Apollo 4 Launch Coverage

[@robertmorwell5052]

I witnessed two Saturn V launches (Apollos 8 & 13). We were watching from a river bank several miles from the pad, but they stood as tall as a 36 story building and the colossal rockets could easily seen. The power was absolutely staggering. A titanic roar, even though it took nearly a half minute to reach us. It was the most fantastic spectacle I have ever witnessed.

[@joijaxx]

Robert Morwell thanks for sharing your experience!

[@bearlemley]

My mom had pass for us to go into the cape, but we got tied up in traffic on US 1 and ended up on merit island on July 16 1969. She telling since waking me and my sister before dawn about 50 miles south of 39a. She really wanted me to see this thing, and I could feel her own excitement. So we also ended up about 4 miles or away. I remember the feeling of not being able to breath very easy and that I kept ending up on my heels. After that and a couple of space shuttles years later, I can see maybe why a rocket like the Nova rocket would have been very difficult to launch. It might just destroy the launch pad at every lift off.

[@DiamondboiS]

Man u probably old now! (No offense)

[@russells9687]

Thanks for the memories. I too watched Apollo 8 and 13 from the riverbank in Titusville, with one million and one-half million of my closest friends, respectively. 11.5 miles from the pad, so the sound reaches the Miracle City in just under one minute. Later (in the '80s, '90s and '00s) I watched 30-40 Shuttle launches from Titusville also. Fantastic indeed.

[@originalusername121]

Tomorrow is the 52nd anniversary of 13's accident.

[@KenMac-ui2vb]

This is one of the memories I will always have. God, I loved growing up in the 60s.

[@LordZontar]

Ol' Uncle Walt's first experience with the awesome power of the Saturn V. And then the sheer joy in his voice when he shouts "Look at that rocket GO!" Even after all this time it remains infectious. You feel it right along with him.

[@lunarmodule5]

it is, as you say, timeless

[@LordZontar]

Oh do sit down and shut up while the adults are talking, Paul.

[@deloysterns]

The launch itself is one of Uncle Walter's Greatest Hits.

[@juliangerardcascio1111]

Yes ! Just Great !!

[@PoliticalCineaste]

Wow! You can really sense Cronkite's excitement at this liftoff, besides the fact that the TV studio he was in was collapsing all around him due to the shockwaves from the engines. Looking forward to a similar first launch with Artemis I this month.

[@Plumbership]

I love how the reporter loses most of his poise and is just overwhelmed by the power of the Saturn V! 'Look at that... ROCKET GO! Into the clouds at 3000 feet! The roar is terrific!' To have been alive during those times.... I can't help but think I missed out!

[@lunarmodule5]

Plumbership It is, perhaps, the best launch commentary ever - regards LM5

[@stonewall01]

+lunarmodule5 I agree. I come back to this video, from time to time, just because the excitement is so contagious. It has been almost 50 years now, and I have watched it several times already, and I still can't help getting excited at the countdown. This commentary makes it so much better too. Right up there with the "Go, Baby, Go!!! Fly like an Eagle." of the first Shuttle launch. By the way, do you know if the audio is available from the crew during Apollo 7? I think that could be rather entertaining, for the first manned launch.

[@Nighthawke70]

Walter mused that they might need a blockhouse or bunker instead of the cottage they had at the press site. That had me giggling pretty good.

[@Musicman81Indy]

Walters "cottage" comment gave me quick visions of something designed with all the strength of an out house. Too funny, I was only 4 when Apollo 4 flew. I wish I had been born about 5 years earlier. I later fell in love with the space program in 1971 with Apollo 14. I was only 6 when Apollo 11 landed, and I was more interested in listening to my Smothers Brothers Record that watching men land on the moon. I later developed such a passion for NASA and the space program, that I even pretended to be sick so I could stay home from school just so i could watch Apollo 16 land on the moon.

[@lukestrawwalker]

Yep I've always said the best time in this country's history was right before I was born. Later! OL J R :)

[@breesco]

"My good, the building's shaking! The building's shaking!" I typically hate tv commentaries during launches, but the wonder and delight in Cronkite's voice speaks for us all.

