Le programme Apollo#3 (Apollo 4)

Video from the channel ApolloXX Science about Apollo 4, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 3:04. Language: French. Video type: Documentary.

Educational video in French explaining the Apollo 4 mission, the uncrewed flight that debuted the Saturn V launch vehicle.

The mission resumed the Apollo program just over nine months after the Apollo 1 cabin fire, which killed three astronauts. It had to verify the reliability of the lunar launch vehicle and the improvements to the command and service module, especially its reinforced heat shield.

The complete rocket was launched instead of testing each stage separately. It carried a test command and service module and a lunar module mock-up with the same mass. According to the video, the liftoff caused shock waves more intense than expected, the service module engine took the spacecraft to nearly 40,000 km/h to simulate the return from the Moon, and the capsule was recovered by the aircraft carrier Bennington.