HN Theater @HNTheaterMonth

Here is another video of the liftoff of Apollo 11 from one camera at the corner of the launch pad. Great narration too: http://vimeo.com/m/4366695

⬐ gregorkas

As alien as this video is, I must say it's one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen as it directly represents the power of human knowledge. If I would fit into that camera's case, I would give anything to watch something like this in person.

⬐ MiguelHudnandez

You'd just see some blinding white light for a few seconds and then maybe nothing else for the rest of your life. Our human eyes and brains limit us from perceiving even everyday things with the majesty they deserve.

Even popping water balloons looks amazing in high speed video. On YouTube, there is a community of people doing silly things with high speed cameras that makes for stimulating watching:

Smarter Every Day: weird glass phenomenon http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xe-f4gokRBs

Smarter Every Day: cat righting itself in midair http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtWbpyjJqrU

Lots of high speed videos http://m.youtube.com/user/theslowmoguys

⬐ xk_id

I wouldn't dismiss our perception as lacking majesty :) That would be very depressing. Subjectivity aside, however, you're right – what we experience is determined in part by the constrains of our nervous system and perception organs (remember the rapidly spinning fan blades that look like a disk?). But, this is just the conditions on life, a fact to which we need to adjust, for we cannot change it.

It's also worth pointing out that for humans, this is where science comes in :)

The slow motion videos illustrate very convincingly that we are always omitting data. I love them for that. One cannot watch them and not be persuaded into a sense of how unavoidably probabilistic our inferences are, as well as into a sense of wonderment and curiosity. They are both desirable responses, because they are key to sanity.

⬐ bayesianhorse

This footage reminds me of a post some time back about why in 1969 it was actually easier to fly to the moon than fake all the video footage.

⬐ kghose

http://vimeo.com/4366695

Great commentary!

⬐ MiguelHudnandez

Thanks for the non-blogspam version of the link. It's really a great video with no need for editorializing.

⬐ paol

Those who like this will probably like the short documentary "Ascent - Commemorating Shuttle" produced by a some NASA engineers. It uses similar footage from launchpad cams, with lots of technical commentary.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFwqZ4qAUkE

⬐ kens

This video is well worth watching. I almost skipped it, expecting the same old launch footage, but it is a slow motion closeup of the engines and exhaust with very interesting commentary. (You can skip the last couple minutes without missing much, though.)

⬐ gtrubetskoy

Koyaanisqatsi, the 1982 movie uses similar footage from the Apollo 12: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9K0013nITs

⬐ rbanffy

Nothing, I believe, better illustrates the human potential than the space race that culminated with the Apollo lunar landings. We should be doing more of that.

⬐ e3pi

A well defined objective, successfully completed, is a well-defined objective terminated.

What a fantastic mountain of effort, focused dedicated enthusiasm, and skill-sets, left adrift and carelessly abandoned. I have read schematics of some Apollo entire sub-systems, have completely disappeared.

And then there is the decades long disappointment. We see few Shuttle posts on HN.

⬐ rbanffy

Indeed. New objectives should have been set. The shuttles, while a marvelous achievement of engineering, were ruined by the politics around them - so many different mission profiles they were designed to do that nothing was left that could be done practically. And yes - going to LEO is not nearly as inspirational as going where no one has gone before.

⬐ _delirium

Is a version of this footage available directly from NASA, in the public domain and without the commentary/etc.? I've searched around the NASA video archives a bit and haven't found a version on their site. Or did this company, Spacecraft Films, do the transfer from the 16mm film themselves?

⬐ None

None

⬐ eksith

The NASA video gallery is really heavier on current/recent videos, but you can give a quick search. http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery

They really should come up with a more comprehensive central repository.

The other source would be Archive.org : http://archive.org/search.php?query=nasa%20apollo%2011%20AND...

There is a wonderful HD video showing the first 30 seconds of launch from a high speed camera, taking 8 minutes. It is incredible the details just for that part of the mission. http://vimeo.com/4366695

I recall reading somewhere that the walls of the lunar lander were so thin that if you stabbed them with a pencil it would go right through.

⬐ laserDinosaur

I think there is a quote of one of them saying that they were scared that if they dropped a screwdriver it would go right through the floor.