How Did NASA Get Those Shots?

I've been wanting to do this video for a long time.... Just how did they manage to get those spectacular shots of the stage separations of Saturn rockets? Many have asked over the years, so this one is by special request for all of you who have wondered about just that. OH - and hang on till the end to see the jaw-dropping unedited footage. Enjoy!
0:00 - Intro
1:00 - The U2 Spy Plane
1:42 - Project Corona
3:15 - NASA Ejectable Camera Pods
5:00 - The First Fiber Optics
5:38 - Apollo 8 LOX Tank (the only film pod recovered on that mission)
9:35 - Credits
11:43 - Apollo 4 S-II Staging, Pod A
(mislabeled in editing...)
14:27 - Apollo 6 S-II Staging, Pod B
17:11 - Apollo 4 S-II Staging, Pod A
19:56 - Apollo 6 S-II Staging, Pod B
(mislabeled in editing...)
22:39 - AS-203 S-IVB Staging
24:57 - AS-202 SS-IVB Staging
27:18 - Apollo 8 LOX Tank Fiber-optic Pulse Camera
29:34 - Atlas (1/2 Stage) Outboard Separation
#franlab #NASA #apollo
- Music by Fran Blanche -

[matthewb]

The fiber optic camera in the 1st LOX tank just blew my mind! I had never even heard that it was a thing. Simply incredible.

[TerryClarkAccordioncrazy]

It was never intended to be seen by the general population and it's a miracle of the internet that it's now out here to be seen by all enquiring minds. Thank you

[astrogarage]

This shots are way better than any video today. Looks like the Star Wars escape pod scenes were inspired by these clips.

[SteveB]

I still find these stage separation videos thrilling to watch today, can you imagine how the engineers must have felt when they got those canisters back a played the footage for the first time? Must have been quite a moment for them. On today's launches we take it for granted - but just imagine being able to see something like that back in the 60's, truly amazing.

[theprofessorfeather]

I remember reading about the Corona project in a magazine about 30 years ago when the program was declassified. I remember one of the innovations was Kodak developing an acetate free film stock for use in the extremes of space. As amazing as all of our gadgets are now, there were amazing people creating amazing things that got us here.

[ScottfromBaltimore]

Stunning. Minutes away from the ground, a completely different and inhospitable environment. That blue earth.

[pr]

I have often wondered how they managed to recover the film from these shots. Now I know, thanks Fran!

[ninjarobotmonky]

...one of those things that I've seen countless times, but never actually stopped to think what I was looking at.
What a brilliant video, thank you for taking the time to create, edit, and share.

[truegret]

I'm fortunate enough to have grown up watching these missions, and very much appreciate the difficulties the engineers overcame "back in the day". I seem to recall watching space walks ( EVAs ) and attempts at docking. They looked like two 16 year old "yoots" learning to park a care for the first time. To have faith in the math and orbital mechanics to be an astronaut back then is heroic to me. I worked at a rocket company startup in the mid-80s and recall technical discussion around fuel sloosh and whether it was a "real issue" with respect to vehicle control laws.
Thanks @Fran Blanche for sharing and stimulating old memories.

[fourortwelvestrings]

My dad's first project at Lockheed was Agena. Amazing spacecraft, pioneering in many ways.

[DMLand]

Stunning stuff: I've never seen these films all the way through to the ejection of the canister. Thank you for explaining it so brilliantly. My Patreon dollars going to good use!

[CuriousMarc]

So majestic! For some reason, none of the modern space cam footage comes close to this. Wonderfully researched and edited video! (oh, and great music too!)

[MovieMakingMan]

Thank you for your amazing video! I used a lot of that footage when I made programs for NASA. I never knew how the film was obtained. I’ve created over 300 videos and films for NASA. Most were overview programs of Space Shuttle missions. I’d get the 3/4” video tape a day after a shuttle landing, spend 72 hours plus writing and editing programs and having a finished video program ready for presentation in NASA’s building one.

There was a company called Taft Broadcasting that did almost all the video programs for NASA but it took them 30 days just to process the paperwork before starting a project. I didn’t use paperwork. I just got the footage from Cape overnighted to me and I’d spend 3-4 days producing videos without taking any breaks.

I greatly appreciate all the work you did in creating this fantastic video! 👍🏻

[stevebunes]

wow, what a spectacular YouTube video! Thank you Fran!

[BananaTie]

My questions about the stage separation videos has been answered to the fullest! Thank you Fran, great job! I had no idea it had been this elaborate. Love the video!

[rentAscout]

Honestly, videos like these are way more interesting to me vs most TV or Netflix entertainment stuff. Right into the stuff I didn't know.

[oasntet]

I love this kind of deep technical dive into niche topics like this. You answer so many of the followup questions I had along the way. And the footage is just amazing.

[xliquidflames]

Imagine being the first person to see the first footage to come back from a rocket. It's still amazing footage today. Imagine how insane that would be to see that for the first time. Their jaw had to be on the floor.

[stevenverhaegen]

Actually wasn't aware of those ejectable pods! 🤔 60s kid learned something new! 😎 Thanks, Fran! 👍

[Pillowcase]

A lot of super cool data I haven't heard anywhere else - that fibre optic tank camera is a really good one.