Author Topic: Apollo 11 (Read 6101 times)

Limey · « **on:** May 17, 2019, 10:47:27 am »

I watched this documentary last night. Someone found a trove of 65mm footage from the mission, and they've spliced it together to make a riveting (once you get past the first 15 minutes or so) documentary. The footage is so good it almost looks fake; the actual footage of the rocket leaving the pad puts movie versions - even Apollo 13 - to shame (but nothing beats this, of course).

The way they use the footage with the telecom chatter between Mission Control and the astronauts is fantastic. The overlay of speed, distance and - for the lunar descent - height and fuel data, is a brilliant touch. I found the sequences of the lunar insertion burn, the Earth insertion burn and, of course, the landing, to be truly stressful to watch. I swear my heart rate was higher than those reported of Armstrong and Aldrin. Realizing that they had to initiate the Earth insertion burn from the dark side of the moon is a scary thought; they were out of Earth contact while firing a rocket that could have propelled them off into Knowhere. Couldn't have been easy for people on the ground either, waiting to hear if they guys had got it right.

Other stuff I didn't know is that they executed the manoeuvre to detach from - and extract the LIM from - the last rocket stage while en route to the moon (cue Deadpool 2 soundtrack) and that it was set to gently spin to keep a consistent temperature during the traverse.

Also, Aldrin described a mountain on the moon as "a mother". Armstrong was all business, all engineer, no swearing.

Tom Servo · « **Reply #1 on:** May 17, 2019, 11:34:29 am »

This was a great film. I love that there was no narrator or anything like that. It really put you in the middle of it. The film looked gorgeous. If not for the clothes and hairstyles, you would swear it was shot today.

Great companion piece to anyone who enjoyed First Man, as I did, as well.

I believe the footage came from the national archives. The filmmakers transferred the film on a prototype device to both 8k and 16k resolution so "no one would have to touch the film again." Petabytes of data when they were done.

I concur about the shot of the launch Limey mentioned. I was actually wondering while watching, "did they sneak some CGI in there?"

I think Neil's heartbeat was reported as 156 bpm at touchdown. Mine would have exploded.

subnuclear · « **Reply #2 on:** May 17, 2019, 01:50:49 pm »

Fantastic film and agree with all above. As a personal note maybe you guys remember me mentioning that my father worked for Boeing on the liquid oxygen/hydrogen lines of the Saturn V. In the scene where they send out the technical team to fix the fuel line leak you can see him pop his head out for a few seconds. I had heard that he was on the TV broadcast (his former college roommate was watching on TV and recognize him), but my family had never seen it. Needless to say it's a bit of shock to see one your parents in their prime doing their thing

I called my dad to see if he had seen it and he hadn't at the time, but some of his Boeing buddies had called him and told him he was in it. They also said some the footage was from Apollo 8 because the staff changed a bit in each mission. My dad eventually saw it and confirmed the scene I mentioned and that he was in some of the scenes where they pan across launch control and it said it felt like it happened yesterday.

I agree that they probably "filled in the gaps" with some CGI.

I liked First Man too even though it doesn't get Armtrong's personality right. It does accurately portray that they were totally out of their minds.

Ron Brand · « **Reply #3 on:** May 17, 2019, 02:04:43 pm »

If you liked that, I strongly recommend that you watch For All Mankind.

austro · « **Reply #4 on:** May 17, 2019, 06:09:19 pm »

It was a fantastic movie. I loved looking at all of the 60s stuff almost as much as the rocketry stuff; it really took me back.

As impressive as all of the obvious engineering work is/was, I'm always shaking my head at the larger logistical accomplishments. All of the supporting facilities: JSC itself, all of the Saturn V launch facilities, all of the assembly facilities, and on and on, all came into existence and were fully functioning in less than eight years. Think of all of the materiel and manpower that needed to be managed to make that happen. And they weren't designing these buildings and structures with CAD programs, either. Truly mind-boggling.

I also loved that each of the major contractors had their own row in Mission Control: the Boeing guys, the IBM guys, etc. And all of the cigarette smoke in those rooms must have made a submarine seem like a clean air machine.

