Gemini 11 Launch / AS 500F on Pad 39A

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2 ай бұрын

From the NARA - footage is seemingly filmed in extra widescreen format
Description in NARA is "Footage From Project Mercury Launch"
I believe footage shows Gemini 11 crew walkout to transfer van, press site
on the launch day, crew training for emergency egress from LC19, the
Gemini 11 Agena pre-launch, footage of the Gemini 11 launch which is
followed by views of a truck (smoke purpose unknown - chemical?) and
views of the Apollo/Saturn 500F on launch pad 39A.
Of all the footage I have found on the NARA site, this one is definitly "different".
Comments welcomed on what your thoughts are - great footage though!
Audio is NBC radio coverage of the Gemini 11 launch.
There is a Patreon for anyone interested in supporting my channel - All donations go to enhancing future content - thanks in advance and it would be great to have you onboard. Patrons often receive pre-launch video access and media content
www.patreon.com/user?u=549799...

Пікірлер: 138

@lunarmodule5 2 ай бұрын

From the NARA - footage is seemingly filmed in extra widescreen format Description in NARA is "Footage From Project Mercury Launch" I believe footage shows Gemini 11 crew walkout to transfer van, press site on the launch day, crew training for emergency egress from LC19, the Gemini 11 Agena pre-launch, footage of the Gemini 11 launch which is followed by views of a truck (smoke purpose unknown - chemical?) and views of the Apollo/Saturn 500F on launch pad 39A. Of all the footage I have found on the NARA site, this one is definitly "different". Comments welcomed on what your thoughts are - great footage though! Audio is NBC radio coverage of the Gemini 11 launch. There is a Patreon for anyone interested in supporting my channel - All donations go to enhancing future content - thanks in advance and it would be great to have you onboard. Patrons often receive pre-launch video access and media content www.patreon.com/user?u=54979908&fan_landing=true

@alijanlondon 2 ай бұрын

Interesting it was filmed in the Cinemascope format. They probably intended this film to shown at cinemas

@PatGleeson123 2 ай бұрын

There was indeed footage filmed in widescreen format, probably as @alijanlondon says for a possible cinema release. Some of the footage filmed for Apollo 11 specifically was released (but cropped for TV) on the 'Moonwalk One' film. That footage was restored for the 'Apollo 11' film in 2019.

@MercurysilverFalconOG 2 ай бұрын

That footage is outstanding! Thanks for sharing 😊

@fernandocurbelo2330 2 ай бұрын

De acuerdo conque es Proyecto Gemini y no Mercurio....son 2 astronautas

@appleguyone 2 ай бұрын

Two different rockets? And there should be NO Saturn Rocket.....

@GrenvilleMelonseedSkiff496 2 ай бұрын

I’m 67 and well remember being late for school so that I could watch those early morning Gemini launches! Thanks for the memories!

@paulkenward4215 2 ай бұрын

Having grown up in Melbourne, I well recognize the pickup truck spewing the white fog. It is indeed a mosquito control vehicle. We used to run behind them, and play in the fog as they went through the neighborhood. Ah, those were the days...!

@kevinmcgovern5110 2 ай бұрын

We’re lucky we didn’t grow tails running through that stuff…

@glencmac 2 ай бұрын

I was thinking it was DDT too. I spent some time in Georgia as a kid, we did the same thing.

@tthomas184 2 ай бұрын

I spent alot of time in Florida during the summer, those trucks were a regular feature. We used to ride our bikes into the fog. Adults never said a word to us. Different times.

@Strike_Raid 2 ай бұрын

Yeah, I was about 10 during Gemini 11 and chasing mosquito trucks was definitely a thing in South Florida. The fog is actually kerosene, but there was some kind of repellant in there also; it wasn't posionous (at least, in those concentrations).

@AlanHMartin 2 ай бұрын

And here it is 2024AD, and you're still mosquito-free, LOL.

@jfchonors8873 2 ай бұрын

Always loved the distinctive sound the Titan made at ignition

@peterdoege1740 2 ай бұрын

My father piloted the recovery helo for Gemini 10 and 11. Thanks for the footage

@censortube3778 2 ай бұрын

I'm almost 60, watching this makes me wish I had been born 20 years earlier ... fantastic.

@theoldar 2 ай бұрын

I'm 63. I still remember the last few Gemini launches.