[@blazerobotics9465]

I was mesmerized by the Apollo program growing up but this first launch of a Saturn V with Walter Cronkite commentating was magical. Coming less than a year after the fatal Apollo 1 fire this flight made me proud of our country. The Apollo program inspired me to go into a technical field and to this day I am still awed by the achievements of that time. GodSpeed America

[@rsvp9146]

LM5, Thank you for posting all of these videos. I was born in '78 but would have loved to have seen these in person. I grew up in the heart of SoCal aerospace. a life long fascination.

[@lunarmodule5]

My pleasure! Glad you enjoyed it

[@MAR1962]

Wonderful work on this. Thanks so much. And yes, Uncle Walter was a bit of a fanboy when it came to space, but he really communicated the sheer awe people were feeling.

[@Lyndiman]

This might be releasing my inner space nerd but I really enjoy these videos. Thanks for posting them!

[@Warriorking.1963]

I would love to know what they said in the Kemlin when they saw this?

[@chandlerh2]

I clearly remember watching this when i was a kid . I feel extremely lucky to have witnessed this and following launches they would bring in televisions into our classroom to watch was very exciting . The era of top notch engineers who didn't need their I phone to figure out how to do things .

[@Chatta-Ortega]

The Saturn V rocket was so much larger than the previous Redstone and Atlas boosters. It must have blown peoples minds. I remember watching the Apollo missions on tv when I was very young. It captivated everyone.

[@lukestrawwalker]

The ESCAPE TOWER on Saturn V had more power than the entire Mercury Redstone that propelled Alan Shepard and later Gus Grissom on their suborbital flights... Later! OL J R :)

[@altfactor]

I watched this live before heading off to school; I was six weeks away from my 12th birthday.After Apollo 4 went into orbit and before I had to leave for school (a little after 8 A.M.Eastern time), I was able to see three replays of this launch: One later-on during this CBS broadcast; the other two during the 7:30 and 8 A.M;. news summaries on the NBC "Today Show".

[@dcatransit]

Thank you so much for posting this. I got to stay home from school to watch Uncle Walter tell us all about it. My favorite phrase: "Look at that...ROCKET GO!"

[@lunarmodule5]

You are most wecome Doug!

[@benjamindeforest9363]

I have watched this many times. To see the Saturn V initial launch... But more to listen to Walter Cronkite's child like enthusiasm and excitement when he can feel the power of the Rocket. He was the voice of the space program to me....I was lucky to be born in the late 50's.....Was a great time to be a kid.....

[@MikeJamesHayden]

I just felt this excitement watching starship launch. Cheering it on like Walter!

[@MightySaturn5]

great clip, as mentioned would love to see a clip that showcases how the sound didn't reach Cronkite until they announce "tower clear" -having that happen would actually be a proper sync since it reflects the actual time the first shock wave arrives. Anyway, really great job putting this up, thanks and have a wonderful day

[@PaulFarace]

Never got to see a Saturn V launch but several Shuttle launches from the press site... and that chest-pounding staccato experience was right on the mark... about 7-million lbs of thrust 3 miles away... that is one heck of a fireworks display!

[@jamesgreenidge]

Seeing this brings back an amazing fact in Arthur C. Clarke's "Prelude To Space"; That the giant engines that move the fastest ocean liners aren't even powerful enough to drive the FUEL PUMPS of the Saturn 5, let alone the main rocket motors! That's one awesome stat!!

[@lunarmodule5]

jim love these sort of stats

[@tomjohnson7529]

jim a set of motors built with slide rules, paper and pencil. I have young friends who just don't believe that men can think without a pc. Their lack of imagination saddens me.

[@jamesgreenidge]

Your son just needs a serious reality history check that the basic design of Saturns were created with slide-rules and mostly vac-tube computers in an age where all the mainframes in the world at the time together likely couldn't run the high-powered RPG games younger ones are welded to today. It's because of narrow (and somewhat modern-life spoiled) perspectives of youths like your son that I wish Outward Bound was mandatory in all schools!

[@Nighthawke70]

Dan Allen the vehicle at JSC is an poor example of the Saturn Program. Its deteoriated badly during the time it was outdoors, exposed to weather, salt air and pollution. Her structure is corroded and pieces missing from it. It tore my heart when I saw her.

