NASA APOLLO PROGRAM OVERVIEW & HISTORY THROUGH APOLLO 4 79944

The color NASA film “Apollo in Perspective” begins on a somber note as the nation reflects on where plans stand for a lunar mission in the wake of the 1967 Apollo 1 fire that claimed the lives of astronauts Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom, Edward H. White II, and Roger B. Chaffee and the civil unrest of the late 1960s. The film takes a look back to the start of the space program as President John F. Kennedy makes his historic 1961 State of the Union address and proclamation that the United States would place a man on the moon before the end of the century (mark 01:15). Mark 02:00 shows us NASA’s master schedule of space flights for both Project Gemini and Project Apollo as the narrator then details the step-by-step successes of Gemini, including proving that man could live and work in space for as long as two weeks, dock with other spacecrafts, and work outside a spacecraft. Astronauts also quickly learned to problem solve, and at mark 04:20 we’re reminded how Gemini 8 began to spin out of control before astronauts Neil Armstrong and David Scott were able to seize control of the situation and safely return to Earth. The film turns its attention to Apollo at mark 04:57, again looking at the project’s timeline. The Apollo 1 fire (mark 05:55) temporarily halted the program and ultimately led to several design changes to the capsule to ensure the astronauts’ safety in the event of a fire. By mark 08:20 we learn of the development of the launch complex for Apollo plus upgrades to...