The Launch (Frau im Mond, 1929)

[@wynnschaible]

Lang's science advisor on this one was Hermann Oberth, von Braun's mentor. And Oberth dedicated his rather technical "Weg zur Raumschiffahrt" to Lang and his scriptwriter/leading lady Thea von Harbou.

[@edwardrichardson8254]

Notice the alternating black & white paint scheme that carries over to the V2, Redstone rockets of Project Mercury, the Titan IIs of Project Gemini, the Saturn V, the Space Shuttle, and the new SLS for the Artemis mission. They're for photogrammetry - basically to make tracking the rocket easier especially during the roll program. As the chief scientist says to LBJ in Tom Wolfe's "The Right Stuff": "Our Germans are better than their Germans."

[@talltanbarbie5136]

Thea von Harbou invented the countdown for this film.

[@southwestsearch]

Just read about the film's countdown in a book.

[@marlan3rd]

Cool song goes well with the vintage film. Definite a favorite and subscription.

[@FlorinSutu]

Overlapping that kind of melody over a classical masterpiece from 1929 is a disgrace. Because of the melody, I could not resist more than few seconds.

[@angelgomez5388]

Wonder why the rocket was submerged?

[@MS-qx9uw]

I think it was for sound-dampening reasons and to avoid damage to the pad, IRL something conceptually similar is used for that purpose in the Sound Suppression Water System of LC-39 (and possibly others). Obviously having the rocket blast out massive amounts of water over the pad all at once is probably a bad idea, so real systems use high-pressure water jets to form a bed of water under the rocket moments before ignition. That now-vaporized water is then blown out through the flame trench as with the exhaust gases of the rocket itself.

[@followerofjulian1652]

What is with the terrible music?!

[@kenamaro]

Very cool 😎 early clip....just hit mute and enjoy !!

[@southwestsearch]

Is this where Adolf Hitler got the idea for the V2 rocket?

[@davidmccann9811]

The movie certainly inspired Wernher Von Braun, designer of the V2 rocket. The first V2 prototype had the 'Woman in the Moon' (Frau im Mond) painted on it. Hitler was actually a big fan of Fritz Lang, the director of this movie. So much so in fact that he offered to make Lang a honorary Aryan (Lang was Jewish). Lang packed his bags and fled to Paris that same night, as the admiration wasn't mutual.