Who took the videos of the Apollo moon missions?

Question

How did NASA take the videos of the astronauts coming out of the Lunar Lander and of the return capsule blasting off when the astronauts were inside?

Answer 1

The side of the LM descent stage (the big bit covered in the gold foil) next to the ladder contained a fold-out bay called the MESA, the Modular Equipment Stowage Area. When the astronaut had just crawled out of the door, and before he started going down the ladder, he would pull a small metal lever next to the door that caused the MESA to open. The hinge was along the bottom edge, so it opened downwards. In the early Apollo missions there was a TV camera mounted inside the MESA on a sprung mount that was released when the MESA opened. The camera would swing out so it was pointing at the ladder, and then the other astronaut, still in the
LM, would operate a switch to turn on the camera, and TV pictures would start being transmited. Since the camera was pointing at the ladder it could see the astronauts descending.

Later on, when both astronauts were out, the camera could be removed from the mount and set up on a tripod stand furhter away from the LM (the tripod was stored in the MESA, and the camera had a very long cable coiled up in the MESA that was paid out along the ground when the camera was moved). It could then be left there aimed in the direction of the LM and it would record everything that hapened in its field of view.

On Apollo 15, 16 and 17 the TV camera was mounted on the lunar roving vehicle, and it was mounted on a moving platform which was remotely controlled by a guy named Ed Fendell in mission control back on Earth. It was powered by the rover batteries. The astronauts could drive out to a geology station and get on with their work, while the TV camera could be moved around to survey the site, watch the astronauts working, and generally transmit pictures back. Of course, there was a delay between the signal being sent and the camera moving, due to the distance involved, and sometimes you can see the camera fall foul of this, not moving fast enough to follow an astronaut out of frame or such like. At the end of the mission the rover was parked a mile away from the LM, the last astronaut walked back to the LM and they prepared for liftoff while the TV camera was operated remotely to follow the liftoff. On Apollo 15 the tilt mechanism was broken, so it was not able to pan upwards to watch the ascent. On Apollo 16 the timing was misjudged (the delay meant Fendell could not simply watch and react to the movement he saw on screen: he had to operate the camera in anticipation of the LM ascent) and the position was not quite right so the LM left the field of view too early. On Apollo 17 Fendell got it right and followed the LM up into the sky. The camera was then used to pan around the site after the LM had left. It continued to be used until it failed.

The sophisticated mechanism for ensuring a camera could be pointed at the ladder to watch the astronaut descend was the result of a long debate which very nearly saw TV not included in the flights. Many argued that it was a waste of time and weight, and distracted from the mission objective of the exploration of the Moon. More sensible PR heads prevailed, however, and pointed out that the mission was funded by the taxpayer. Denying them the chance to see the historic moment when their money allowed one of them to walk on the surface of the Moon for the first time would be a huge insult, and NASA would lose vital support if the public could not see what they were doing up there.

Answer 2

A camera mounted on the outside of the lander was remotely activated by the astronauts before they descended the ladder and it was that camera that took the pictures of them descending the ladder. Later, they took the camera off the lander and put it on a stand some distance away, pointing back at the lander to capture their activities. Starting with Apollo 15, the camera was mounted on the lunar rover and remotely controlled from Earth. That is how the takeoff was captured for Apollos 15, 16 and 17. The takeoff of Apollos 11, 12 and 14 was not captured, at least not from outside.

Doesn't everybody already know this? It isn't exactly a secret you know. I mean, this information was ALL over the news at the time. How soon people forget!

Answer 3

There was a camera mounted on the outside of the lander to shoot the video of the astronauts on the ladder. To film the liftoff, the astronauts had set up a camera on a tripod, which was left behind.

Answer 4

The video of Neil Armstrong (..first man to step onto the moon..) was done with an automated camera that activated after the LEM landed.

The lift-off video was done simply with a video camera on a tripod left on the lunar surface after the astronauts re-boarded the LEM.

Answer 5

There was a camera mounted on one leg of the lander for their first steps. Then a camera on a tripod was used for regular activity. When the flew off the moon, there was a person in Houston who actually controlled the camera remotely. I heard him speak once and he was pretty interesting. I think out of 6, he only got a good shot of one.

Answer 6

No. They went to the moon 9 situations. Why might they pretend something such a number of situations? What on the topic of the rocks they further returned with them? And do you extremely have self belief each and every of the folk in contact might keep such a ingredient a secret? it is irrational to have self belief the moon landings did no longer take place given the load of knowledge and the super problems they experienced doing so.

Answer 7

me