[@104thDIVTimberwolf]

Each turbo pump (2 on each engine) generated 25,000 horsepower.

[@johnk6982]

I never got to See, Feel, Hear a Saturn V Rocket in person, But I did get to watch most Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo launches and landings! What a incredible time it was in the 1960s. Space the final frontier! The greatest achievement in the 20th Century! Hands down. The bravery of those fine folks that made it happen still stands out as a unbelievable achievement! The Technology at that time was really something. Thanks NASA!

[@lunarmodule5]

Thanks for the comment John

[@MrAzazel666]

Such incredible power. What a magnificent machine.

[@Mike_S_Swift]

I was at the Cape 6 miles south at Kennedy AF station Hanger C near the lighthouse for this launch. Our shuttle bus from Patrick AFB just made it in time for me to climb up on a large V17 pole construction truck before the 7am launch. Broke windows in our hanger building. Most amazing thing I’ve witnessed. All we could see was the top part of the rocket from our vantage point and thought it was going to explode when we saw all the smoke & fire and it didn’t move much. I was 18... and still remember this event vividly. We were listening to Walter on a transistor radio. This was before touch tone telephones were common to put the timeline in perspective.

[@lunarmodule5]

awesome memory 222

[@smadaf]

I wasn't too happy about the replacement of so much of the TV picture by these still photos-and then came the launch and, man, Walter Cronkite's excitement gave me goosebumps! There's no way to quantify it; but I think Walter Cronkite deserves significant credit for keeping the American space program going in the sixties: surely his obvious enthusiasm and his excellent interpretation of the technical for laymen must have helped keep the American public in favor of this expensive government program.

[@altfactor]

I believe this was also the first test flight of the revised command module after modifications had been made to it after the Apollo 1 fire.

[@FunkyDPL]

CSM-017, used on this flight was a Block 1 model with some Block 2 upgrades. Apollo 7 was the first full Block 2 CM (CSM-101) flown.

[@bobdouglass8010]

So sad that most of us, including me, weren't alive when the last Saturn V was retired to a museum. We'll probably never see a rocket this powerful in our lifetimes. I have doubts about some of the Apollo program, but watiching the Saturn V gives me goosebumps

[@russells9687]

+Bob Douglass Fear not, Bob. Work on NASA's SLS deep space rocket is proceeding apace and that grand ship should launch from KSC in late 2018 -- with 8.5 million pounds of thrust vs. Saturn V's 7.5 million. See you (and about a million other visitors) down here for that one!

[@camerondeatcher9668]

We might be able to see something even more powerful. The SpaceX Starship vehicle may go orbital this year.

[@FunkyDPL]

SpaceX Starship will be much more powerful than either Saturn 5 or SLS (if that junk pile ever gets to launch).

[@lukestrawwalker]

@@russells9687 And here is it 2022 and it STILL hasn't flown LOL:) If you want to see an SLS flight, I suggest catching one of the early ones... I don't think that thing will fly more than maybe 2-3 times before it gets cancelled. Later! OL J R :)

[@AureliusR]

What "doubts" do you have about some of the Apollo program?

[@JamesJohnson-ok1hn]

A good refresher thanks for the recommendation.

[@TechNed]

Absolutely breathtaking.

[@SchneeWolfe]

My most grateful appreciation for your work in creating this presentation; I was 10 when Yuri Gargarin went into space, and skipped school with permission to see most of the American Space effort; this is awesome reminder of those times; I am a close follower of present day efforts by NASA to follow up with the Apollo Era, and can tell you, that it will only be political interference that prevents a return of USA to the Moon, not technology or will of the engineers;

[@lindonwalker5500]

Normally uncle Walter as he was commonly known by; was extraordinarily calm. Even during his classic reading of the death of John F Kennedy the only real sign of emotion we seen of him was removing his eyeglasses. Yet, in this clip he is extremely excited and that adds some human element to the legend that he has become. Fantastic find thanks again.

