My Father worked for NASA from Mercury to Apollo 11. His last position was the final inspector for the gimbal guidance system of Apollo. I literally have his " Rubber Stamp" used for Apollo on the actual parts!! and a certificate was given to my Father from NASA for 13 years of work without a mistake. He always said that he was one of thousands that got humanity to the moon.
One of over 430,000 persons, and $24 billion spent...equal to the cost of the Manhattan Project of WW2 at $2 billion. The B-29 program cost more than the Bomb, it was the only aircraft large enough to carry the 10,000 lb weapon. We lost more than 700 dead making the Bomber.
I assume your dad worked at the Cape, I worked down range providing tracking and communications. I did early on (the late 50's) work for Rocketdyne at White Sands on the development of the early engines that found there way into some of the early flights. I hope your Dad told you some of the stories of the early days. I assume your Dad worked on the Saturn rocket, a program I worked on as well, as did thousands of others but I still feel a bit proud of my small contrabution . We helped get to the Moon.
My father did the electrical layout for the hand held Apollo camera. He worked on early spy satalites and used to have to disappear for periods of time, going to a secret launch location.
@Retro…I too among all of us viewers love this video. It’s great to sync up and see just what was going on then which was during my first years of life.!! On this show the choosing of clips must have taken forever and the editing is fantastic! It moves along nicely. I see your channel and look forward to viewing all your videos. Thank you so much!
This is golden. I bet all of the guys in these videos were having the time of their lives. Thank you all for your contributions to America's space program 💪🏿
As a kid somehow I got signed up for monthly mailing from NASA. I would get information on the different components. It stopped when the Gemini missions completed. Wow the things you remember after 50+ years!
Myself and just about all the other boys in 7th and 8th grades loved.this stuf...typical of boys in that day ...unlike these days when boys don't even know if they ARE boys..thank God I'm old...
I remember sending letters off to NASA and they would send back all manner of stuff. Great 8x10 color pictures of the moon and the Apollo rocket system. They would send astronauts to the schools - making me really want to be an engineer. Add in sci-fi books and I was hooked. Been a space fan ever since.
I have to laugh seeing the welding torch going off in the direction of another worker who isn't wearing any gloves at all. What an awesome set of videos!
I dunno if it's because of Tom Wolfe's *The Right Stuff* I read as a teen but I find this early era space program stuff the most fascinating. We live in exciting times for space enthusiasts as well but somehow things like SpaceX deveopements don't excite me even half as much as this pioneer era stuff. Also love the narrator's voice.
There was so much more unknown back then, I think that is why. I mean, can you imagine being Alan Shepard, and the only person who rode in this capsule before you was a chimpanzee?
I've been in the rather small building at the now abandoned Navy base on Grand Bahama Island in which Ham and Shepherd were brought for their post flight physicals. There were still "Ham Day" celebrations 40 years after!
Yesterday (January 31) was Ham Day, as a matter of fact!! He is my favorite Astro Chimp. The guy endured an excruciating 14 G's during some portions of his 16 minute suborbital flight, splashed down 60 miles off course with a ripped landing bag and a bruised nose -- and still came out SMILING!! Quite an inspiration to us "higher mammals", in my humble opinion.
I worked on the Mercury and Gemini program. I was employed by Pan American who was the prime contractor for NASA. At the time I was working in communications and had the opportunity to listen and talked to the astronauts while they were in orbit.
Were you a CapCom? I always assumed all communications were other astronauts who weren't flying....but now thinking about it, there were so many stations it would be a lot of travel to get astronauts to all of them, for many shifts. That's pretty cool.
Even more amazing was the work done by Stanley Kubrick. The fake moon landing was good enough to fool millions in the 60's. Sadly, we are still taught men walked on the moon. What a complete fraud.
@@dand8726 seriously! Do you actually believe this nonsense? If it was faked why repeat it multiple times? Any of the nonsense that you have believe has no credibility and all attempts that claim it was faked can be scientifically proven to be nonsense.
I grew up in this era...I was 8 in 1958.. It was a super big deal to anticipate the first launches if the Mercury program...we would sometimes get to watch the launches in class...it was also the beginning of TV in class..
I'm so glad to see this footage has survived publicly! Pity we've lost most of the minds ant artisans behind it, however, at least footage like this and blueprints have mostly survived.
My dad was on this project. And was the lead engineer to put the original instrumentation in at the cape.. And in flight engineer. And other. Convair had the contract.
This is the NASA of my childhood. Those were great days. You've assembled an excellent compilation of the early Mercury program. Good sound & imagery and everything matches. Nice work!
I have a Saturn V manual. Originals that were given to crew are hardbound collector's items. Still some who know about the space program, but mostly enthusiasts like me.