@tthomas184 2 ай бұрын

I'm 67 and remember all the launches going back to the early Mercury flights. Pretty hard not to be mesmerized by this stuff when you're a kid. Even for adults it was all new.

@eddiekulp1241 2 ай бұрын

I'm 67 remember these missions well

@theoldar 2 ай бұрын

At 63, I still remember the last Gemini launches. As a 5 year old nothing was cooler than a rocket launch! That might still be true.

@jimmypage1517 2 ай бұрын

It is.All love and green ranges from Vandenberg.

@stephenbarrette610 2 ай бұрын

Thank you for posting this video. As a kid growing up in the 60s I followed the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs intensely and loved every moment. I really thought we would’ve gone back to the moon by now as I hurtle towards 70 years old!

@AlanHMartin 2 ай бұрын

How fantastic that the radio commentator was giving a seminar on orbital mechanics!

@dadthejedi 2 ай бұрын

Those scaffolding towers at 6:42 were 50ft tall camera platforms. We were still using those into the 1990s for Delta, Atlas and Titan launches.

@nolarobert 2 ай бұрын

The truck was almost certainly spraying for mosquitos. We had trucks go through our neighborhood in New Orleans spraying for those little bloodsuckers. I'm sure they were just as bad down at the Cape. Awesome footage!

@cerberus1981 2 ай бұрын

Definitely insect fogging. Even up in the annual freeze zone, summer mosquitoes are no joke!

@alp-1960 2 ай бұрын

Really interesting seeing the juxtaposition of Gemini and Saturn. Thank you LM5.

@Vektorix28205 2 ай бұрын

Ahhh...the AS-500F paint scheme... responsible for messing up soooo many modelists over the years (including my parents as they put together the Revell 1:96 Saturn V model for my Christmas 1969 present!)

@slotcarfan 2 ай бұрын

Titan/Gemini has to be the most sleek looking manned launches ever. Sort of like a sports car for space.

@MattExzy 2 ай бұрын

I was just thinking how streamlined, no-fuss and efficient that launch looked.

@seemoretoys5944 2 ай бұрын

I remember watching this from my Central Florida elementary school yard watching this launch. Fun times!

@josephstevens9888 2 ай бұрын

Great footage! I just love the screeching sound of the turbopumps on the Titan II's Aerojet LR87 main engines make when they are ignited. Also, the view of the gantries down Missile Row was pretty cool. The Gemini 11 countdown rehearsal test and the crew boarding the M-113 was interesting.

@chriswerkes8313 2 ай бұрын

Worked on the Titan ll turbopump assemblies at Aerojet. The pumps produced about 4,000 horsepower and had an exhaust that actually produced thrust.

@aapex1 2 ай бұрын

I'm 70 and watched every televised launch I could. The "smoke truck" was likely DDT since there are a few mosquitoes in Florida. Nearly wiped out the Raptors but they're back now.

@wfat 2 ай бұрын

The sporty rocket and a great ride, as reported by James Lovell.

@shellramsey1273 2 ай бұрын

As always great stuff from and for the archives... really love the Gemini stuff, very rare, especially the audio from NBC -Jim

@ohheyitskevinc 2 ай бұрын

Nice find! With the folk in the foreground just prior to launch, you get the scale of it all in a way I don’t think I’ve seen before.

@Kw1161 2 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing this video, I remember watching several launches as a kid in Tucson, Arizona on the families Black and White TV. Back then I didn’t realize that the Titan missiles were all around our city for a much different mission run by the US Air Force. The only remaining one is still sitting watch as a museum just 14 miles down the road, that’s one launch I glad never happened. Have a great day!

@oliverbombosch3009 2 ай бұрын

Three in a row. Now you're spoiling us. Also liked the recent Apollo 12 previews.

@traydillon6246 2 ай бұрын

Just outstanding. This is a real gem! I could watch this type of footage all day.

@lunarmodule5 2 ай бұрын

Me too!

@bingosunnoon9341 2 ай бұрын

I worked in the shop where the Geminee capsule was built but this was a few years after the project was finished. Everyone said Geminee back then. The McDonnell Aircraft Co. was a great place for a young guy to get his start in the business.

@terrypage358 2 ай бұрын

Thank you for finding and taking the time to share this footage. Very much appreciated from the UK. I'm so glad that when my son is old enough to care, I can show him all the footage you've made so accessible.

@lunarmodule5 2 ай бұрын

Great to hear the younger generation will be watching these, got to pass the baton over

@aiden22theastronaut72 2 ай бұрын

Love this Apollo 11 quality footage Simon!