[@lukestrawwalker]

His voice broke as well, and he had to clear his throat and compose himself for a moment after removing his glasses during the JFK death announcement... OL J R :)

[@michaelreidperry3256]

Gorgeous vehicle. I have fond memories of the Saturn V from childhood.

[@xrayvizhen501]

Thanks - brings back great memories. You missed the best part of the broadcast though. After the rocket is in orbit and they come back to Uncle Walt, you get a great visual of the chaos of his desk. Papers strewn all over the place, plaster or ceiling tiles had come down and Walter was totally disheveled, like he had been out in a hurricane. They had obviously set up way too close to the launch pad and that was the last time we got to see this. All subsequent broadcasts were from miles away.

[@lunarmodule5]

+xray vizhen hi xray...the reason its not shown is because that footage is the one we have all been hoping CBS would re release but has not been seen in its entirety for many years. that footage is known as the holy grail of footage! we all hope to see what you saw one day....the search continues! regards LM5

[@lukestrawwalker]

He said they were about 3 miles away, which would put them about where the current press site is from the shuttle era... I don't think NASA would have allowed them much closer! IIRC they had some sort of "press trailer" mobile studio thing for broadcasting, sort of a portable broadcasting booth, and it wasn't up to the pressure waves and sonic energy of the Saturn V launches! Later! OL J R :)

[@charlesvan13]

It's amazing how it slowly lifts off, takes 10 seconds to clear the tower, but it going faster than a rifle bullet in a minute.

[@PatGleeson123]

Another great upload - thanks so much !

[@Radar19792006]

I have seen the CBS video of this at least twice in "specials", I think both of them were specials centered on Walter Cronkite as he had a funny little stroy to tell about that day and how the NASA folks freaked out about him having tried to brace the window with his hands. All that is usually shown is a short little snip where Walter compares a model of the Sat. 5 with the others...then the segment where Walter exclaims "My God, our building is shaking". This compilation is VERY good.

[@ThompPL1]

Best footage of Apollo-4 with Walter Cronkite !

[@whatthef911]

The first launch of SLS brought me here.

[@GaryW48]

Back then, TV cameras were sensitive tubes, and the brightness of ignition cased what was known as 'comet tails' of burn-in. The Video Engineer in the TV truck had to iris down the cameras for fear of burning in the image and perhaps ruining the image tube. Like what actually occurred with the TV camera on the Moon from Apollo 12 when exposed to direct sunlight.

[@TechNed]

Good comment. I remember vidicon tubes.

[@MightySaturn5]

Thanks Gary, appreciate the info on that

[@Nitron2097]

"NASA engineers are not responsible for it. And they made sure they weren't responsible for it." LOL!!! Why don't we have newsmen like Uncle Walt anymore?

[@FunkyDPL]

Because the profession has become a bunch of partisan hacks. I think Brit Hume is the last of the true journalists left.

[@lukestrawwalker]

@@FunkyDPL because now it's all empty suits with emptier heads... spouting whatever agenda the billionaires who own the networks employing them want them to spout. OL J R :)

[@rocketmentor]

That Roar IS Terrific !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@duster0669]

Growing old isn't so bad. I got to see everything from Mercury to the moon! It was a weird time, the war and all, but it was also a most exciting time to be a kid. I don't wish to be young again and miss the moon.

[@glennjohnston2267]

I enjoyed this. 👍

[@Nghilifa]

I may be wrong about this, but I think the reason why the building shaked so much was because they had'nt installed that water attenuation system at the pad, hence the shockwaves from the engines pounding the building they were in. You never heard W. Cronkite comment on the vibration on subsequent launches.

[@WiliiamNoTell]

Walter Cronkite....the right man for the right job! Back when reporters gave the news, not their opinion.

[@jpowell180]

There are some people out there who say this launch never happened, but here it is, on video, for all to see...

[@XL290]

Nothing will match seeing it live 50 years ago

[@robertmorwell5052]

I watched this one on TV, but went to personally witness the launches of Apollos 8 & 13. Astonishing, stupendous power!