I remember, as a boy, watching the Mercury program, with awe and pride. In my little country school, there were only two of us who wanted to be a part of this. I never did and I don't know if the other guy, Terry Moore, ever did either but we knew we were seeing the future unfolding. Those were good days!
I've always thought the Redstone looked much sleeker and more aesthetically pleasing than the Atlas did. Just like the SLS has less appeal than the silhouette of the Saturns.
Wow, I didn't realize the Smithsonian displayed the Mercury capsules. Cool. I know walking through their front doors and having the Apollo 11 capsule staring me in the face stopped me dead in my tracks. If my wife hadn't dragged me away... I might STILL be standing in that lobby.
The space exhibits at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum totally blew me away as a kid! Do wish I could go back after having learned a bit more in the intervening 30 years. Haha.
What an exciting time to be an engineer, test pilot, and/or scientist. Such bold ideas and adventures being sprouted from the imaginations of bright men and women.
@@joestimemachine6454 Imagine what they would think and say about watching TWO boosters come back to the cape and land within seconds of one another, ready to fly another mission.
I get you but they don't like that attitude these days - mainly because it get's people killed due to hubris . CRM is it ! . The days of the ' lone combat warrior' are gone .
@@dougball328 The Soviet Buran/Energia flew in 1988 - it performed brilliantly - 2 orbits and an auto-land with a strong cross-wind - wheel stop within metres of the target . All automatic - the preferred paradigm of the Soviets at that time . Unfortunately that was the end - as the Soviet Union crumbled.
I remember the Mercury days. I was a young kid in school and recall being herded into the auditorium to watch the entire mission coverage on TV and then going back to class after it. Of course, I really had no idea of the significance of what I was watching. 🙂 I also had a pencil sharpener in the shape of a Mercury capsule, though I don't recall where I got it from.
It's a shame they don't make them anymore. Though I think there is a Horizon models kit available. I was given a Revell Gemini capsule in 1984, which I still have in it's box, never built, in my store room that I must dig out if I have 2 spare days to find it way in the back. Now that was a great kit. But again, Revell dropped it years ago and no one seems to make that space craft.
I’ve never heard it either, but the reading’s consistent with NASA’s predecessor, N.A.C.A. I assume like many things, the reading was changed to be more media and public friendly.
Period narration: It really is, if you listen closely all the narration before 1960 is very clinical and N.A.S.A. is used as the agency moniker. Then in the 1st briefing report in 1960 the narrator changes and all of the clinical style speech patterns give way to a more relaxed and personable speech style by all of the other narrators.And they all use the modern "NASA" moniker instead of the acronym.
Great archive . Crazy to think we went to the moon 54 years ago and put people on the surface & we've not topped it since . I could never get that excited about LEO STS missions or stations . In the 60's and early 70's virtually every Mercury/Geminee/Apollo flight was pushing the limit . I know NASA is planning & training crews to go back but I'll believe that when it happens
Speaking of pushing the limits, wasn't the first STS misdion, a successful launch, orbit, and landing of a "SPACE PLANE"??? Nostalgia...it sure is a stinky cologne...
I remember those heady days.. Science fiction come to life.. I thought for sure that by this time we would have settled the other planets in our system and been reaching out to the stars.. I couldn't wait for my trip to the space station or maybe even to mars.. Oh well, Asimov, Heinlein, Clarke and Nivens books are still in print I can still go that way...
Well the VAB was built to Von Braun's standards... capability to assemble and launch one Saturn 5 at least a month. Braun thought that a Dozen or two Sat5 could assemble a Mars mission on orbit.. One a year rate.by 1980. Such was the thinking in 1964 as the Complex 39 was Building.(Three launch pads+ four high assembly bays --- Seven Saturn 5s at a time).(Then a max possible one launch a week).
@@ablewindsor1459 This is what I know of his Mars ideas: Von Braun pushed his Mars mission in 1969 He proposed to send two ships to mars in a convoy. Paine (NASA administrator) Briefed V.P. Agnew on August 4th 1969. They proposed to build a shuttle by 75 and a space station. Then a Saturn rocket and the NERVA thermal nuke upper stage (by this time they figured it would be a working part) The mars shot would start in 78 with the first landing sometime in 82. This was a tweak on his original ideas from 52 and 56 when he first started to think about a mars trip.
@@tinkmarshino My data was from an interview broadcast about 1963 -1964 when the Apollo build out was in full swing. The Possible one Saturn 5 Launch a week standard was used to size the VAB and Launch Complex 39, according to Von Braun. He also said at least three S5s could lift enough to assemble one Mars craft(smallest config).....this was the basis for the later Skylab upper stage design.
