In 1966, as Project Gemini was wrapping up, Project Apollo was starting to, quite literally, get off the ground – Complete Apollo CSM’s began unmanned flights, and the Lunar Module, while delayed quite a bit, was still starting to become a real machine. Everything was looking to be progressing smoothly before the Apollo 1 fire …
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Category:History
Voyager 2 Saturn Flyby in 1981 – 1986 NASA JPL Film
Launched in 1977, the twin Voyager 1 and 2 probes were sent out on missions to observe Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, as well as their moons, rings, and anything else they could discover on their journeys out of the solar system. Voyager 1 was sent on a more specialized mission for only Jupiter and …
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Agena Upper Stage for the “Discoverer Program” – Early1960’s USAF Film
When the United States Air Force began its space reconnaissance programs in the 1960’s, it needed a way to stabilize its camera and signal interception payloads on orbit. Under normal circumstances of the day, satellites were either spin stabilized, or left to drift along on their orbit, maybe, if things were working right, the satellite …
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Power For Apollo: Saturn V – 1966 NASA Film
If you’re going to the moon, you’re going to need a rocket. A big one. Actually, scratch that, you’re going to need several rockets of varying types, uses, and fuels. This film, produced during the late stages of the design and testing of the rocket systems of the Saturn V and the Apollo Command, Service, …
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Gemini Flight Controller Orientation – 1964 NASA Film
Going along with the last articles theme of hypergolic fuels, with a focus on the Gemini spacecraft, we have this 1964 film, from the very early days of Gemini, explaining the propulsion systems and operation of the maneuviring capabilities of the Gemini. Gemini was the first manned spacecraft capable of making major orbital trajectory changes, …
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On That Day, 15 Years Ago…
We had been back in school for just about a Month. It was early in my Junior year, and it seemed like a pretty typical Tuesday. I don’t recall getting ready that day, but it is funny the things you do remember. In my case, I recall us on the bus discussing the upcoming episode …
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The Space Shuttle: A Remarkable Flying Machine – 1981 NASA Film
This film, produced in 1981, follows the first flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia on STS-1, April 12th to 14th of 1981. The video tells the general story of the 4 day mission, while also going over details on the general operations of the then new Space Shuttle. One of the best things about this …
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Space Shuttle Design & Construction – 1976 Educational Documentary
Back in the 1970’s, NASA began a transition from the Apollo program, using expendable rockets and single-use capsules, to an idea known as the Space Shuttle – a reusable space plane to carry crew and cargo into orbit at a fraction of the cost of traditional boosters. Of course, 40 years later, we all know …
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An Assortment of Apollo 15 Videos
45 years ago today, Apollo 15 was deep in its mission.By the time it was all over, the crew had spent 4 days at the moon, conduction research from both orbit and from the surface, including the missions most famous moment where a falcon feather and a hammer were dropped in the effective vacuum of …
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Apollo 15 Landing from PDI to Touchdown
45 Years ago today, Apollo 15 Landed at Hadley Rille on the Moon. The Crew of this J class mission, David Scott, Al Worden, and James Irwin, would spend 3 days both in orbit and on the surface studying the moon, which was, of course, the true scientific goal of the Apollo program – to …
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45 Years Ago – The Flight of Apollo 15
It was 45 years ago today that the 4th manned lunar landing took place. Hadley Rille, a geographically intriguing area of the lunar surface, was chosen as the landing site due to the possible volcanic origins of the region, with the rille area itself being likely one of the best areas to gather samples from. …
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Missile Guidance – “A Missile Named MAC” – 1962 Bell Labs Film
As most know, the accomplishments of the United States and Soviet space programs were really an extension of and, in most ways, a practical application of the missile technology of the era. Machines built to send nuclear warheads across the oceans were equally suited to send payloads into orbit around the Earth. Of course, accomplishing …
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55 Years Ago, the Flight of Liberty Bell 7
Two and a half months after the flight of Freedom 7, NASA was ready for another Mercury – Redstone test flight. The pilot for this flight was Virgil Ivan “Gus” Grissom, a Korean War Veteran from the United States Air Force. This flight was to be a duplicate of Shepards Freedom 7 flight, testing out …
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Apollo 11 – Landing from PDI to Touchdown
Today, July 20th, 2016, marks 47 years since Apollo 11 landed on the Moon. It’s an event that everyone knows of, but, as historically significant as it was, was just a test flight – the later Apollo landings were the real missions of science and exploration that Apollo was born to execute, but 11, that …
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Of Pluto and Planets
One year ago today, on July 14th, 2015, the New Horizons space probe passed by the dwarf planet Pluto, scanning its surface with a multitude of research experiments, cameras, scanners, and more to try to gather all the information we could on it, and it’s moons, during our one time fly-by of this much beloved …
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