Apollo Staging Question

[backspace]

http://history.nasa.gov/ap08fj/video/staging.mpg<br /><br />This film has some of the more famous footage involving the staging sequences for the Saturn V, but I have a question...<br /><br />The S-IV-B stagind film is amazing to look at, especially, and reminds me that I wouldn't want to be standing there when the third stage fired.<br /><br />This is very obviously film, and not tv cameras... how did they get this film? I was under the impression that the second stage and interstage were high enough in altitude to be destroyed on re-entry, but here we have some nifty film in 70mm color, from the looks of it.<br /><br />Can someone help me out with this?

 

[rybanis]

Thats the longest footage I've ever seen of those events. Are the 2nd stage engines even burning in some of those shots? I think I can see particles moving in front of the bells. Cool and interesting <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[rvastro]

I believe early Saturns had capsules with movie cameras in them that could be recovered after seperating from the stage.

 

[steve82]

I think they had the camera capsules on the stages in such a way that the capsule would break free and float in the water with a note telling the fisherman or whoever found it to mail it in to NASA, or something. There was one from a Titan that seems to have been in every other space movie of the era.

 

[davf]

The first two Saturn V flights, AS-501 and AS-502 had three pairs of cameras mounted on them. THe first pair (TV cameras) monitored engine start and performance for the S-1C, the second pair (motion picture) were mounted in the S-1C LOx tank to monitor the flow of LOx in the tank as it drained, and the third pair (motion picture) were mounted in capsules on the S-II stage to monitor staging. Not only was separation of the S-1C a concern, but there was also the interstage that had only a metre or so clearance from the S-II engine cluster. Essentially, it had to slide straight back without shifting laterally or tumbling. The two motion picture cameras that captured the staging event were mounted in capsules that were ejected from the S-II stage 25 seconds after separation of the interstage section (about 3:40 into the flight). They were recovered by parachute in the South Atlantic. <br /><br />If you have a chance to see the entire reel of film (such as on 'The Might Saturns: Saturn V') you can actually see the capsule eject in the last 1/2 second or so of film footage (the camera view suddenly translates aft and then the picture stops.. presumably when power from the S-II was lost?).<br /><br />I agree that it makes for the most compelling launch footage of the entire program. <br /><br />Did a search at NASA.GOV and turned up the following picture of a recovered camera:<br />http://history.nasa.gov/MHR-5/Images/fig204.jpg<br /><br />I also found this picture of the S-II for AS-502 being stacked. While I don't see the camera here, perhaps someone else can clarify a) at which point the camera was installed and b) if the camera capsule is visible in this shot.<br />http://history.nasa.gov/MHR-5/Images/fig370a.jpg<br /><br />I'm thinking s-g's experiences with the S-II would be a great help here.

 

[rvastro]

I just found and old book I have called "Space Fronter" by Werner von Braun. On pgs 48 to 52 he gives a long description of the camera capsules. For the Saturn 1's, the capsules were shot out of a tube with the help of nitrogen gas. This could be the same way the Saturn 5's capsules were seperated from the second stage. He goes into a lot of detail--too much to post here!

 

[CalliArcale]

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>If you have a chance to see the entire reel of film (such as on 'The Might Saturns: Saturn V') you can actually see the capsule eject in the last 1/2 second or so of film footage (the camera view suddenly translates aft and then the picture stops.. presumably when power from the S-II was lost?).<p><hr /></p></p></blockquote><br /><br />That settles it. I'm ordering "The Mighty Saturns: Saturn V" now. <img src="/images/icons/tongue.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[davf]

Sorry for prompting financial ruin... LOL!! I'm a glutton for that stuff too... Those and the Wiley / Praxis space science series. At the risk of fawning over a commercial product, I would have to say that I have been extremely pleased with it! It was money well spent: hours of enjoyment... slow motion forwarding, rewinding, etc., just proving I have no life. In this particular case, you get the view from both cameras. My advice would be to throw a CD you like into your stereo, though... because for the most part, the footage is silent (of course). Maybe that Alan Parsons Project CD you were mentioning? I haven't heard it... but given other stuff by the Project, it would probably make for a rather complementary accompaniment. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" />

 

[CalliArcale]

Yeah, that might work out well! Then again, I bought the Jean Michel Jarre album "Metamorphoses" at the same time, and that might be even better -- it's got some genuine space music on it, including a nice driving track called "Hey, Gagarin". <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>