think the prime reason Apollo had one because of "more friction". The first stop for an Apollo flight was an Earth parking orbit, so it didn't need to go any faster at that point than a Mercury orbital mission. It no doubt helped with aerodynamic heating, but there was a more significant reason. The Apollo LES was a brute compared to the one used in Mercury. In fact the Apollo LES had almost twice the thrust of the Redstone that propelled Shepard and Glenn on their suborbital flights. That's why the Apollo CM had the boost protective cover.
@MrLookout73 I agree. I also think the Saturn V was a vastly superior space vehicle compared to the shuttle. Even though it couldn't be used again like the shuttle, zero lives were lost with the Saturn V. every single launch was successful. The same cannot be said for the shuttle. At the same time, the shuttle has been in use for about 26 more years compared to the Saturn V, so that might negate the safety statistics.
Another beautiful launch of the Saturn V. One thing that I don't know is why CBS didn't switched to the black and white long-range camera after the vehicle distanced too much from Florida as usual instead of using the simulation? In my view it was a missed opportunity. And Chuck Hollingshead, being a great PAO, but his voice didn't passed the same weight as Jack King. And with the launch itself, no one could predict that dispair was right on the horizon 2 days later!
Apollo 13 - Ex Luna Scientia - Commander: James A. Jim Lovell Jr. - Command Module Pilot: John L. Jack Swigert Jr. - Lunar Module: Pilot Fred W. Haise Jr. - Command and Service Module: Odyssey - Lunar Module: Aquarius. The 7th manned mission in the United States of America Apollo Program and the 3rd attempt to land on the Moon. The Saturn V SA-508 moonrocket was launched on Saturday 11 April 1970 at 13:13:00 CST Central Standard Time from the John F. Kennedy Space Center / Florida / United States of America which seemed a regular and routine 3rd lunar landing attempt. But the lunar landing was aborted after an oxygen tank exploded two days after lift-off crippling the Apollo Service Module (SM) upon which the Apollo Command Module (CM) depended. Despite great hardship caused by limited power, loss of cabin heat, shortage of potable water, low temperatures and the critical need to make makeshift repairs to the carbon dioxide removal system, the crippled Apollo 13 using the Lunar Module Aquarius as a life boat returned safely to Earth and splashed down inside the Pacific Ocean on Friday 17 April 1970 after one of the most famous, the most exciting and the most thrilling pandemoniums in world history.
Nope, For the first minutes of the launch It was caught by Cameras Stationed by the Public Launch Viewing Area. Just before 1st stage Separation, It switches to a Animation showing what would be happening as The Cameras could no longer See the Saturn V.