[@averiWonBTW]

I saw Artemis 1 from a beach

[@dirtpoor9678]

Oh, yes! Thanks to you and all who take time to post this great vintage stuff from this era. It's a damn shame that people (mainly Americans) think this was and is a waste of money. As long as their cell works and their favorite TV show is on, they just go along in their cloud of ignorance. If America wants to fix the economy, we need to go to Mars. We prospered for 20 to 25 years from the benefits of Manned Space. Viet Nam sucked up all the profits. For every dollar spent, between 11 and 14 dollars were returned into the economy. So, actually, Mercury, Gemini and Apollo cost the American people exactly ZERO Dollars. IC's, global communications, computer miniaturization, computer theory and new ways of programming, inertial guidance, fly-by-wire, and many, many hundreds of other technologies that we can't live without today were created to go to the Moon. NASA has idiots for public relations. Most people in the world have no clue just what Apollo gave us. Us meaning mankind. Weather tracking and forecasting was pioneered by the U.S. Space Program. Maybe when we get that fool out of the whorehouse, err I mean Whitehouse we can resume our plans for the Moon and Mars. Nothing else will save our economy except a nation wide project like Apollo.

[@lukestrawwalker]

Unfortunately people nowadays can't see past the end of their nose, let alone be bothered to educate themselves on the issues and become scientifically literate let alone economically literate enough to understand not only the technological advantages we gained from the space program, but also the economic advantages. Now, with most people having the vast sum of human knowledge practically at their fingertips 24/7/365 thanks to smart phones and the internet, people cannot be bothered to put forth the effort to learn anything let alone understand it; we now have more scientifically and technically illiterate people than ever before, as demonstrated by "flat Earthers" and "moon deniers" because they're too IGNORANT to understand the technical/scientific principles and engineering technology that made it possible, and TOO LAZY to bother to look it up and spend the time necessary to understand it. Instead they spout stupidity and nonsense from the willfully ignorant and mentally insufficient. And, what's worse, THEY CAN LEGALLY VOTE! And needless to say, they vote for the 'least common denominator' which is why we have the current crop of FOOLS in charge, who are just as stupid and technically illiterate as they themselves are. Hope for the future my friend, but don't hold your breath! OL J R :)

[@eddiekulp1241]

When we were at our best . Lived in bay st Louis ms in 1968 and 69 remember the distant rumble from the first stage being test fired at the test facility allmost 10 miles away

[@lukestrawwalker]

Yep I toured Stennis Space Center with my then-girlfriend back in the late 90's... back then you could drive right up to the gates, and they'd wave you through to the visitor center, which was the downstairs part of the old main building... excellent museum and film, then board a bus to go out to the test stands... SO interesting to see where they were all tested, and where they still test various rocket engines and stages. Stennis was built when the S-IC testing at Redstone Arsenal at Huntsville was SO powerful it was causing damage to the surrounding community! It was a good move, as the area was largely uninhabited (there was one tiny settlement inside the land apportioned to the testing center, but it was relocated-- closest remaining town is Picayune, MS IIRC) and it was MUCH closer to Michoud where the first stages were being built... much more convenient than barging them all the way up to Huntsville for test firing. You can still tour the test stands and Stennis, but there's a visitor center they built off-site right off I-10... you get on a bus and are driven through the facility, but the bust doesn't stop or allow anybody off inside the fences... OL J R :)

[@rockfilmers]

I wish America still had the same attitude about space as we did in the 60s. I've grown up about 60 miles from the cape, and I'm the only one I know who never misses a launch, it seems like people don't even care about it anymore :(

[@mooseydeucy]

I love this and it's what I miss about the current in name only NASA program.

[@steveneppler5301]

Thanks for this. Fingers crossed that you'll be able to track down the original CBS broadcast footage one day. Good luck!

[@yxeaviationphotog]

Walter's reaction says it all.

[@MightySaturn5]

excellent photos

[@pz2233]

Amazing!

[@edwardswessonjr1689]

america need to be great again like this.

[@onlyme112]

Somebody picked up on your idea a few years later.