@@ablewindsor1459 Very cool Able.. I will have to find the broadcast.. I was very into the space race since the 50's and was totally sold when we watch Alan Shepard make his first flight.. So This is new stuff to me and I am gonna dig into it.. thanks Able for the share!!! Can you give me more information on the broadcast to help me find it? Carry on brother.. and thanks again.
@@tinkmarshino I would love to....but the only two times I saw it was live over the Air broadcast back 🔙 n the day..once was in the Fall then again on summer reruns. repeat..cannot remember what show. But Petersen's Magazine Company printed a series of about three dozen paperbacks covering the period from about 66 to mid 70s and one volume refered to the Sat5 and VAB design and Von Braun's requirements .
heres my question, was everything automated? IE, the first non manned orbital test on sept 13 1961, the capsule went into orbit, did its thing, then came in through the re-entry point all un manned. SO i am assuming they had some sort of automation? If so, are there any videos on this process? i would love to know more about that side of early technology. How did atlas rocket know when to seperate the capsule? pressure?
I grew up watching many films like these. My father was given an arm-full of NASA film reels on each visit to Houston in the mid-1960s. In one part, I note that NASA was erroneously referred to by its initials (as its predecessor, N.A.C.A. had been). In other videos from this era, you sometimes hear it pronounced as “Nassau.” Eventually, the lingo entered into my generation’s vocabulary, including “splash-down” instead of “impact.” I sometimes wonder how Gemini (always Jimin-ee -like the Cricket- in the space program) never spread far and wide to the outside, which still seems to prefer Jimin-eye.
I found a copy of the capsule flight operations manual for Project Mercury, capsules 11 and 15 (Redstone) in a bin at Goodwill today. Dated January 30 1961, revised May 30 1961. I live in St. Louis so I assume it came from someone closely associated with McDonnell.
It all looks really modern and really high tech until you see the truck towing the booster @ 9:08 then you realize just how old it is . BIG JOE Whoo Hoo the name sends shivers doon me spine
Interesting they had tested with an Atlas but the first 2 manned missions were on top of Redstones. I guess they had more work to do to man-rate the more powerful launch vehicle.
Problems reaching specified attitude and vehicle orientation seems like it, looking at endeavours of Boeing Starliner for example ;-). Pretty pathetic in fact, looking at kind of experience, and knowledge at hand gained throughout decades of space exploration and engineering. And to be truth, in many cases more simple solution, the better... More complication = more points of failure in vehicle going real flight.
Yes I can. Apollo. :P lol To be clear, Apollo's guidance computer was the first computer to ever use ICs. As for CNC, I think that was a bit ahead of their time. I'm not very familiar with the history of CNC, though I think I'm gonna read up on it now that I think of it. But there's a great story about how they had to figure out how to machine titanium in order to make the SR-71 work, if metalworking's your thing. As for the ICs in the guidance computer, they were actually flatpacks, which had dual 3 input NOR gates. And using about 2,800 of those, they were able to cobble together all of the logic necessary for the computer. Pretty amazing if you ask me. Especially when you consider the engineers didn't even have CAD or anything to help them design these circuits that were probably ridiculously overcomplicated because of having to use nothing but NOR gates.
I was the perfect age (11) when the space age began. I never missed a televised event. Wow, 8 hrs after launch? But I remember engineers using slide rules before computers too.
Ah - the top-down film from Little Joe 1B looks like the film everyone and his dog uses for Mercury Redstone launch footage. The Real Right Stuff (Disney) even used it for Freedom 7/Shepard..
They were just property of the USA - no need to thank them when they were obligated to do a job. They were supposed to be jailed or deported afterwards.
Crew selection for Gemini also had to account for astronaut egos. This is why Slayton paired Borman and Lovell, not Borman and White because Frank and Ed's egos could not fit into the Gemini together. Of course ego is important but then Lovell became one of the most experienced astronauts and had to command the most difficult Apollo flights ever.
I never fully understood how you hacks keep beating this dead horse, into the ground, without a hint of shame... P.S. The astronauts of this era, were choosen in part, for their average builds...I'm sure that included normal sized testicles...
15:33 Anyone else feel really sad at seeing animals being used like this? Look at the despair and helplessness in that monkey's eyes. Ugh. Right in the feels.
@@rickoliveira3807 The astronaut was sitting with his back to the heat shield, so even under high g’s, the forces would push him into the seat back. It wouldn’t be comfortable, but would be less physically stressful than a fighter’s ejection seat.
An amazing feat of engineering! Then too, there wasn't a mandated study of failure required by the FAA, Fish and Wildlife, EPA, and other three letter agencies as there are today!
Wow, they've got better special effects on the animation in the beginning than they had on The Scorpion King. Impressive for the 50's. Btw does stuff like this make anyone else feel like playing KSP?
