A New DVD Explores The Mighty Saturn V
Published April 20, 2004
Kent Brockman Visits NASA
Included on the third disc are 11 quarterly management reports from the Marshall Space Flight Archive. Running from 1963 to 1967, the reports trace the progress of the assembly of the Saturn V fleet, from the initial concepts, to the physical construction of the rockets. They were apparently designed to show the boys in Washington Marshall's progress in meeting the deadline imposed by President Kennedy.
They're shot and narrated much like the documentaries of '50s and '60s that we've all sat through in school, and that The Simpsons and James Lileks have endlessly satirized. (For the tone of the narration, picture Troy McClure or Kent Brockman at their industrial film driest.)
But despite their bland presentation, a few interesting details emerge.
A few segments of the Marshall reports feel like those Star Trek episodes that place technology and men from the 23rd century next to those from the 20th. There are several shots of the Saturn's stages being built, which show a fellow (maybe it's multiple guys-it's hard to tell) in chinos, a plaid shirt and hardhat, looking like he just stepped out of a World War II assembly line, and smoking a pipe to boot. Smoking near a Saturn V? It's perfectly safe--the stages won't be filled with caustic propellants for many months--but it's certainly an incongruous image when viewed in retrospect.
"We Must Be Bold"
Since his speech defined the Apollo program, let's let President Kennedy wrap things up:
If I were to say, my fellow citizens, that we shall send to the moon, 240,000 miles away from the control station in Houston, a giant rocket more than 300 feet tall...on an untried mission, to an unknown celestial body, and then return it safely to earth, re-entering the atmosphere at speeds of over 25,000 miles per hour, causing heat about half that of the temperature of the sun--almost as hot as it is here today--and do all this, and do it right, and do it first before this decade is out--then we must be bold.Boldness was what the Saturn V was all about.
(See also my review of Spacecraft Films' Apollo 11 DVD.)
- A New DVD Explores The Mighty Saturn V
- Published: April 20, 2004
- Type:
- Section: Video
- Filed Under: Video: Documentary
- Writer: Ed Driscoll
- Ed Driscoll's BC Writer page
- Ed Driscoll's personal site
- Spread the Word
- Like this article?
- Email this
Save to del.icio.us
Comments on this articleComments
An incredible achievment...I wish they'd show more actual footage of how it would have really been from 4 miles away-having the sound take 12 seconds to reach you and then suddenly BAM!
Add your comment, speak your mind
(Or ping: http://blogcritics.org/mt/tb/14905)
My wife and I just took a vacation to Florida last month and made the trek from Orlando to KSC. Seeing the Saturn V, even laid on its side, is an incredible experience. While the rest of the rockets, including the space shuttle, viewable at KSC are impressive, they seem to lack a bit of the awe I was hoping I'd feel. As a space junkie since I was a kid, I had always imagined these things being just massive. Up close, they're almost fragile-y small. Except for the Saturn V/Apollo vehicle. That was so much bigger than I anticipated. I could have stared at it for hours, absorbing every detail. Of course, that was out of the question - my wife was getting anxious after about 15 minutes of that! I did, however, snap off nearly two rolls of film of everything I could get a good shot of.
This sounds like a great set, and a great way to torture loved ones who don't quite share the same enthusiasm I do . . . ;-)