[@MightySaturn5]

actually I think he commented on Apollo 8 and 10 (perhaps 9 as well), something about "the picture will break up due to the great reverberations we've become used to" ...I'm sure I'm misquoting it a bit but he did mention something to that effect

[@jvamossy]

Wow! Thanks for posting! :-)

[@laserfloyd]

The announcer's reaction really makes this video. You could tell that he didn't quite expect it was going to be as, hmm, energetic as it was. :)

[@lukestrawwalker]

Walter Kronkite... the "Most trusted man in America", veteran reporter for CBS news for decades til he finally retired and was replaced by Dan Rather... OL J R :)

[@deloysterns]

Classic. The Sequence with Cronkite cheering on the rocket on air is priceless...

[@moboutmen]

Cronkite's unbridled joy...

[@brotherleo4616]

That's the most excited that I ever heard Walter Cronkite become.

[@flashfast2000]

Konkrite was a true FANBOY! No cynicism, just fun and joy.

[@cateclism316]

The Saturn V has to be one of the most successful launch systems ever developed. Very few critical failures. Von Braun was a genius.

[@flashfast2000]

Lunarmodule5, I borrowed some of the audio from this video to create this Apollo 4/Falcon 9 mash-up. I you would prefer me not to use it let me know and I'll pull the video: Apollo 4/Falcon 9 mashup

[@anguscovoflyer95]

Imagine seeing spacex’s starship launching into the sky since it’s just as big and twice as powerful! imagine how loud the starship booster will be when it lifts off the pad!

[@chrisst8922]

At around a minute the nature of the all up test is described. Other than the S-IVB the vehicle hadn't flown before. You wouldn't normally do that, if a problem occurred at launch, you'd lose the chance to test the rest. The clock was ticking and the end of the decade was fast approaching. As it was the vehicle performed very well and although Apollo 6 had problems the system was seen to be robust and flexible enough to keep the objective on track.

[@FunkyDPL]

Apollo 6 had serious issues, but because of GREAT detective work by the engineers, they were confident that the problems were identified and fixed. They never completely solved the pogo problem, but kept it down to a managable level.

[@americianflyer72]

If I may.... there is a book by Stephen Baxter called Voyage that is a "What If" instead of going with the Shuttle we pressed on and went for a 1986 Mars landing.... in the book they keep using the Saturn V but they added Solid Rocket boosters to it..... For anyone who hasn't read it it is a very good book

[@lunarmodule5]

Have read the book... i agree...very good.

[@mrFalconlem]

@rockfilmers I think the Falcon 9 launch is delayed till February now because of the Soyuz trouble.

[@tperk]

I suspect the first SLS launch attempt will look like this.

[@humancyborgrelations3737]

Nah, that'll look and feel more like a shuttle launch. The first Super Heavy launch will be more like this in terms of astonishing power.

[@wmbrown6]

However, I noticed part of an ABC News intro with the voice of that network's staff announcer, Carl Caruso. (CBS News' announcer at the time was Harry Kramer.)

[@rockfilmers]

@lunarmodule5 There is an Atlas 5 launch in November, I know that you mostly put up historic videos, but if I gave it to you, would you upload it here?

[@zellco321]

TRUE HISTORY!

[@FunkyDPL]

I was a baby when this happened. All the credit in the world goes to George Mueller (head of NASA's Manned Spaceflight Office), who proposed this flight to NASA In what he called an "All-up" test, which flew in the face of conventional wisdom about testing new rockets. However, had he not won the argument, there would NOT have been a Moon landing before 1970. Who is looking forward to when SpaceX finally lights up Super Heavy which makes the Saturn 5 look positively mid-sized?

[@lukestrawwalker]

