“I was very proud of all the people who built such a beautiful spacecraft, those who checked it out, and those who designed it.” – Dr. Robert Gilruth, Director, Manned Spacecraft Center
Launched on October 11, 1968, Apollo 7 was the first mission since January 1967 to have a full crew aboard the Apollo spacecraft. The Apollo 7 mission also provided the first live television transmission from space, and we see a brief clip of the show the astronauts put on for viewers on Earth. This film chronicles the Apollo 7 mission, from the delivery of spacecraft components and checkout to mating and launch to each of the mission objectives to finally splashdown. Of particular note, the film contains a lot of original audio recorded during the mission, capturing launch and mission controls, the astronauts, and post-mission comments made by NASA officials.
Note: The tail of this film’s reel includes some silent footage shot during the mission. Since the mission footage contained in the titled program is all animated, the actual mission footage has been included in this presentation. This silent portion contains shots of the rendezvous and docking procedure tests, the Lunar Module Adapter floating freely some distance away, and Earth from the Command Module window.
Date Released: 1968
File #: N/A
Produced By: Space Division of North American Rockwell
Program Duration: 9:37 (titled film) 4:21 (extras)
Media: 16mm Film
Reel Length: 518 ft
Audio: Optical, Variable Area
Film Stock: Eastman Rev II
Film Stock Edge Code Date: 1968