No Cameras Of Apollo Crew During Launch

It would seem there were no photos or video footage of any of the Apollo astronauts inside the cockpit before or during launch until the Apollo-Soyuz mission in 1975.

Is this video a pointer towards how the Apollo missions could have been manipulated?
Is this how the astronauts were able to perform the 'mission' for the cameras and global tv coverage?


There is no mention of footage of the crew during launch in this video detailed here on this website

And this was the first time footage of a crew during launch was shown.

It's interesting to note that the Wikipedia entry on launch escape methods doesn't mention this escape 'tube'.



[edit on 15-5-2008 by Extralien]

[edit on 15-5-2008 by Extralien]

Did he say three and one half minuets? I doubt even in a best case scenario you would have one tenth that time to escape. (vary curious) I would have loved to be in that room during one of those missions, maybe they had radio contact to hoax the public? It was the height of the cold war.

reply to post by Extralien


What escape tube? There's only one exit hatch on the command module. As for there not being video of the launch inside the capsule until ASTP, I don't see how that's proof of a "hoax." For one thing, it required more television cameras, and that's more weight that would have had to be launched all the way to the moon and back, just for a few more minutes of footage. Considering that the cost of payload for Apollo moon missions was $70,000 per kilogram, every single pound of payload was incredibly precious and they had to leave room for moon rocks too, something they didn't have to worry about on ASTP. Lastly, I think you're forgetting about the Apollo 1 astronauts. They died in the capsule in a mock-launch practice. I don't think NASA wanted video that could potentially end up showing the astronauts perishing, so it makes sense that they waited to install cameras in the capsule until they were absolutely sure that the revised version was safe. It would have been pretty tasteless to do it right away in the early pre-moonshot days of the apollo program. It would have been like saying to the astronauts: we all know your mission is dangerous, but if you die this time we all want to see it.

[edit on 16-5-2008 by ngchunter]

reply to post by red 5


If you guys are talking about a pre-launch abort situation, then maybe you would have that much time. You have to realize that they're sitting on cryogenically frozen explosive gasses. If the thing developes a leak on the pad before launch they need a way to safely escape without causing a spark. In that situation, you would have more time to work with. That's why even today the shuttle's access arm is designed to be able to return to the orbiter in 30 seconds if there's an emergency on the pad. It would take the astronauts about another minute on top of that to get out and get clear of the pad.

[edit on 16-5-2008 by ngchunter]

The absence of pictures of the Astronauts during launch is meaningless.

If, as hoaxers claim, they went through all the trouble of hoaxing the moon landings, then why not just "hoax" the pictures of the astronauts during launch.

We saw films of the astronausts in the command module during the flight...If what you're saying is true, then THOSE movies were faked. So if they faked the ones during the flight, then why wouldn't they simply fake the launch video.

[edit on 5/16/2008 by Soylent Green Is People]

reply to post by Extralien


Extra, I certainly hope this isn't another 'Apollo Moon Hoax' threads!!

BTW, thanks for the link the Apollo 12 DVD set, gonna buy it!

As to the escape tunnel, leading to the bunker! Great find, something I never knew before. I'll defer to ngchunter here, but consider this first:

There were a lot of people on the gantry pre-launch. If MC detected ANYTHING going amiss in that pile of volatile fuel sitting on the Pad, then that tube to that bunker was dfor their sake, as well as the astronauts, if they'd arrived yet. Notice James said there was room and food for 20 people for 24 hours??

As to the Wiki entry...depending on the situation, once strapped in, and the hatch closed...the three guys would have a heck of a time unstrapping, disconnecting the O2, and trying to fumble through a tiny hatch unassisted. So, that escape rocket tower was designed to get them to safety, up to altitude, then jettision and allow the parachutes to bring them dow to sea.

ngc, I hope I got it right, you can fill in the blanks.

By the way....I just put my logical thinking cap on, and it seemed the best explanation.

Originally posted by weedwhacker

ngc, I hope I got it right, you can fill in the blanks.

By the way....I just put my logical thinking cap on, and it seemed the best explanation.

I'm pretty sure you nailed it. To be honest I don't know all the details of what would happen during a pre-launch apollo abort, but I do know for a fact that shuttle astronauts are capable of evacuating themselves from the pad in case of emergency. Looking at some notes on the Apollo launch checklist (thank you NASSP), I see a "pad abort enable" step at T -44:00, step 4.2.2.6. It seems to enable the pyros for a launch escape tower abort sequence. I'm not sure what the proceedure is if an abort is necessary before then. The hatch was closed on the prime crew at T -01:40:00. Simultaneously, closeout on the pad begins, so I don't know what the proceedure is for an abort during that hour in the countdown inbetween.