Well, "all up" testing wasn't exactly a new idea... while Mueller did propose it and was successful in getting it for Saturn V. The Soviets basically had used "all up" testing since their earliest missile development programs. It's part of the reason their N-1 moon rocket ended up failing and canceled completely before a successful flight. When they developed their famous "Semyorka" R-7 booster, which was not only the first ICBM but also the Sputnik launchers, and launched Gagarin straight through to their current Soyuz spacecraft (and remains in service through many upgrades and modifications as the "Soyuz launcher" today) they basically built the missiles, launched them, and inevitably the first few blew up either on the pad or shortly after liftoff, or at some point in flight. They had a great deal of telemetry signals coming back from the rocket, and they would analyze the data, figure out what happened, and engineer a fix for the issue, build another, and go fly it. After several spectacular explosions and failures, they'd pretty much have the kinks worked out of it. They assumed the same technique would work with N-1, but they had several things working against them-- everything with N-1 was GIGANTIC, and therefore super-expensive, and most of the things about N-1 were cutting edge and had never been done before. Kuznetsov, who was tasked to build the most advanced and lightest power-to-weight ratio kerosene engines ever built, had never built a rocket engine before (his design bureau specialized in jet engines for Soviet aircraft). N-1 required new launch complexes, new assembly buildings and techniques, and a bunch of new factories to manufacture components AT THE LAUNCH SITE since they were too big to be transported by rail from the usual factories in the western Soviet Union to the Kazakhstan launch site at Baikonur Cosmodrome. The N-1 also had a totally new idea for a control/guidance system known as "KORD", which instead of gimballing the engines or small vernier engines as had been done on all previous rockets for steering authority, KORD would throttle opposing pairs of engines to create differential thrust, throttling engines down on one side of the rocket and throttling up on the opposite side of the rocket to induce steering movements. It also doubled as a safety system-- if one of the 30 engines in the N-1 first stage had a problem, it would shut not only that engine down, but the one 180 degrees on the other side of the rocket from it, to maintain thrust equilibrium and maintain control. It was a questionable idea that was supposed to be simpler and more efficient, but had a lot of drawbacks. The first N-1 had a fire break out among the complex ductwork and plumbing providing fuel to the 30 first stage engines, the fire burned through the KORD control wiring due to an insufficient heat shield and insulation, and caused the rocket to blow up. The second N-1 lifted off, suffered a few engines that failed, KORD shut down the opposite engines, and that caused insufficient thrust, allowing the N-1 to keel over and crash back down on the launch pad in an ENORMOUS explosion. Corrections were made and the third attempt had N-1 lift off normally and proceed through normal flight, *almost* to first stage shutdown, but just before that a slow rolling motion in the rocket had built up to the point that it basically spun itself apart and went out of control, exploding just seconds before first stage shutdown. The data was studied and fixes implemented, including Kuznetsov's engines, which had been designed to ONLY be capable of a SINGLE firing, which meant they COULD NOT be test fired prior to launch, since it would ruin the engine, were redesigned to allow for test firings and THEN launch on the vehicle, allowing ALL engines to be test fired and verified for flight, rather than the practice they had used of building batches of SIX together, then sacrificing one of them on the test stand to "verify" the other five were "flight certified"... which of course they were not, as mistakes could and did occur between the different engines during assembly. By this time Valentin Glushko had convinced the government to fire Sergei Korolev's deputy, who'd been running Korolev's old design burea OKB-1 since his untimely demise in early 1966, Vasily Mishin, and merge the two design bureaus under Glushko's leadership, with the new enterprise being called "RKK Energia". He also convinced them to cancel N-1 and replace it with is own pet mega-rocket design, which he called the "Energia" rocket, which would ultimately fly twice, once to launch the Soviet "Polyus" space battle station, their answer to the US "Star Wars" SDI program, and the second the one and only unmanned flight of their Buran Soviet shuttle. After that it never flew again, and was ultimately cancelled despite his attempts at building a downsized, "cheaper" version. The US had flown extensive test flight programs on their early missile developments, with many explosions and failures along the way-- Atlas and Thor had particularly troubled test series, along with early Titans. Saturn I had a very successful test program, but it flew first with the first stage alone, with dummy upper stages on a couple launches, then with the S-IV liquid hydrogen six RL-10 cluster second stage, then with the single J-2 engine S-IVB for the Saturn IB. While the Saturn I and IB never had a single launch failure, it was obvious that a ten launch test program as had been done on Saturn I and IB would NOT work with Saturn V, there simply wasn't enough time to conduct all those launches and still land on the Moon by the end of the decade. SO Mueller proposed applying the lessons learned on Saturn I/IB development and testing to Saturn V, the so-called "all up testing" which worked quite well... the next launch, Apollo 6, would show some of the "unknown unknowns" that crop up in ANY new vehicle development, in this case severe pogo oscillations that nearly destroyed the vehicle on the first stage, burn through of a pilot line on one of the J-2 engines of the second stage, causing it to fail and shut down, incorrectly wired engine control harnesses, which caused the guidance computer to shut down the wrong engine when it detected the fault in the first engine, which caused the rocket to have insufficient power and stagger off the trajectory badly, before managing to correct itself and stagger back to the correct trajectory, and the same pilot line failed on the S-IVB and prevented its restart in space. Apollo 6 had shaken SO badly that one of the SLA spacecraft adapter panels under the service module that supported the CSM in flight and covered the lunar module had fallen off on ascent, but the vehicle DID survive and staggered into orbit, though without the S-IVB relight it was stuck in a useless low Earth parking orbit... All problems which were detected via telemetry and figured out, fixes applied, and the final test was the next MANNED Apollo Saturn V launch, TO THE MOON ON APOLLO 8! Later! OL J R: )

