NASA MANNED SPACE FLIGHT QUARTERLY REPORT NO.15 OCT, NOV, DEC 1966 GEMINI AND APOLLO-SATURN V 19144
Video from the channel PeriscopeFilm about Project Gemini, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 19:37. Language: English. Video type: Archive footage.
What it shows
A filmed NASA report, number 15 in the quarterly series on crewed spaceflight. Its first part covers Gemini 12, the program's final mission, crewed by James Lovell and Edwin Aldrin. It shows the underwater training for the extravehicular activity and the launch on November 11. It also shows the rendezvous with the Agena target on the third orbit, the first photograph of a solar eclipse from space, and the splashdown on November 15. During his excursions, Aldrin completed 19 tasks without fatigue or overheating thanks to the handholds and restraints. A 100-foot tether between Gemini and Agena tested gravity-gradient stabilization.
When and where it was filmed
The report covers October, November, and December 1966. It includes footage from the Kennedy Space Center, the Manned Spacecraft Center, North American in Downey and Seal Beach, Grumman in Bethpage, Michoud, Mississippi, and Marshall. It also includes material from White Sands, the Arnold center, and McDonnell in St. Louis.
Context
The second part reviews the problems facing Apollo. Ten engines of the uprated Saturn I had defective turbopump blades. Service propulsion system tanks had to be replaced, and the environmental control unit developed a coolant leak. Methanol used in pressure tests corroded the titanium tanks and destroyed a service module. Grissom, White, and Chaffee appear in altitude chamber tests. The film also shows a 384-second firing of a Saturn V second stage, Pad A of Complex 39, the view of Copernicus captured by Lunar Orbiter 2, and the orbital workshop concept.