Apollo 5 Documentary, The First Test Flight Of The Apollo Lunar Excursion Module
Video from the channel Matthew Travis about Apollo 5, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 15:10. Language: English. Video type: Archive footage.
What it shows
NASA film about Apollo 5, the first complete, uncrewed test flight of the LM-1 lunar module, launched on a Saturn IB. It alternates footage of the launch, the control bunker and the Houston control center with explanations from engineers about the function of the LM: a descent stage with a throttleable engine to land on the Moon and an ascent stage to take off and rendezvous with the command and service module.
When and where it was filmed
Period footage of the mission, filmed in the bunker at Cape Kennedy, at mission control in Houston and at tracking stations. The narration presents the crewed Moon landing as a future event. Among those present are astronauts Jim McDivitt, Rusty Schweickart, Frank Borman and Bill Anders.
Context
The first descent engine burn, planned for 38 seconds, was cut off after 4 because the onboard computer did not allow for the actual tolerances. Flight director Gene Kranz opted for an alternative plan: a shorter throttled burn and the "fire in the hole" test, which fires the ascent engine with the stages still joined before separating them. With attitude-control thruster fuel running low and very short tracking passes, the final ascent engine burn was commanded from Hawaii after a partial update via Carnarvon and the ship Coastal Sentry Quebec. The LM-1 was left in a decaying orbit until it broke up in the atmosphere.