Apollo 11: The Untold Story

[edwardsdj (Doug)]

Originally Posted by Chrissyo

Actually, if I recall correctly, Aldrin was quote mined in that specific segment. In the interview he did indeed mention that they were pretty sure the "UFO" was one of the S-IVB panels, but the producers decided to leave it out. Neil Armstrong's biography also provides this explanation.

I'm really glad he didn't really acknowledge it was a UFO

I forgot about that second speach that Nixon was going to give in the event they couldn't leave the surface. My understanding is that this speach had been prepared before the launch to manage the politics of the situation if for some reason they couldn't leave the surface.

There's nothing unusual about politicians having a couple of speaches up their sleaves for different contingencies

Spaceflight is dangerous. Astronauts do die. The first space shuttle orbital flight was interesting in that the shuttle needs people to fly it so no unmanned test flight was possible. Interesting design decision!

[OneOfOne (Trevor)]

Originally Posted by edwardsdj

Spaceflight is dangerous. Astronauts do die. The first space shuttle orbital flight was interesting in that the shuttle needs people to fly it so no unmanned test flight was possible. Interesting design decision!

I would expect that they would have "test pilots" lined up for miles to take the flight though. No matter how dangerous it may be, there will always be someone willing to risk their lives for the thrill. I guess we ultimately owe people like this a lot, otherwise where would we be if no one was willing to risk their lives. The movie "The Right Stuff" is an excellent demonstration of the fine line between brave and stupid!...love it!

[Omaroo (Chris Malikoff)]

"The Untold Story" - when I heard the narrators' voice my expectations went out the window - "oh no, not him". Since when has the ABC bought garbage from the Discovery channel to supplement its science content?

I'm sorry to say that I was disappointed in this show. It was narrated in the same softly-spoken doom and gloom Discovery Channel-esque style that I dislike "Seconds From Disaster" for, and was aimed at an audience that has otherwise no interest or knowledge in space, and particularly the Apollo era.

The simulated 1202 alarm sound was plain stupid, and really typical of Discovery. Maybe the real tension wasn't enough for the modern audience.

For all the hype in reference to "it can now be told", there was only one thing that was new to me - and that was the fact that Aldrin used a pen to flick a breaker. If you send up people as qualified as the two that went, a busted breaker would be the most trivial of problems. It certainly wouldn't have stopped the PhD engineer that Aldrin was - nor Armstrong.

Skipping off the atmosphere being dangerous? Wow! Who would have thought. I'm happy that the problem was finally able to be told....

There have been far better documentaries - some of them with more substance and less silly drama hype.

[AJames]

Originally Posted by mark3d

you can download good game from the ABC website.

Thanks for this... I forgot I could do this on-line. Do so now...
Andrew

[Night Owl]

Originally Posted by edwardsdj

I'm really glad he didn't really acknowledge it was a UFO

None of them had to acknowledge it was a UFO. It was, and still remains a UFO, because they still don't know what it actually was with 100% certainty!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlkV1ybBnHI

You heard Aldrin say himself that the SIVB booster was 6000 nautical miles away, as CAPCOM told them. That's 11,112 KM away! Thats seeing something not much bigger than a semi trailer thats further than the distance from Melbourne to London! If you could see it, it would have been less than a fly speck big.

What could it have been? That's why it is still a UFO.

[goober (Doug)]

I taped it and will watch tonight. The fact they are beating up UFO's fills me with dread. (Perhaps it was John Glenn's frozen pee-pee?).

BTW, In The Shadow Of The Moon was bumped from Feb 7th to March 6th. http://villagecinemas.com.au/Movies/...lease-Date.htm

[goober (Doug)]

Originally Posted by Chrissyo

I'm glad to hear that Collins is well featured in it - his biography 'Carrying the Fire' was a darn good read.

Agreed - one of my favorite books, very well written.

A good, obscure documentary on Apollo, Gemini, Mercury is "Moonshot". Narrated by an actor representing Deke Slayton in a "yee-haw" throttle jockey style, but good fun with lots of real astronauts chipping in.

[MrB (Simon)]

The movie "The Right Stuff" is an excellent demonstration of the fine line between brave and stupid!...love it!

Agreed, love it... not only because they mention my home-town (Rockingham)

RE: UFO's.... I think people are missing the point here... a UFO doesn't have to mean Aliens, its just an unidentified object!

You heard Aldrin say himself that the SIVB booster was 6000 nautical miles away, as CAPCOM told them. That's 11,112 KM away! Thats seeing something not much bigger than a semi trailer thats further than the distance from Melbourne to London! If you could see it, it would have been less than a fly speck big.

I wondered about the distance/size thing too.
Still unidentified, not aliens, but unidentified.

RE: the pen... doesn't take a genius to come up with that idea, I'm far from a genius and I thought of it just after they mentioned the problem before they mentioned the pen. It's just lateral thinking that I reckon anyone could come-up with in the same situation.

I enjoyed the program, quite a bit I didn't know about, just gotta see through the hype and embellishments (alarm etc) and enjoy the footage.

