Apollo 17 Launch - Complete Camera Sequences, Side by Side, Remastered, Mission Audio, Night Liftoff

Video from the channel Retro Space HD about Apollo 17, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 23:09. Language: English. Video type: Launch.

The video brings together footage of Apollo 17's night launch (AS-512), the last mission of the Apollo program to the Moon, aboard a Saturn V from Kennedy Space Center. It first shows a composite of several cameras running in parallel, then repeats the same liftoff from different angles. All of it is accompanied by the countdown audio, mission control commentary and communications with the crew led by commander Gene Cernan.

The countdown includes the final guidance system alignment, performed by Cernan at T-5 min 45 s, the crew's last action before liftoff, and the final guidance release at T-17 s. Ignition is announced at 8.9 s before zero. The Saturn V clears the pad lighting up the area as if it were daytime, according to the commentator, and clears the tower. This is followed by the roll maneuver and the start of pitch, abort modes 1 Bravo (at about 2.5 miles altitude) and 1 Charlie, and passage through maximum dynamic pressure, with the vehicle at about 8 miles altitude and close to 3,000 feet per second. The center engine cuts off on schedule, followed by the first stage. At that point the crew experiences around 4 g. The launch escape tower jettison is seen, and the ship's guidance computer converges and gets the go-ahead.

At every stage the communications confirm that all five engines are running well and the trajectory matches the plan. The vehicle passes 65 miles altitude and, at five minutes, reaches about 80 miles altitude and 230 miles of downrange distance with no issues. The period footage is presented restored, with cleaned-up picture and sound, its original 24-frames-per-second cadence, and improved color and resolution.