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“Animated. Shows the principal steps taken by NASA to place men on the moon and get them back safely within this decade.”
NASA film HQ-88
Public domain film from NASA, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and mild video noise reduction applied.
The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and/or equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original).
Project Apollo, the American space program to land men on the moon, originated in 1960. On July 28-29, 1960, the Apollo program was announced to US industry representatives. On September 1, The Apollo Project Office was formed under the Space Task Group (STG) Flight Systems Division. In late October, Convair, GE and Martin were selected to prepare feasibility studies for the Apollo spacecraft.
Numerous committees were formed within the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to develop lunar mission concepts. On February 7, 1961, the final report of the Low Committee (Manned Lunar Landing Task Group) outlined “A Plan for Manned Lunar Landing” within the decade using either Earth Orbit Rendezvous (EOR) or direct ascent technique.
On May 5, STG completed the first draft of Apollo spacecraft specifications, and on May 22, the 2nd draft was completed. On May 25, President Kennedy proposed a manned lunar landing within the decade to Congress. On June 10, the Lundin Committee recommended the Earth Orbit Rendezvous method using the conceptual Saturn C-3 (S-IB-2 4x F-1; S-II-C3 2x J-2; S-IV 6x RL-10) launch vehicle to accomplish the manned lunar landing mission.
In August, the Heaton Committee (Ad Hoc Task Group for Study of Manned Lunar Landing by Rendezvous Techniques) recommended Earth Orbit Rendezvous using the conceptual Saturn C-4 (S-IB-4 4x F-1; S-II-4 4x J-2; S-IVB 1x J-2) for the manned lunar landing.
On November 1, 1961, the Space Task Group was renamed as the Manned Spacecraft Center. On November 28, North American Aviation was selected as principal contractor for the Apollo spacecraft under MSC direction. In December, the configuration of the Saturn C-5 (Saturn-V) lanuch vehicle was determined. Boeing had been chosen as prime contractor for the first stage, and Douglas Aircraft as prime contractor for the third stage.
The prime contractor for the 2nd stage was not announced until November 7, 1962: North Amerian Aviation (NAA). This choice was surprising, because NAA had already received the Apollo Command & Service Module contract, and because the Rocketdyne division of NAA was prime contractor for the F-1 and J-2 engines which would power all three stages of the Saturn V launch vehicle.
America’s first manned orbital flight was accomplished by John Glenn in the Mercury spacecraft Friendship 7 on February 20, 1962. In March, the Apollo Spacecraft Project Office was relocated to the Manned Spacecraft Center near Houston, Texas, and on July 20, NASA announced that the Mission Control Center for Apollo would be located at the Manned Spacecraft Center.
On July 11, 1962 NASA announced that the Lunar Orbit Rendezvous mode would be used the manned lunar landing mission, and that the Saturn C-IB (Saturn IB) launch vehicle would be developed to test the Apollo spacecraft in Earth orbit missions…