@firemedic5100 2 ай бұрын

I was ill that day and watched it as it happened laying on the couch.

@ScenicDepot 2 ай бұрын

Audio is from NBC TV coverage with Frank McGee and David Brinkley.

@digitwidget 2 ай бұрын

Curious footage. Perhaps a test of 65mm cameras which were used during the Apollo 11 launch and eventually was utilized in the CNN documentary released in theatres for the 50th anniversary of the flight?

@Gort58 2 ай бұрын

As soon as I saw the aspect ratio of the footage, I twigged that I'd seen it somewhere before. As brianbrumley6441 mentioned earlier, this is Panavision footage shot for the movie 'Countdown' (1967), which told the story of a race to try and beat the Russians to the Moon using a modified Gemini spacecraft. I've just skipped through the copy I have, and the shots are identical. The crew walk-out footage was used for the scene where the single astronaut for the flight (played by James Caan) heads to the transfer van. They had to zoom in on the image so that we clearly see Pete Conrad getting aboard, but Dick Gordon is kept out of shot. Thanks for posting Simon.

@lunarmodule5 2 ай бұрын

Was there any other footage that's not seen here in the movie?

@Gort58 2 ай бұрын

@@lunarmodule5 Not all of the scenes in the NARA clip were used (eg Pete and Dick leaving the pad, the Atlas-Agena launch, and the white fog), but the opening credits included a shot of AS-500F on the pad, and the S-II stage 'spacer' being moved out of the VAB. With the movie, large doses of 'suspension of disbelief' are required. Like, how do you launch a Gemini on a Titan-II and have it land on the Moon with what is essentially a LM Descent stage underneath?

@lunarmodule5 2 ай бұрын

@@Gort58 I will have to check it out!

@jimbodeek 2 ай бұрын

In this moment, Gemini 11 represented the present era of the space program while SA-500F stood for the future… The future that would be built on the lessons learned from the Gemini program.

@Rodolfo_MB 2 ай бұрын

The sound of titan turbopump is incredible😊

@8311XHT 2 ай бұрын

Yeah, those engines were hypergolic too I think.

@Rodolfo_MB 2 ай бұрын

@@8311XHT Yes, the hazardous orange smoke from aerozine50 + NTO

@Strike_Raid 2 ай бұрын

There was a solid propellant charge that was fired at 0 to 'boot strap' and spin up the pumps before opening the propellant valves; that's what that screach is. Much like a 'cart start' on a B-52.

@Rodolfo_MB 2 ай бұрын

@@Strike_Raid very interesting!

@8311XHT 2 ай бұрын

@@Strike_Raid Niiice. Thanks. Very interesting. 3,2,1... "woooop."

@davegoodridge8352 2 ай бұрын

Good stuff, Thank you

@jefflebowski918 2 ай бұрын

This happened on September 12th 1966, Gemini 11 returned on September 16th. The Saturn V in the background was a test of the mobile launch platform, it was Apollo 3 which got scrubbed. The Ford crew cab truck was spraying DDT to kill mosquitos.

@Strike_Raid 2 ай бұрын

Not DDT; it wasn't poison, it was repellant.

@lloydecraig7696 2 ай бұрын

Nice video 👍🏻 🚀

@steveneppler5301 2 ай бұрын

Very cool stuff... Looks to be B-roll footage from a Hollywood movie. Curious what that pickup truck is spewing out the back,...Insect repellent? Maybe the mosquitos were bad that season at the Cape....Thanks again!

@fredblonder7850 2 ай бұрын

It was an experimental rocket-propelled truck. ;-)

@Paul_Wetor 2 ай бұрын

@@fredblonder7850 And not a very good one. 😄

@ditto1958 2 ай бұрын

Poor guy on NBC. There was only one Walter Cronkite. I always watched CBS during the space flights because of him.

@RideAcrossTheRiver 2 ай бұрын

The Flying Men's Bathroom! Conrad suggested he and Gordon could get away with a lunar circumnavigation, but that Gemini shield could not handle a direct re-entry. The duo still holds the altitude record for crewed Earth orbit.

@lunarmodule5 2 ай бұрын

853 miles! Quite a thing

@RideAcrossTheRiver 2 ай бұрын

@@lunarmodule5 Can you imagine a Gemini-Atlas boosting for the Moon on an all-out flyaround?