Limey · « **Reply #5 on:** May 18, 2019, 07:41:04 am »

Quote from: subnuclear on May 17, 2019, 01:50:49 pm

Needless to say it's a bit of shock to see one your parents in their prime doing their thing

😳

HudsonHawk · « **Reply #6 on:** May 18, 2019, 08:39:18 am »

Quote from: austro on May 17, 2019, 06:09:19 pm

As impressive as all of the obvious engineering work is/was, I'm always shaking my head at the larger logistical accomplishments. All of the supporting facilities: JSC itself, all of the Saturn V launch facilities, all of the assembly facilities, and on and on, all came into existence and were fully functioning in less than eight years. Think of all of the materiel and manpower that needed to be managed to make that happen. And they weren't designing these buildings and structures with CAD programs, either. Truly mind-boggling.

And the money. You can do anything with enough money.

At work, when we're faced with something so daunting we think it's just a bad idea to attempt, we call it our "go to the moon strategy". We can't say it's impossible, it's been done before. But it'd be totally unreasonable to expect us to do it now.

HudsonHawk · « **Reply #7 on:** May 18, 2019, 08:41:45 am »

Quote from: subnuclear on May 17, 2019, 01:50:49 pm

Needless to say it's a bit of shock to see one your parents in their prime doing their thing

Wait till you seem them doing their thing when they are well past their prime. It'll make you cry.

Waldo · « **Reply #8 on:** May 18, 2019, 01:48:11 pm »

A friend of mine worked on IBM's Saturn V instrument unit team. IIRC, he said that at least one (maybe the first?) IU was to be shipped to the Cape from Huntsville, AL by barge, but the IU wasn't complete. In order to not let deadlines slip, IBM put a bunch of engineers on the boat with the IU so they could finish building and testing it before it arrived at the Cape. My friend, who was one of the pocket protectors on the boat, said it was the most stressful week and a half of his life. Eventually they started transporting the IU by plane.

moriartp · « **Reply #9 on:** May 18, 2019, 01:55:53 pm »

Watched it last night because of this thread. I don’t know what it was like to experience it in 1969, but I imagine this is as close as I’ll ever get. What an amazing tribute to everyone who worked in the space program.

Limey · « **Reply #10 on:** May 18, 2019, 02:47:38 pm »

Quote from: moriartp on May 18, 2019, 01:55:53 pm

Watched it last night because of this thread. I don’t know what it was like to experience it in 1969, but I imagine this is as close as I’ll ever get. What an amazing tribute to everyone who worked in the space program.

I was 4 when this happened. One of my earliest memories - maybe the earliest - is of being woken up to watch a fuzzy picture on our B&W TV of something I did not understand. This is so much better.

Waldo · « **Reply #11 on:** May 20, 2019, 10:22:51 am »

Watched this last night and it kicked ass. May have been the first time I've seen ground footage of the Saturn V dropping its first stage. Also, the way they tied in the ground loop, air-to-ground comms, and the Apollo Control public affairs feed really drove home how much chatter was happening during events like the launch, engine burns, and the landing.

subnuclear · « **Reply #12 on:** May 20, 2019, 12:30:30 pm »

Quote from: Waldo on May 20, 2019, 10:22:51 am

Watched this last night and it kicked ass. May have been the first time I've seen ground footage of the Saturn V dropping its first stage. Also, the way they tied in the ground loop, air-to-ground comms, and the Apollo Control public affairs feed really drove home how much chatter was happening during events like the launch, engine burns, and the landing.

I think we've all seen a lot of the footage before, but they really tied everything together so well it was like seeing it for the first time.

das · « **Reply #13 on:** May 20, 2019, 01:24:05 pm »

So, what are the options to watch? Just theaters and blue-ray disk?

subnuclear · « **Reply #14 on:** May 20, 2019, 02:13:39 pm »

Quote from: das on May 20, 2019, 01:24:05 pm

So, what are the options to watch? Just theaters and blue-ray disk?

Think it's on Amazon Prime streaming now as probably some others (I saw it in the theaters a couple of months ago).

