Saturn V liftoff

[kwack23]

get rid of that music

[DumbYankies]

@kwack23 Music comes from the original UK TV series "Space Race" that this clip comes from.

[EricKZhang]

the dramatic music makes it seem as if it were a nuke missile launch = =

[andreinfinite]

If you look closely at 0.11, you can see tiny fragments of 'something' coming off the first stage skin.

What is it? Maybe the cooled inner pressure tanks made some ice form on the skin prior to lift off?

[ugowar]

@andreinfinite Yes. The liquid oxygen (LOX) tank on the first stage was uninsulated so ice formed from the humidity in the air. You can see that with today's rockets as well.

[andreinfinite]

@ugowar Thank you!

[CrowServo3000]

damn that thing moves

[wyleehokie]

Damn skippy "stuntmanmike37".

I was curious and looked up some numbers. The WW2 Fletcher Class Destroyer was right about as long as the Saturn V was tall. Weight for the Fletcher - 2,500 tons loaded; Saturn V - 3,000+ loaded.

So imagine making a destroyer go 0 mph - whatever the Saturn V was doing as it went out of camera!!!!

[DumbYankies]

@wyleehokie 110 meters tall, about the size of a 33 story building, weighing 3000+ tons. Accelerating its own length straight up in under 13 seconds.

[wyleehokie]

@DumbYankies

Amen to that. And it occured to me to look at the video again.  She doesn't start to actually lift off till right about 0:03 and passes the camera just after 0:12. So we're talking 360 feet of rocket clearing out in right at 9 seconds!!!

That is freakin' moving.

[wyleehokie]

@DumbYankies

Ran some numbers. Hopefully got them right to figure horsepower.

Using mass (kg) x 9.8 m/sec (gravity) x 109 meters (rough height of the tower) / 9 seconds (time to clear tower)

I get 485,183 horsepower

Granted that is rough, since she is actually getting lighter as the engines burn off fuel.

But what the heck, it give a good feeling for the power there.

[DumbYankies]

@wyleehokie actually it could be 10 or 11 seconds to clear the tower. I think the camera position is facing the top of the escape tower. If you look at a picture of apollo on the pad from like half a mile away, it appears there is about 50ft or more of service tower above the top of the rocket. Im guessing this is for some sort of on pad crade, or lightning conductor, or they just built the thing taller in case they built the Sat V stretch (with f1-a's) or the Nova...

[MightySaturn5]

@wyleehokie I believe the combined F-1 engine cluster is rated somewhere between 160 and 170 million horsepower

[wyleehokie]

@DumbYankies

oops

Mass of 3.045454 million kilograms at ignition

[CrowServo3000]

every time i watch a launch or footage or on tv, i always watch in awe to be witness to a species building something so powerful, its always amazing to see

[stuntmanmike37]

Holy shit. That thing accelerates like a motherfucker.

[ugowar]

Yep. It's not as slow-moving as distant cameras give appearance of just because it's a *huge* rocket. It's a 36 story skyscraper lifting off.

[tapelegs]

@ugowar On top of that, saturn v is accelerating at it's slowest in this footage. The acceleration increases dramatically as the vehicle burns fuel (and weighs less and less as a result)

[RJY4356]

@stuntmanmike37 Many of the astronauts report they were very surprised by how powerful it was and how fast it got going.  They also say they were scared to death of how much shaking and vibration there was because they thought it was about to come apart at any moment.

[DumbYankies]

@RJY4356 I heard one line it was the closest thing to being in side a paint can in the mixing machine at the hardware store. Ive NEVER seen an in cockpit apollo launch video, I dont think one was ever made, even with old 16mm. I think it would have looked incredible though.

[RJY4356]

@DumbYankies Hi! There was in-cabin live TV video only 1 time..of the Apollo capsule in the Apollo-Soyuz alunch of July 1975 but it doesn't show much and is kind of dark...doesn't reflect the motion or vibration.

[DumbYankies]

@RJY4356 I found it. Its actually pretty darned good for the time, an appears to be real time. They did a split screen diagonally with crew in one half and ground track of rocket in the other. The best bit is once first stage is gone the jettison the escape tower and suddenly light floods in through the windows (which are SUPPRISINGLY LARGE) because the boost protective cover has now been pulled clear. And there doesnt appear to be heavy G's for most of it.

[Moeter28]

@stuntmanmike37

the dumbest yet funniest post i've read in a long time. But its true the acceleration is insane, sheer power at duty right there

[mathieuplaneur]

very nice, where did you get this film?

[ugowar]

BBC documentary (well, more like dramatizations), I think it's called "Space Race".

[pobinr]

The loudest most awsome sound of the most powerful machine made. What do we hear ?

Not that... just stupid music instead. Grow up whoever's trying top be arty. It's boring & ridiculous.

[ugowar]

It's from a frigging documentary, wise-ass. If you expect any real sound could even *remotely* convey the loudness of the thing, it's you who's being ridiculous. I suggest you go watch some other overdubbed footage instead, I didn't post this one for the audio, but visuals instead.

[Roncace]

I think this launch of the saturn 5 was either apollo 4 or 5

[ugowar]

It's Apollo 6, the only launch where the Service Module was painted white, unlike the silver appearance of all the other launches.

[DumbYankies]

@ugowar agreed. Apollo 4 had a silver SM and all the later ones had silver

[sarnieken]

Never tire of watching that. So much power, its an awsome site.

[MichaelSenter]

oyyy yes

[smokerpain]

wow!!! one of the most develop country... the blast is really great!!!

[anilomd]

Every time I see "UNITED STATES" AND "USA" on the side of that rocket I feel so proud.

[RJY4356]

That is Apollo 6, the second of 2 unmanned tests of the Saturn V from the morning of April 4, 1968-- same day as the Martin Luther King assassination, just coincidentally.

[laserfloyd]

really shows how that thing moves after it's let go.

[getoffmybozack]

the music ruins it, but cool footage, where'd you find it?

[ugowar]

It's from BBCs "Space Race" series.