@lunarmodule5 2 ай бұрын

@@RideAcrossTheRiver I know it was discussed...would have been an amazing thing

@RideAcrossTheRiver 2 ай бұрын

@@lunarmodule5 I think the discussion was NASA telling Pete "too nutty by far."

@dks13827 2 ай бұрын

A very fast and high G launch vehicle.

@jameshowland7393 2 ай бұрын

Hear that fuel turbopump?? WOOooooOOOOP!

@astrakboat 2 ай бұрын

Gracias!!

@canbest7668 2 ай бұрын

What was that truck venting at the end?

@glencmac 2 ай бұрын

The thumbnail is way cool. The Gemini on the pad, and off in the distance a Saturn V (might have been the plug in mockup, or 4 or 6 not sure which). Way, way cool.

@lunarmodule5 2 ай бұрын

Answer is in the description of the video

@JVoltCUAF 2 ай бұрын

what was going on at the 8:47 mark on the ground at 39A?

@brycewray 2 ай бұрын

Having lived my youth in a mosquito-infested area and having seen plenty of trucks like that, wouldn’t be surprised if it were spraying for mosquitoes. 🙂

@aarinisles 2 ай бұрын

I’ve never seen an M113 tracked vehicle used as astronaut transport before. Does anyone know why that was used and when it stopped. BTW, another excellent upload.

@archerpiperii2690 2 ай бұрын

I wonder if that is Deke Slayton coming out after the astronauts?

@StatelessPerson 2 ай бұрын

Wasn't that a mosquito truck, at the end?

@wtxrailfan 2 ай бұрын

The truck at 8:43 is possibly a mosquito fogger to kill mosquitoes. 🦟🦟🦟

@mtlreiner 2 ай бұрын

Whoooooooooop!

@brianbrumley6441 2 ай бұрын

Now, I know where I saw this footage…. It was shown as the launch footage from the movie “Countdown”!

@lunarmodule5 2 ай бұрын

Wonder if that's why it's in this screen ratio!??

@bobcastro9386 2 ай бұрын

@@lunarmodule5 The feature film was shot in Panavision with an aspect ratio of 2:35 to 1. Wider than the more common 1.33 to 1 of film destined for television.

@MrDoneboy 2 ай бұрын

This looks to be a preview of a complete video, eh lunarmodual5? Lol

@rtsfs 2 ай бұрын

Nice

@astrakboat 2 ай бұрын

The launch vehicle at 6:06 does not appear to be the same type as the one shown launching....?

@lunarmodule5 2 ай бұрын

Thats the Atlas Agena target vehicle for Gemini 11(the rocket you see launching). Atlas Agena was launched before Gemini 11 but it isn't shown on this film

@donaldhoot7741 2 ай бұрын

That's when they used to spray DDT for mosquitos and insects and eagle egg shells. Peace!

@johnmc67 2 ай бұрын

Which launch pad? 20 plus maybe?

@lunarmodule5 2 ай бұрын

19 for Gemini

@investmentgammler4550 2 ай бұрын

What's wrong with that car at 8:50 ?

@StatelessPerson 2 ай бұрын

NARA is a nest of vipers these days.

@markcollins919 2 ай бұрын

Is that the Apollo 4 at the end

@lunarmodule5 2 ай бұрын

No...it's the AS-500f test article...as in the title of the video

@jackcarter-to5gx 2 ай бұрын

you know i have a idea that being you should do a ASTP apollo Soyuz test project live like docking and launch's

@lunarmodule5 2 ай бұрын

You mean the full mission?

@jackcarter-to5gx 2 ай бұрын

yes gladly

@lunarmodule5 2 ай бұрын

@@jackcarter-to5gx I have looked into this before .. unfortunately not all the audio is available yet

@jackcarter-to5gx 2 ай бұрын

alrighty but if you can than do it for me alright?

@linesided 2 ай бұрын

Nasa: Good news - you're going to space. Bad news - you're getting to your spaceship in an ice cream truck.

@mjproebstle 2 ай бұрын

Test article Saturn V

@gasaholic47 2 ай бұрын

Was that going to be the Apollo 4 Saturn V?

@gasaholic47 2 ай бұрын

@@dalphinezara7879 Okay, now that you've said something incredibly stupid, did you see the end of the video with the Saturn V on launch pad 39A at the same time as the Gemini launch? go back and look again. This was probably 1967, when the first Saturn V launch was being prepped, at the same time as the last of the Gemini launches were being performed. Next time, make sure you know what the hell you're talking about before you make a dumb comment like that.