Retro Space HD : Please let me know when you will plan to post, PART - 2 of the Project Mercury Test Flights covering the years 1962 and 1963. I would kindly appreciate it, very much. Thank you.
So funny how back then most narrators spoke like robots 😃 Take. Me. To. Your. Leader. That's how he sounds 😂 Also, didn't anyone ever wear work gloves in those days?!
Great video, fortunately the monkey made it back alive. Ham (monkey) had more G forces than expected. In today's world the animal rights activists attornies would have a field day if NASA put a monkey in the space craft.
A lot of things from the 1960s don't follow modern sensibilities. For the time Ham was well treated, and astronauts would soon be subject to the same conditions. One might argue that today they wouldn't let a man fly in Mercury due to safety concerns.
I took great care to manually crop the footage (in real time), making sure nothing of importance was cut. Many shots remain in 4:3 because cropping was not possible. Trust me on this - nothing was destroyed, you aren't missing any details.
My Father worked for NASA from Mercury to Apollo 11. His last position was the final inspector for the gimbal guidance system of Apollo. I literally have his " Rubber Stamp" used for Apollo on the actual parts!! and a certificate was given to my Father from NASA for 13 years of work without a mistake. He always said that he was one of thousands that got humanity to the moon.
Thats awesome!
One of over 430,000 persons, and $24 billion spent...equal to the cost of the Manhattan Project of WW2 at $2 billion.
The B-29 program cost more than the Bomb, it was the only aircraft large enough to carry the 10,000 lb weapon. We lost more than 700 dead making the Bomber.
I assume your dad worked at the Cape, I worked down range providing tracking and communications. I did early on (the late 50's) work for Rocketdyne at White Sands on the development of the early engines that found there way into some of the early flights. I hope your Dad told you some of the stories of the early days.
I assume your Dad worked on the Saturn rocket, a program I worked on as well, as did thousands of others but I still feel a bit proud of my small contrabution . We helped get to the Moon.
My father did the electrical layout for the hand held Apollo camera. He worked on early spy satalites and used to have to disappear for periods of time, going to a secret launch location.
We found out in 1992 that he would go to Wallops Island for the testing.
I had no idea so much great footage was available from this era. What a fascinating 36 minutes this was.
Thanks! There's a lot of footage on progress reports, that I assembled together here.
@Retro…I too among all of us viewers love this video. It’s great to sync up and see just what was going on then which was during my first years of life.!! On this show the choosing of clips must have taken forever and the editing is fantastic! It moves along nicely. I see your channel and look forward to viewing all your videos. Thank you so much!
@@RetroSpaceHD Thanks for the time & work done here! It's nice to see a lot of the pre-Apollo work done, successes and aborts.
It’s a really awesome fact that NASA was extremely thorough when it comes to documenting almost everything they did.
My dad worked on the Mercury 7 at McDonnell Douglas.
I have a picture of him and a group of workers in front of it in the clean room.
My college roommate Ian's dad was a design engineer on the Mercury gantry system. Facinating guy.
This is golden. I bet all of the guys in these videos were having the time of their lives. Thank you all for your contributions to America's space program 💪🏿
For all my years watching old NASA movies… THANKS for this. Going through all this must be both tedious and somewhat amazing.
Thanks! Time consuming yes, but not tedious at all!
As a kid somehow I got signed up for monthly mailing from NASA. I would get information on the different components. It stopped when the Gemini missions completed. Wow the things you remember after 50+ years!
Myself and just about all the other boys in 7th and 8th grades loved.this stuf...typical of boys in that day ...unlike these days when boys don't even know if they ARE boys..thank God I'm old...
@@cbroz7492 What do you mean?
I remember sending letters off to NASA and they would send back all manner of stuff. Great 8x10 color pictures of the moon and the Apollo rocket system. They would send astronauts to the schools - making me really want to be an engineer. Add in sci-fi books and I was hooked. Been a space fan ever since.
I have to laugh seeing the welding torch going off in the direction of another worker who isn't wearing any gloves at all. What an awesome set of videos!
I dunno if it's because of Tom Wolfe's *The Right Stuff* I read as a teen but I find this early era space program stuff the most fascinating. We live in exciting times for space enthusiasts as well but somehow things like SpaceX deveopements don't excite me even half as much as this pioneer era stuff. Also love the narrator's voice.
There was so much more unknown back then, I think that is why. I mean, can you imagine being Alan Shepard, and the only person who rode in this capsule before you was a chimpanzee?
I've been in the rather small building at the now abandoned Navy base on Grand Bahama Island in which Ham and Shepherd were brought for their post flight physicals. There were still "Ham Day" celebrations 40 years after!