[edwardsdj (Doug)]

Originally Posted by goober

I taped it and will watch tonight. The fact they are beating up UFO's fills me with dread. (Perhaps it was John Glenn's frozen pee-pee?).

They did beat up a lot of things but considering the average quality of documentaries these days, on balance I found it OK.

[netwolf]

The funniest things was that during the docco my wife asked me would you go to the moon if they asked you. And in less than a second i said yes. Then i was cornered and trapped by the " and leave me here.."

[goober (Doug)]

Originally Posted by netwolf

The funniest things was that during the docco my wife asked me would you go to the moon if they asked you. And in less than a second i said yes. Then i was cornered and trapped by the " and leave me here.."

Be careful what you wish for...

http://www.twistedmojo.com/la.html

[Peter Ward]

Sorry for the cross post...

I turned it off as I thought it was hyped up rubbish.

I had the pleasure of meeting Aldrin and Alan Shepard (Apollo 14) and
Dave Scott and Jim Irwin (Apollo 15). even got a few autographs

http://www.atscope.com.au/BRO/images/astro_sigs.pdf

I spoke one on one with Alan Shepard for about 4 hours straight...wait for it..
back in 1988....

as he was being flown out for the Bi-Centennial Airshow (in the days when we could still allow flight deck visits.) and got a good insight from Alan on what the mission(s) involved, along with the earlier Mercury/Gemini programs (well, from a "piloting" point of view at least)

But I digress...

Sure there were risks, but they were blown out of all proportion in
what I though was a very shabby doco.

Cheers
Peter

[CoombellKid]

I watched the doco, regardless of whether it was beaten up or not.
I couldn't help but think what an awesomely great adventure it would
of been for those guys. Just imagine sitting in a tin can orbiting the
moon.

regards,CS

[madtuna (Steve)]

ha! for a while I was starting to think I was the only one who enjoyed it.
I thought some of the footage was awesome, but then I'm also sitting up night after night watching NASA tv.

This morning I watched one of the guys spend about 3 minutes trying to push a simple plug home into its socket.
Zero gravity and those gloves make some of the simplest of tasks extraordinary challenges, so I could understand how a simple broken toggle switch could be a cause for extreme concern.

What they did with the technology of the day is in my mind simply amazing.
And like the fish that got away, if it was me floating about up there I'd beat it the hell up too

[Omaroo (Chris Malikoff)]

Originally Posted by madtuna

This morning I watched one of the guys spend about 3 minutes trying to push a simple plug home into its socket.
Zero gravity and those gloves make some of the simplest of tasks extraordinary challenges, so I could understand how a simple broken toggle switch could be a cause for extreme concern.

Ah yes Steve.... but in the LM they have an atmosphere and gravity. They could fix anything suitless. If it were outside, then that might be a tad more difficult.

[madtuna (Steve)]

tah for the clarifacation mate..shows what I know..I was unaware the lander had an atmosphere.
and I should have paid more attention to see if they were wearing suits or not lol

[norm]

The Untold Story" - when I heard the narrators' voice my expectations went out the window - "oh no, not him".

Yeah thought the same Chris. It was a tad melodramatic. Pretty sure they used footage from other Apollo missions as well.

If Neil Armstrong had of made an appearance, or Collins that would have redeemed itself. 5/10

I had the pleasure of meeting Aldrin and Alan Shepard (Apollo 14) and Dave Scott and Jim Irwin (Apollo 15).

Now that would have been awesome. They're a dying breed and its a shame we don't hear more of them thru' documentries.

I still consider the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions the most interesting to watch and read.

[programmer]

I thought it was an entertaining show. I guess if they didn't work on the melodrama it would make for a pretty boring hour. As long as they stick to the facts , let them have a little poetic license. The show mainly reminded me of just how 'impossible' a task they achieved with probably less computing power than your mobile phone. Just a lot of guts, quick thinking and amazing courage, both the guys in the craft and those on the ground. Awe-inspiring stuff.

[Peter Ward]

There are some great shows out there that really give you an idea of the cleverness and dedication given by thousands of individuals in to getting a man on the moon.

Even though it is a drama "From the earth to the moon" (series presented by Tom Hanks) shows much of what was required.

Sure many of the systems used back then, particularly digital ones, were very crude by todays standards, but they worked, and even more importantly the people used them understood how they worked.

I found the hype behind last night's show to be tedious. Makes me wonder how I ever managed to

climb a tree
own a spud gun and slingshot
ride a bike without a helmet
play with fire-works
make model rockets
fly glow plug engined aeroplanes in public parks
go surfing after a cyclone
make "touch powder"
drive on an autobahn at speeds that would see me gaoled in Oz

and still make middle age....

If you think about what could go wrong, you'd never get out of bed & I've gotta say I'm not in favor of "bubble wrapping" society to the point where
pushing the envelope...like going to the moon... is seen as being far too reckless and should have been banned.... sigh...

[ngcles]

Hi All,

Just watched the DVD recorded from this show last night. Great footage, but I agree with those that have commented that the presentation of the "story" was alarmist rubbish.


Best,

Les D
Contributing Editor
AS&T