@lunarmodule5 2 ай бұрын

Just to clarify here - this is Gemini 11 launch -with the Apollo/Saturn SA-500F Test Article shown on pad 39a - AS 500F was rolled out to the pad for a second time to allow ground engineers to perform fit/function with a launch vehicle and the LUT - As seen in the picture thumbnail for the video, Gemini 11 was launched whilst 500F was at the pad - 500F was not a flight ready Saturn V - only the second stage survives as a display at the US Space and Rocket Center in Alabama

@thehaughtcorner 2 ай бұрын

@@gasaholic47 Likewise. The Gemini launches concluded in 1966, not 1967. This launch was in September 1966.

@steveschunk5702 2 ай бұрын

Also the Atlas-Agena shown from 6:00 to 6:30.

@denali9449 2 ай бұрын

@@gasaholic47 And another instance where someone should do some research before making a dumb comment. Of course just reading the title of this video would have given you 1/3 of the information you needed to avoid saying "something incredibly stupid". FACTS: Gemini XI launched in September 1966. The first Saturn V launch from Pad 39A (SA 501) was in November 1967. A test assembly, SA-500F was on Pad 39A from June 1966 through October 1966.

@douro20 2 ай бұрын

NASA still uses M113s to rescue astronauts.

@WhiteJarrah 2 ай бұрын

Now I know which Gemini launch was used in _You Only Live Twice._ For whatever reason, they used it to depict a SOVIET launch, even though themovie opens with a Gemini spacecraft in orbit (referred to as Jupiter 16). kzfaq.info/get/bejne/acykgZOr1q7YnmQ.html

@lunarmodule5 2 ай бұрын

Yep that's definitely this one!

@chmeee9562 2 ай бұрын

Is it me, or did NASA allow people to film from a ridiculously close range?

@mapmanlxii1715 2 ай бұрын

WTF why were the astronauts driven around in 2 separate armoured personnel carriers?

@digitwidget 2 ай бұрын

In case the astronauts had to do an emergency egress while the vehicle was still on the pad, the APCs would transport them away while protecting them from a potential explosion of the rocket. It would have been quite a trick to get out and away before a catastrophic event of that kind, but at least officials were prepared with something.

@Andrew-13579 2 ай бұрын

Maybe also to protect them from any leaks of the toxic propellants of the Titan II booster?

@mapmanlxii1715 2 ай бұрын

@@digitwidget Probably right, never thought of that, no doubt practicing an emergency escape on that film!

@lunarmodule5 2 ай бұрын

The MPCs were used for emergency egress from the pad. It was a form of protection although most astronauts knew if a failure of the launch vehicle occured there was no way they could get out, across the access arm, down the elevator and out to the MPCs in time. They would have used the ejection system in that case. There was a slide wire that they also could have used which was located at the same level as the spacecraft. It was believed that the MPCs would only be used in specific emergencies like for instance if the spacecraft or launch vehicle became unstable. As a side note the MPCs we're also used for every space shuttle mission as a contingency abort option. Again those vehicles would have only been used if there had been time for the crew took it out of the vehicle down the elevator... A highly unlikely possibility. What we are seeing on this film is astronauts Conrad and Gordon casually practising the emergency procedure. Hope that helps LM5

@8311XHT 2 ай бұрын

I wonder why the astronauts were sped away in an M113 like that while all those white helmets stood around watching.

@andreas7136 2 ай бұрын

The astronauts are way more important!

@goldfieldfireworks7352 2 ай бұрын

September 12, 1966

@jaypaint4855 2 ай бұрын

“Gemini 11 asf (AS500F)”

@TopzP2P 2 ай бұрын

🌼 🖤 ♦ 🔘 🚀

@andrewswatland4622 2 ай бұрын

So many clips that are unrelated to the narrative

@lunarmodule5 2 ай бұрын

Yeah - I jut added in the GT11 launch audio because this is footage they took of GT11 activities as well as AS-500F pad ops for the movie Countdown and there is no specific audio for it - I added what I have

@andrewswatland4622 2 ай бұрын

@@lunarmodule5 It was a good watch no matter 👍🏻

@shellramsey1273 2 ай бұрын

As always great stuff from and for the archives... really love the Gemini stuff, very rare, especially the audio from NBC -Jim