Yesterday (January 31) was Ham Day, as a matter of fact!! He is my favorite Astro Chimp. The guy endured an excruciating 14 G's during some portions of his 16 minute suborbital flight, splashed down 60 miles off course with a ripped landing bag and a bruised nose -- and still came out SMILING!! Quite an inspiration to us "higher mammals", in my humble opinion.
@@unbrokenandalive1089 18Gs, in fact! What a legend!
I worked on the Mercury and Gemini program. I was employed by Pan American who was the prime contractor for NASA. At the time I was working in communications and had the opportunity to listen and talked to the astronauts while they were in orbit.
Were you a CapCom?
I always assumed all communications were other astronauts who weren't flying....but now thinking about it, there were so many stations it would be a lot of travel to get astronauts to all of them, for many shifts.
That's pretty cool.
These were truly amazing times, it’s incredible what the engineers accomplished without computer design and CNC tooling.
accomplished with slide rules and pencils!
Even more amazing was the work done by Stanley Kubrick. The fake moon landing was good enough to fool millions in the 60's.
Sadly, we are still taught men walked on the moon. What a complete fraud.
@@dand8726 seriously! Do you actually believe this nonsense?
If it was faked why repeat it multiple times?
Any of the nonsense that you have believe has no credibility and all attempts that claim it was faked can be scientifically proven to be nonsense.
@Dan D are you five? Honestly you sound like a child.
@@dand8726 Tell that to Buzz Aldrin
I grew up in this era...I was 8 in 1958..
It was a super big deal to anticipate the first launches if the Mercury program...we would sometimes get to watch the launches in class...it was also the beginning of TV in class..
In my school, we were herded into the auditorium to watch the missions.
I'm so glad to see this footage has survived publicly! Pity we've lost most of the minds ant artisans behind it, however, at least footage like this and blueprints have mostly survived.
and some of us with the memories yet live!
@@tinkmarshino I'm glad to hear it! I was specifically talking about the people who worked on the project. :)
@@R0bobb1e Oh! your right about that then.. I think most all those guys are gone now.. or in there 90's any ways..
My dad was on this project. And was the lead engineer to put the original instrumentation in at the cape.. And in flight engineer. And other. Convair had the contract.
This videos evokes sweet memories for an old man who once was young😁
This is the NASA of my childhood. Those were great days. You've assembled an excellent compilation of the early Mercury program. Good sound & imagery and everything matches. Nice work!
I was too young for PM but watched everything from Gemini forward. Great stuff.
Great show & effort on everyone's part! Thank you...
What a great little doc. Thank You
I have a Saturn V manual.
Originals that were given to crew are hardbound collector's items.
Still some who know about the space program, but mostly enthusiasts like me.
good for you
Wow!
Ham took his 18g's like a little trooper. Well done Ham.
Operant conditioning.
They electro shocked him.
G !
18G's is crazy...Even 11G's is nuts..
@@iitzfizz It is. I've experienced about 4 gs and passed out.
Yeah, I passed out at about 2.5 g's in stunt glider. I'm a light weight. 🙂
I remember, as a boy, watching the Mercury program, with awe and pride. In my little country school, there were only two of us who wanted to be a part of this. I never did and I don't know if the other guy, Terry Moore, ever did either but we knew we were seeing the future unfolding. Those were good days!
I've always thought the Redstone looked much sleeker and more aesthetically pleasing than the Atlas did.
Just like the SLS has less appeal than the silhouette of the Saturns.
I saw the capsule at the Smithsonian. It was barely taller than Sheppard. Incredible bravery.
And Gordon flew one for 33 hours!
Wow, I didn't realize the Smithsonian displayed the Mercury capsules. Cool. I know walking through their front doors and having the Apollo 11 capsule staring me in the face stopped me dead in my tracks. If my wife hadn't dragged me away... I might STILL be standing in that lobby.
The space exhibits at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum totally blew me away as a kid! Do wish I could go back after having learned a bit more in the intervening 30 years. Haha.
Back when rockets and pilots were made of The Right Stuff
What an exciting time to be an engineer, test pilot, and/or scientist. Such bold ideas and adventures being sprouted from the imaginations of bright men and women.
@@joestimemachine6454 Imagine what they would think and say about watching TWO boosters come back to the cape and land within seconds of one another, ready to fly another mission.
I get you but they don't like that attitude these days - mainly because it get's people killed due to hubris . CRM is it ! . The days of the ' lone combat warrior' are gone .
@@dougball328 The Soviet Buran/Energia flew in 1988 - it performed brilliantly - 2 orbits and an auto-land with a strong cross-wind - wheel stop within metres of the target . All automatic - the preferred paradigm of the Soviets at that time . Unfortunately that was the end - as the Soviet Union crumbled.
@@DrTWG And you know all these details how?
Good to see this!