[@ultrametric9317]

Poor Paul Haney - always the wrong comment. "The vehicle is - eh, let's see - 300 feet down range and - er uh - let's see..."

[@altfactor]

I believe this also was the first flight of the redesigned (after the Apollo 1 fire) command module.

[@lukestrawwalker]

No, the first block 2 flew on Apollo 7, the first manned flight. These unmanned test flights of Apollo 4 and 6 used block 1 capsules with some block 2 upgrades, since basically NONE of the manned flights were going to use ANY of the already built block 1 spacecraft. Later! OL J R :)

[@michaelgentiluomo5385]

I just thought of this........how do they steer the rocket? It's not like a plane.

[@johnmccarty1942]

I seen 1 of the Apollo missions the was launched at night not sure what 1 it was I grew up in Hollywood Unfortunately I witnessed the challenger launch sad day

[@lukestrawwalker]

Apollo 17 was the only night launch, last mission to the Moon, with Cernan, Schmidt, and Evans in December of 1972. I wasn't quite a year old. Later! OL J R :)

[@williamdilley4923]

1st all-ups test of the Saturn 5.

[@ultrametric9317]

God poor Paul Haney. He was either blind or blasted. He never met a readout he could recognize during a launch :) "2, no 3, er.. 5, sorry 7, 4, it has to be one of those numbers.."

[@Gort58]

"Look at that rocket go!!!"

[@moboutmen]

Nothing better than Walter Cronkite as a child...

[@rockfilmers]

@lunarmodule5 And there is also a Falcon 9 launch just 5 days later

[@cpcrazy2010]

Was this on the same day Martin Luther king jr was shot?

[@yassm]

Negative. That was Apollo 6

[@rocketman4885]

121 likes 1 dislike from a flatearther. Lol

[@104thDIVTimberwolf]

You spelled "flattard" wrong.

[@oscarin13]

50 years ago #OTD.

[@georgebradley8329]

50th Anniversary Today

[@wiedep]

@ 13:17 wouldn't be the first time Wussler 'put one over" on someone.

[@carolyngarrett436]

I love your youtoob ID

[@scifiradioguy]

Only Cronkite. Only Cronkite.

[@mrkeogh]

Jack King is coming across very clearly too...at this time 😉

[@FunkyDPL]

There was nobody like Jack King when announcing a launch. SpaceX's John Insprucker does a decent job, though.

[@lukestrawwalker]

@@FunkyDPL yes, Insprucker is good technically, but that voice... LOL:) Much prefer Kate Tice... she's SO pretty, and smart and eloquent to boot, plus she's got a good personality, you can tell she's excited about the launches! OL J R: )

[@charlesdjones1]

Sorry Russia, we got it right the first time.

[@jaycemacinnis2228]

#SaturnV

[@laserfloyd]

Negative. That was April 4, 1968.

[@DARisse-ji1yw]

200!

[@user-tb2jy9lu3d]

He kind of reminds me of Joe Peschi in a way. lol

[@robertfisher2332]

😄😄😄😄😄😄

[@glenashworth9550]

Cronkite was best

[@russells9687]

+GLEN ASHWORTH Indeed he was, Glen. Pretty good sailor too! : ]