(1958) "On Target, The Atlas ICBM" by Convair Astronautics (16mm, Narrated)

[@gilzor9376]

That voice is definitely William Conrad. Very distinct voice.

[@marxvideo]

Awesome. Love hearing about my base Vandenberg, Dad was LCO for Atlas and Titan. Great video thanks!

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

Glad you like it. So much history lost. Does LCO = Launch Control Operator? (A guess on my part.) Bruce

[@liquidpatriot4480]

Thank you for preserving and bringing us these documentaries from the past.

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

You're welcome! We just wish we had more to preserve. These are films people donated. We have a few more but they were/are too deteriorated to recover. A few just melted into blocks of goop. We didn't really have the funds but we had to act before any more deteriorated. Thanks for your feedback.

[@CJ-pj5gu]

The space program delivered us a lot of firsts, including business casual.

[@johnfitzgerald2339]

...and Navy casual as well: 09:19

[@CosmosNut]

Anyone else catch the 'pin up' girl picture on the clipboard at about 10:06? Great upload, thanks.

[@directcurrent5751]

All-male staffing in those days. Great film.

[@oldvet7547]

Love the cars.

[@chrisduhaime5689]

William Conrad = Cannon

[@aramboodakian9554]

And narrator for The Fugitive and Rocky and Bullwinkle

[@BusbobDave]

And a very bad Nero Wolf…

[@aramboodakian9554]

Great video! William Conrad’s narration kept my attention. Atlas: the stainless steel balloon!

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@dougball328]

Loved the cheesecake on the wall at 10:08 !

[@ssssssssssss885]

I like how smoking and ashtrays were highlighted requirements :-D

[@jamesanderton344]

Sounds like William Conrad narrating.

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

Yes. I believe it is. We thought the same when we heard it.

[@nicholasmaude6906]

He certainly has one of those manly narrator voices.

[@Drgonzosfaves]

Yes, it is. Thanks for the reminder.

[@dougball328]

I thought it was Jack Webb.

[@captaintrips2980]

Our next door neighbor was an Atlas F, operated by Plattsburgh Air Force Base. Not the biggest missile sites built, but they are amazing underground structures. Years after they were decommissioned, some attracted young people as a place to party. Now most are wrecks, and full of groundwater.

[@nicholasmaude6906]

The Atlas 4B flight was the second flight of the Atlas-B and the first successful flight of the B-series.

[@johnnylongfeather3086]

SPOILER ALERT

[@directcurrent5751]

10:06 reminds us that this was the 1950s.

[@jamesroets800]

Yep - the girly calendar.

[@dodo1opps]

The flag with 48 stars.

[@1ambrose100]

Fantastic video!

[@williamnichols2067]

Not only was this testing used for icbms, but also a gathering of data for our first spaceflights.

[@bubblehead78]

Great video... marred by all the smoking. Glad that habit is going the way of the dodo bird. I say this as a retired submariner who had to endure a crew of which 75% smoked. I loved my time on submarines but did not enjoy having to be in such a toxic environment.

[@gowdsake7103]

Was bad enough on ships

[@swainscheps]

21:31 “Roger control, turning the stove to Medium on my mark”

[@Nighthawke70]

This was one one of the better test flights of the Atlas SM-65B (Test Vehicle 4B). This went 900km downrange, but not as a full test flight as the narrator postulated. This would not happen until three months later (November) with test vehicle 12B.

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

Thank you for your insight. (Note: Without research we can't verify, but viewer feedback is often correct.)

[@Nighthawke70]

@@AmericanSpaceMuseum Apologies, I forgot to mention the sources. This was extracted from the Wikipedia for the SM-65 Atlas. This documentary was on the B version, serial 4B, launch 2 of the test series for the B version. There's still a ton of holes to fill, and Conrad's narration that got blanked, may have some information to extract, but like you said earlier, it was most likely propaganda to draw off the Soviet and Chinese.

[@rikhenneberg4064]

My dad worked on that

[@squarewave808]

It seems like America accomplished a lot when people smoked cigarettes. The delays and overruns with the F-35 were probably because not enough people smoke anymore. I'm kind of non-ironically thinking flat tops and horn rim glasses should come back too.

[@rearspeaker6364]

and pocket protectors too

[@beryllium1932]

Cargo-cult causation

[@colliswilliams8992]

Imagine how much different the Dukes of Hazard would have been if they'd hired this guy to narrate, instead of Waylon Jennings.

[@jonrebol8311]

This guy is william conrad. Original Matt Dillon on radio. Legend.

[@beryllium1932]

It would still have been funny but the satire would be flipped.

[@emmettturner9452]

Thumbnail dude looks like a Latin Marques Brownlee. Seems to be ahead of his time too.

[@RSOFT92]

The Guy on the thumbnail reminds me more of Markiplier than Marques Brownlee.

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

Sorry. Thumbnail changed since your comment.

[@chetmcdonald]

Who's the narrator?

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

It's a good question but I'm sorry to say we have no information if it's not in the credits.

[@dougball328]

@@AmericanSpaceMuseum I think it is Jack Webb, but not 100% sure.

[@captaintrips2980]

Someone posted that it's William Conrad, and I think they're right. Remember "Cannon"?

[@captaintrips2980]

​@@AmericanSpaceMuseumFrank Cannon, lol.

[@gilzor9376]

Absolutely William Conrad, I have no doubt in my mind.

[@spankyharland9845]

yup, at one time, the USA did have the biggest weenie in the missile contest.

[@donalddevincenzo9641]

Actually, that may be Lorne Greene.

[@arcanondrum6543]

*Wow! ...Wow'* ...... killing all life on the planet never sounded so sexual.

[@johnnylongfeather3086]

*spaceforce

[@amirsadeghi9888]

the opening scene smoking and the other towards the ending ... this is the real America that world looks up to and wants to live in ... not the rainbowist dog and pony show