Excellent. Thank you for posting
I remember the Mercury days. I was a young kid in school and recall being herded into the auditorium to watch the entire mission coverage on TV and then going back to class after it. Of course, I really had no idea of the significance of what I was watching. 🙂
I also had a pencil sharpener in the shape of a Mercury capsule, though I don't recall where I got it from.
This is excellent footage I have never seen before.
Thank you for posting. Excellent
I had forgotten that there were two sub-orbital flights. I must have watched both of them.
I had..and built the Revell kit of the Redstone rocket and it's launcher..it was a great Christmas gift fur an 11 orv12 yesr old boy...
..
It's a shame they don't make them anymore. Though I think there is a Horizon models kit available.
I was given a Revell Gemini capsule in 1984, which I still have in it's box, never built, in my store room that I must dig out if I have 2 spare days to find it way in the back. Now that was a great kit. But again, Revell dropped it years ago and no one seems to make that space craft.
Funny, the speaker @14:48 spells the single letters N.A.S.A. instead of NASA in one word like we're used to. I never heard it before.
Period narration ;-)
"the speaker".
Am I the only one recognizing the inimitable voice of the legendary Gene Kranz?
@@-danR my bad, I heard him speaking only once or twice a long time ago
I’ve never heard it either, but the reading’s consistent with NASA’s predecessor, N.A.C.A. I assume like many things, the reading was changed to be more media and public friendly.
Period narration: It really is, if you listen closely all the narration before 1960 is very clinical and N.A.S.A. is used as the agency moniker. Then in the 1st briefing report in 1960 the narrator changes and all of the clinical style speech patterns give way to a more relaxed and personable speech style by all of the other narrators.And they all use the modern "NASA" moniker instead of the acronym.
Great archive . Crazy to think we went to the moon 54 years ago and put people on the surface & we've not topped it since . I could never get that excited about LEO STS missions or stations . In the 60's and early 70's virtually every Mercury/Geminee/Apollo flight was pushing the limit . I know NASA is planning & training crews to go back but I'll believe that when it happens
The irony of you dismissing LEO ops is that all of of Mercury and Gemini...took place in LEO...
Speaking of pushing the limits, wasn't the first STS misdion, a successful launch, orbit, and landing of a "SPACE PLANE"???
Nostalgia...it sure is a stinky cologne...
@@codymoe4986 I take it you didn't read my comment .
jack webb would have been proud of this narrator.
I remember those heady days.. Science fiction come to life.. I thought for sure that by this time we would have settled the other planets in our system and been reaching out to the stars.. I couldn't wait for my trip to the space station or maybe even to mars.. Oh well, Asimov, Heinlein, Clarke and Nivens books are still in print I can still go that way...
Well the VAB was built to Von Braun's standards... capability to assemble and launch one Saturn 5 at least a month.
Braun thought that a Dozen or two Sat5 could assemble a Mars mission on orbit..
One a year rate.by 1980. Such was the thinking in 1964 as the Complex 39 was Building.(Three launch pads+ four high assembly bays --- Seven Saturn 5s at a time).(Then a max possible one launch a week).
@@ablewindsor1459 This is what I know of his Mars ideas: Von Braun pushed his Mars mission in 1969 He proposed to send two ships to mars in a convoy. Paine (NASA administrator) Briefed V.P. Agnew on August 4th 1969. They proposed to build a shuttle by 75 and a space station. Then a Saturn rocket and the NERVA thermal nuke upper stage (by this time they figured it would be a working part) The mars shot would start in 78 with the first landing sometime in 82. This was a tweak on his original ideas from 52 and 56 when he first started to think about a mars trip.
@@tinkmarshino My data was from an interview broadcast about 1963 -1964 when the Apollo build out was in full swing. The Possible one Saturn 5 Launch a week standard was used to size the VAB and Launch Complex 39, according to Von Braun. He also said at least three S5s could lift enough to assemble one Mars craft(smallest config).....this was the basis for the later Skylab upper stage design.
@@ablewindsor1459 Very cool Able.. I will have to find the broadcast.. I was very into the space race since the 50's and was totally sold when we watch Alan Shepard make his first flight.. So This is new stuff to me and I am gonna dig into it.. thanks Able for the share!!! Can you give me more information on the broadcast to help me find it? Carry on brother.. and thanks again.
@@tinkmarshino I would love to....but the only two times I saw it was live over the Air broadcast back 🔙 n the day..once was in the Fall then again on summer reruns. repeat..cannot remember what show. But Petersen's Magazine Company printed a series of about three dozen paperbacks covering the period from about 66 to mid 70s and one volume refered to the Sat5 and VAB design and Von Braun's requirements .
heres my question, was everything automated? IE, the first non manned orbital test on sept 13 1961, the capsule went into orbit, did its thing, then came in through the re-entry point all un manned. SO i am assuming they had some sort of automation? If so, are there any videos on this process? i would love to know more about that side of early technology.
