National Archive employees collaborated closely with filmmakers to digitize their film footage at high resolution for better clarity than would have been possible with original technical restrictions. Miller did not exploit this aspect in his movie. Instead, Miller used this image of astronauts wearing spacesuits as an allusion to their monumental mission and its associated…
Apollo 13 astronauts had no inkling that their spacecraft was leaking; yet even minor issues could prove fatal as they transitioned between modules Odyssey and Aquarius. Problem was, their oxygen tank number two had exploded, rendering landing on the moon impossible. 1. Oxygen Tank Explosion At 56 hours into their mission, a problem with the…
At Apollo space mission, astronauts ate dehydrated foods that could be reconstituted with water. Additionally, they received snacks and beverages such as pineapple fruitcake, peanut butter cookies and coffee as part of their food allowance. On Gemini missions, astronauts had to eat bite-size cubes of freeze-dried foods that had to be shoved down tubes; by…
By artfully manipulating archiveal footage, Apollo 11 manages to be captivating without becoming overly sentimental. This film offers a far superior account of this monumental event than last year’s visually captivating but emotionally superficial First Man. It humanizes this staggering success that may be deeply embedded into American culture but which transcends it and brings…
As the fire spread, technicians rushed towards the capsule’s hatch in search of the necessary ratchet to open it. They knew the capsule was pressurized with pure oxygen, which fuels fire. And they knew there were numerous combustible materials – from paper checklists and Velcro fastenings to nylon netting – within its walls that could…
NASA’s Apollo program successfully put men on the Moon in 1969. This chart from NGA’s Aeronautical Chart and Information Center depicts key mission events. The Columbia was used by astronauts during most of their mission as their living and command center, equipped with an impressive rocket engine to maneuver them into lunar orbit and out…
Apollo command module power was supplied primarily by fuel cells that used hydrogen and oxygen as feedstock to produce electricity, producing drinking water that astronauts consumed as drinking supplies. NASA developed this technology as batteries would add too much weight, and the group that created these cells, now known as HyAxiom Inc, still produces them…
With Grissom, White and Chaffee secured inside, technicians scrambled to open their capsule’s hatch using a ratchet-like device that released latches one after another. Engineers were aware of the fact that the spacecraft’s pure oxygen atmosphere was potentially flammable; however, they contended it would only ignite at 5 pounds per square inch instead of the…
CAPE CANAVERAL — Bright winter flowers bloom amid the weeds around an unsettling concrete and steel hulk that marks one of the darkest days in American space history – the Apollo 1 command module was destroyed by fire during a launch rehearsal test on Jan 27, 1967, marking one of America’s darkest moments in space…