Waldo · « **Reply #15 on:** May 20, 2019, 02:38:59 pm »

Quote from: das on May 20, 2019, 01:24:05 pm

So, what are the options to watch? Just theaters and blue-ray disk?

I bought it on iTunes, but you can also buy it on Amazon, Google Play, etc. To my knowledge it's not free to stream anywhere.

moriartp · « **Reply #16 on:** May 20, 2019, 03:27:53 pm »

I paid a few bucks to stream it on Amazon. Well worth it.

das · « **Reply #17 on:** May 20, 2019, 04:28:11 pm »

Cool. Thanks @waldo and @subnuclear. Follow up with you (or anyone else), is it in 1080p or 4K HDR?

Lefty · « **Reply #18 on:** May 20, 2019, 05:28:29 pm »

Quote from: das on May 20, 2019, 04:28:11 pm

Cool. Thanks @waldo and @subnuclear. Follow up with you (or anyone else), is it in 1080p or 4K HDR?

1080, 1081, whatever it takes

austro · « **Reply #19 on:** May 20, 2019, 06:10:39 pm »

Quote from: Lefty on May 20, 2019, 05:28:29 pm

1080, 1081, whatever it takes

/golfclap

Mr. Happy · « **Reply #20 on:** May 21, 2019, 06:55:54 am »

Quote from: moriartp on May 18, 2019, 01:55:53 pm

Watched it last night because of this thread. I don’t know what it was like to experience it in 1969, but I imagine this is as close as I’ll ever get. What an amazing tribute to everyone who worked in the space program.

I was nine at the time. That day still ranks as one of my greatest memories. I watched it on a black and white television. I remember my parents and some of their friends talking about it. Everyone was in amazement and proud of the country because we beat the USSR to the moon.

georgiasamba · « **Reply #21 on:** July 01, 2019, 09:31:01 am »

This film was broadcast on CNN last week so I finally got to see it. Excellent.

I also highly recommend the BBC podcast, "13 minutes to the moon."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w13xttx2/episodes/downloads

It has an in-depth description of the phases of the landing, so I was able to recognize certain critical moments in the communication feeds while watching the film. It also provides tons of information on the Apollo program itself. The episode on Apollo 8 is my favorite so far.

Gizzmonic · « **Reply #22 on:** July 01, 2019, 10:27:58 am »

Quote from: das on May 20, 2019, 01:24:05 pm

So, what are the options to watch? Just theaters and blue-ray disk?

For free at your local library?

austro · « **Reply #23 on:** July 05, 2019, 05:30:46 pm »

Just saw an ad for a PBS special on Monday evening called "Chasing the Moon". Looks like it will focus a little more on the US vs Russia race rather than just the Apollo program, but it's hard to tell from just a short trailer. Anyway, if you liked "Apollo 11", you may want to tune in to this.

drew corleone · « **Reply #24 on:** July 16, 2019, 07:48:46 am »

Somewhat related... HBO's amazing From the Earth to the Moon miniseries is finally once again available, at least on their streaming platforms (guessing On Demand as well). I've watched every episode a half-dozen times, at least, but not in many years.

moriartp · « **Reply #25 on:** July 16, 2019, 09:21:18 am »

Quote from: drew corleone on July 16, 2019, 07:48:46 am

Somewhat related... HBO's amazing From the Earth to the Moon miniseries is finally once again available, at least on their streaming platforms (guessing On Demand as well). I've watched every episode a half-dozen times, at least, but not in many years.

Finally!!

Mike S. · « **Reply #26 on:** July 16, 2019, 11:33:21 am »

That is a great fucking series. Easy to go down the rabbit hole and find yourself bingeing watching every episode. Again.

Waldo · « **Reply #27 on:** July 16, 2019, 11:44:49 am »

Quote from: drew corleone on July 16, 2019, 07:48:46 am

Somewhat related... HBO's amazing From the Earth to the Moon miniseries is finally once again available, at least on their streaming platforms (guessing On Demand as well). I've watched every episode a half-dozen times, at least, but not in many years.

Haven't seen this yet. RIP work day.

subnuclear · « **Reply #28 on:** July 16, 2019, 12:17:58 pm »

50th anniversary of launch day today!