How did atlas rocket know when to seperate the capsule? pressure?
Awesome video! Thanks for sharing.
I grew up watching many films like these. My father was given an arm-full of NASA film reels on each visit to Houston in the mid-1960s. In one part, I note that NASA was erroneously referred to by its initials (as its predecessor, N.A.C.A. had been). In other videos from this era, you sometimes hear it pronounced as “Nassau.” Eventually, the lingo entered into my generation’s vocabulary, including “splash-down” instead of “impact.” I sometimes wonder how Gemini (always Jimin-ee -like the Cricket- in the space program) never spread far and wide to the outside, which still seems to prefer Jimin-eye.
That's why I'm using historical narration :-)
19:47 has to be the most kerbal thing ever
I found a copy of the capsule flight operations manual for Project Mercury, capsules 11 and 15 (Redstone) in a bin at Goodwill today. Dated January 30 1961, revised May 30 1961. I live in St. Louis so I assume it came from someone closely associated with McDonnell.
It all looks really modern and really high tech until you see the truck towing the booster @ 9:08 then you realize just how old it is . BIG JOE Whoo Hoo the name sends shivers doon me spine
This is fabulous! Thank you for posting this.
Interesting they had tested with an Atlas but the first 2 manned missions were on top of Redstones. I guess they had more work to do to man-rate the more powerful launch vehicle.
Extraordinary footage.
Love the CapCom voices of the narrators!
Fascinating. How refreshing it is to watch a documentary without a pointless and annoying music bed.
If Ham could talk he would say, "18 G's... I didn't sign up for this!" ; )
They worked fast, but also had huge resources.
Could you imagine what this generation could have done with IC's and CNC machines?
Problems reaching specified attitude and vehicle orientation seems like it, looking at endeavours of Boeing Starliner for example ;-). Pretty pathetic in fact, looking at kind of experience, and knowledge at hand gained throughout decades of space exploration and engineering. And to be truth, in many cases more simple solution, the better... More complication = more points of failure in vehicle going real flight.
Exactly! But they paved the way for such technology!
Yes I can. Apollo. :P lol To be clear, Apollo's guidance computer was the first computer to ever use ICs. As for CNC, I think that was a bit ahead of their time. I'm not very familiar with the history of CNC, though I think I'm gonna read up on it now that I think of it. But there's a great story about how they had to figure out how to machine titanium in order to make the SR-71 work, if metalworking's your thing.
As for the ICs in the guidance computer, they were actually flatpacks, which had dual 3 input NOR gates. And using about 2,800 of those, they were able to cobble together all of the logic necessary for the computer. Pretty amazing if you ask me. Especially when you consider the engineers didn't even have CAD or anything to help them design these circuits that were probably ridiculously overcomplicated because of having to use nothing but NOR gates.
@@override7486 fair, but I’d take starliner over Gemini any day 😆
Or even a computer that was more powerful than a scientific calculator of today.
Great info. Thanks 😉
Hats off to the guy holding the plate up with his bare hands while is buddy welds from the other side at 04:15
03:20 - The first payload module was a 'B and Q' builders' rubble-tub, fitted upside-down... 😉
I was the perfect age (11) when the space age began. I never missed a televised event. Wow, 8 hrs after launch? But I remember engineers using slide rules before computers too.
Ah - the top-down film from Little Joe 1B looks like the film everyone and his dog uses for Mercury Redstone launch footage. The Real Right Stuff (Disney) even used it for Freedom 7/Shepard..
Great video! Thanks! 👩🚀
I never knew Scout was involved in the program.
It was: th-cam.com/video/603ZbiGi6Cg/w-d-xo.html Also see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury-Scout_1
This is great stuff!
Preserve history!!!!!! 1959 great Year!!!!!
Sadly Gus's would die in Apollo test fire
in Apollo
Thank you Wernher Von Braun, Ernst Stülinger for helping America achieve these accomplishments
And the one million Americans who contributed to the space program as well.
They were just property of the USA - no need to thank them when they were obligated to do a job. They were supposed to be jailed or deported afterwards.
@@texaswunderkind And the 180 million (less the super wealthy) Americans who paid for it.
Wonderful.
This is pretty cool !
It's a sad irony that Gus Grissom had the first outward exploding hatch.
my grandfather was an inspector at wallops island 23 years ✌🏻
Thanks so much
It's amazing how precarious the job is. They don't even wear gloves.
Would have loved to see all of the historical footage in original 4:3 format rather than the terrible crops shown. Too bad.
I understand, but it's a matter of artistic license and the footage is 4:3 when it needs to be (to show the rocket and tower in full).
