THE APOLLO PROJECT

the screen news digest is presented to you as a public service by the evening and Sunday bulletin the Philadelphia nearly a bulletin these film presentations are endorsed and distributed by school authorities in metropolitan Philadelphia [Music] the Saturn 5 is America's in rocket taller even in the Capitol dome a mighty launch vehicle 350 feet in height space scientists have programmed the Saturn 5 to fire an Apollo spacecraft into lunar orbit and help land the first man on the moon target date is 1969 and here amazingly lifelike animation illustrates stage by stage the lunar journey nine million pounds of thrust will be needed to start the Apollo on its way the booster rockets their fuel burned up or jettisoned and fall away [Music] [Applause] three astronauts will ride the mothership called the command module which is to circle the earth in a parking orbit until it reaches a point where the astronauts can be fired to the moon at 25,000 miles an hour [Music] the lunar excursion module nicknamed the lamp or landing bug for short his now turned 180 degrees until his nose to nose with a command capsule in this position the two vehicles head for the moon Midway in the quarter of a million mile flight celestial observations will be made corrections plotted and the spacecraft set on its final lunar course a single engine aboard the command module is to be ignited some fifty miles above the moon slowing the spacecraft and placing it into a lunar orbit [Music] two of the three astronauts will then slip through an opening between the command module at left and the landing but the third must remain behind to maintain communications with the lunar explorers and tracking stations back on earth [Music] after examining the moon surface for a landing place the bug will separate from the mothership under its own orbit and make ready for its trailblazing descent as the lunar excursion module nears the surface of the moon braking rockets are to be fired to enable the astronauts to hover over and to inspect their landing planes when the proposed site has been checked out and found safe the landing legs are extended and the bug settles down on the lunar surface [Music] the exploration team will remain on the moon for seven days photographs and soil samples will be taken and radios will be left behind to transmit continuing scientific observations to earth the two men must execute a split-second launch to be certain that capsule and mothership meet in lunar orbit if all goes well the two vehicles will dock in space and the lunar astronauts will transfer back into the command module [Music] when the three men Apollo team is reunited the bug is abandoned to save weight on the return trip while the deserted capsule continues to circle the moon the triumphant astronauts will zero in on the earth [Music] to make this dream come true America takes a giant step in the Apollo project a six million pound transporter the size of half a football field rumbles along at a mile an hour to deliver a Saturn five rocket into position for a critical test flight for the first time since the Space Age was born a decade ago the United States is in a position to take a commanding lead over Russia in space rocketry the Saturn Pi if successful will be the biggest rocket ever fired a launch vehicle capable of placing a 250 thousand pound payload into Earth orbit and a 100,000 pound spacecraft into lunar orbit [Applause] and on-time liftoff will provide graphic proof that American scientists have overcome the earlier setbacks in the Apollo program and put the United States back in the lead in the race for space the countdown is proceeding smoothly and the Saturn 5 is a majestic sight to the men in the control center three miles away dr. Verner von braun is their eyes glued to launch complex 39 the countdown continues on schedule only seconds to go now for we have ignition we have lift-off [Applause] [Music] inside the first-stage a spectacular glimpse of the liquid hydrogen that is used to power the super moon rocket the Saturn 5 consumes 3000 gallons a second as but reaches an initial speed of six thousand miles an hour [Music] the fire first stage engines are building up enough thrust to place 35 Gemini capsules into orbit at one time [Music] 38 miles high the first stage burns itself out and is jettisoned but it has performed flawlessly on this its first test flight second stage is also getting its initial try out on the flight condition [Music] the Saturn is climbing at 15,000 miles an hour to an altitude of 117 miles [Music] when the second stage props away the third stage places the Apollo spacecraft into a circular orbit around the earth the Apollo circles the earth twice in this 117 mile high parking orbit [Music] during these two orbits onboard equipment is tested and monitored then at the beginning of the third revolution the third stage engine is restarted and the Apollo capsule is fired into an orbit 11234 miles high after reaching its highest point the Apollo begins its spectacular return journey during re-entry the heat shield is pointed toward earth the capsule plunges through space at 25,000 miles an hour and the temperature on the outside of the heat shield climbs to 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit [Music] to parachutes slow the spacecraft two miles above the earth and then other smaller chutes are deployed to complete the smooth descent [Music] eight and a half hours after liftoff the Apollo capsule is ready to settle gently into the Pacific six hundred miles north of Hawaii [Music] a helicopter upon the recovery ship Pennington is quickly on the scene and a floatation collar is attached to the capsule [Music] the maiden flight of the Saturn 5 is a traumatic milestone in the project Apollo timetable for flying men to the moon and doing it in this decade other critical tests lie ahead a fully instrumented lunar excursion module or landing button is to be tested early in 1968 astronauts are scheduled to fly an Apollo spacecraft like this one in the summer of 1968 for more manned practice missions are set for 1969 and if all goes well the fifth flight will be the long-awaited mission to the moon [Music] the final successful flight when it is made will climax a twenty three billion dollar project that has required the mobilization of three hundred thousand people the capsule recovery at the end of that historic mission will also mark the fulfillment of one man's dream I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal before this decade is out of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth no single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind or more important for the long-range exploration of space [Music] [Music] from the time that man first lifted his eyes to the heavens he has dreamed of setting foot on the moon today on the wings of Saturn and Apollo this dream of the ages is but a few short months away for a better understanding of the world you live in for a greater knowledge of the world around you the evening and Sunday bulletin has presented the screen news digest living history in your classroom you'll follow current events better you'll know the meaning of the news you'll keep up with a world you live in by reading the evening and Sunday bulletins in Philadelphia nearly everybody reads the bulletin