I never fully understood how these guys fit there humongous balls in such a small capsule.
Now that's funny!
Crew selection for Gemini also had to account for astronaut egos. This is why Slayton paired Borman and Lovell, not Borman and White because Frank and Ed's egos could not fit into the Gemini together. Of course ego is important but then Lovell became one of the most experienced astronauts and had to command the most difficult Apollo flights ever.
I never fully understood how you hacks keep beating this dead horse, into the ground, without a hint of shame...
P.S. The astronauts of this era, were choosen in part, for their average builds...I'm sure that included normal sized testicles...
Would you do Apollo 12 launch.
FINALLY, EVIDENCE OF THE HARD, SCIENTIFIC WORK (INCLUDING FAILURES), WHICH STOOD BEHIND THE STERLING MERCURY PROGRAM.
What was this Mercury-Scout 1, i've never heard that one before?
Yes, I've include Mercury-Scout! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury-Scout_1
15:33 Anyone else feel really sad at seeing animals being used like this? Look at the despair and helplessness in that monkey's eyes. Ugh. Right in the feels.
Amazing one second burn launched escape rocket 2K feet!
I agree. "Let me introduce your little spine to what we call serious G Forces".
@@rickoliveira3807 The astronaut was sitting with his back to the heat shield, so even under high g’s, the forces would push him into the seat back. It wouldn’t be comfortable, but would be less physically stressful than a fighter’s ejection seat.
@@thebigitchy Thanks. Great point. A golfing buddy of mine had to eject from his F15 and his back still hasn't forgotten it. :)
An amazing feat of engineering! Then too, there wasn't a mandated study of failure required by the FAA, Fish and Wildlife, EPA, and other three letter agencies as there are today!
Wow, they've got better special effects on the animation in the beginning than they had on The Scorpion King. Impressive for the 50's. Btw does stuff like this make anyone else feel like playing KSP?
This kind of hands-on testing always feels like Kerbal !
Nice!
Where's MA-3? The "successful failure"?
At 23:48
@@RetroSpaceHD Hmmmm. They didn't say that the guidance system failed, the rocket kept going ballistic, and was destroyed by the RSO.
19:50 They forgot to check staging
29:55
Mercury is tiny.
150 lbs and under 5ft 10.
Any taller and hatch does not close.
this is cool
The "Little Joe" announcer sounds like he should be selling Propane and Propane accessories.
These films from the very early days make it seem as if the hardware was nothing more than giant-scale Estes model rockets.
3:38 that's the cartoon rocket everyone draws 🚀
If there was a way the Atlas could screw up, don't worry, it would find it.
Too bed Carl Sagan wasn't the narrator. Good video just the same.
Retro Space HD : Please let me know when you will plan to post, PART - 2 of the Project Mercury Test Flights
covering the years 1962 and 1963. I would kindly appreciate it, very much. Thank you.
So funny how back then most narrators spoke like robots 😃
Take. Me. To. Your. Leader. That's how he sounds 😂
Also, didn't anyone ever wear work gloves in those days?!
Yes, but they were clear and easy to understand.
19:23 well it worked I guess 😂
We don't get to see footage of the failures.
It wasn't available sadly...
@14:48 'N-A-S-A' facilities... LOL
Awesome!!✌🇺🇲
The piano was white...
Those steely eyed missile men.
Brilliant 😎😎😎 💋👌
👍👍👍
Great video, fortunately the monkey made it back alive. Ham (monkey) had more G forces than expected. In today's world the animal rights activists attornies would have a field day if NASA put a monkey in the space craft.
A lot of things from the 1960s don't follow modern sensibilities. For the time Ham was well treated, and astronauts would soon be subject to the same conditions. One might argue that today they wouldn't let a man fly in Mercury due to safety concerns.
👍
@@RetroSpaceHD Also, there really weren’t any good alternatives with late 40’s, early 50’s technology.
Technically a chimp is an ape, not a monkey.
Funny you should mention animal rights. After all, the Americans put an ape in the White House in 2016.
Bruh. *Stop destroying the original source aspect ratio!!!*
I took great care to manually crop the footage (in real time), making sure nothing of importance was cut. Many shots remain in 4:3 because cropping was not possible. Trust me on this - nothing was destroyed, you aren't missing any details.
All these rockets look like stretched versions of Werner's V-2s.
'
how come american rocket dont have a rover and send to venus landding then send pictures / video what venus look alike
Venus probes usually cant survive more than a few hours, and making rovers work there sounds like a pain.
Venera probes took pictures of the surface
Not a very nice place.
@@aemrt5745
hi A...
'
okay thank explain
@@aemrt5745 Agreed. And for what purpose? It's not like we're going to send people there !
Big Joe Sat not men
The good old days, when men were men and women were women.
Knock it off