Spacecraft Films

Special Offer This Weekend Only...

As a kickoff to 4th quarter (and Halloween, and Thanksgiving and the Holidays) this weekend only (through Sunday night) we're offering a 10% discount off your entire order. Just use the discount code 'TEN" when you are checking out and you'll receive the discount. Thank you for your support of Spacecraft Films.

Product Spotlight: "I Love Rockets" Combo...

These three sets have always been some of our most popular, and this combo allows you to pick up all three at a value price... normall $120 separately, this set brings them home for $99.99. 

The 2-DVD Liftoff set features comprehensive material on rocket development (including plenty of failures) from Goddard through the Space Shuttle. Packed with rare material and insightful commentary.

View the Liftoff Preview.

The Saturn V 3-DVD set features an original documentary on the development of the Saturn V, the launch of all 13 Saturn V launch vehicles, rare reports documenting development, rare views from inside the tanks to monitor vehicle performance, and packed with engineering pad camera footage. A spectacular tribute to the Saturn V.

The Saturn 1 & 1B 3-DVD set features an original documentary on the development of the Saturn 1 and the Saturn 1B, extensive footage of development and testing, footage of every Saturn 1 and 1B launch, and an entire disc of pad camera footage from the launch of the Apollo 7 mission.

Together these 8 DVDs provide you with hours of material on U.S. rockets you won't find anywhere else.

Order the I Love Rockets Combo Now.

I've been asked about this a couple of times... so...

What does "SHIP QUE" mean on your order status? When we get a product back into stock we usually have a number of pending orders that have built up for the product while it was out of stock. It takes us time to get all of these out, and in order to send them out in the order they were received we set up a "SHIP QUE" status, go through and place all the orders that have that product in them and the system orders them as received, so we work our way down that list. It means your order has a particular product in it that is being worked as fast as we can, such as 12, 14, 15 and 11. And Mercury. This is why the previous post was about the Challenger sets being up to date... we were able to delete the Challenger "SHIP QUE." The products mentioned are the only products affected by this. We're almost up to date on 12. Oh, Space Shuttle 1-41B is also in a SHIP QUE stage.

Challenger shipping now current...

I'm pleased to report that this week Challenger shipping has been brought up to date, so if you have a Challenger that you haven't been notified as shipped, please let me know so I can track it down for you. Challenger sets are in stock and now available for immediate shipping. We hope to achieve this with Apollo 12 next week. Thanks much!

Product Spotlight: Liftoff: Success and Failure on the Launch Pad

A few years ago while on the phone with a customer discussing possible future topics, I was asked if I had ever considered putting together a disc with a collection of rocket mishaps. I had thought about it before and really hadn't acted on the idea. So the next time I was at the archives I was armed with a listing of some of the more "spectacular" of the rocket "accidents" and found some pretty good stuff. So I decided I'd do a one-disc set of just rockets blowing up. Plans always change.

I started putting the set together and found that alone the set just wasn't what we do. So I added a second disc, consisting of some of the more important rocket "successes" and moved forward with the set. I added a large amount of material I had run across on Robert Goddard, which I had previously had transferred but didn't have a reason to use. And I called up Dave Mohr, who is a propulsion consultant in Florida who has an incredible knowledge of launch vehicles and space history in general. He formerly worked for Rocketdyne and agreed to supply commentary on many of the tracks. The result is one of most popular sets: Liftoff: Success and Failure on the Launch Pad.

The 2-DVD set covers rockets in the U.S. from the Thor and X-17 to Germany's V-1 and V-2, through Vanguard, some sounding rockets, Atlas, Titan, Delta, Saturns and the Shuttle. It is packed with rockets blowing up - yes... and rockets doing precisely what they were intended to do... open up space to man and his machines.

Liftoff is in stock and available for immediate shipment. View Liftoff Preview.

Order Liftoff Now.

Working on the Cape set today...

Finalizing the editing on a shoot of the Cape area... to show how launch facilities look today, or at least over the last several years. We shot this material in HD, and while it will be 16:9 SD on the DVD, we're keeping the bitrate on the encode as high as possible in order to allow you enjoy it as much as possible. Some stills from the footage follow:

Inside the LC 26 blockhouse

Another view...

Pad 5/6 Blockhouse

Mercury Redstone on pad 5...

What's left of the Vanguard site at pad 18...

Pad 12 deteriorating...

Slant silo at LC 21...

Pad 14...

Pad 14...

Launch Complex 19... Gemini...

We expect to be finishing up the Cape set soon, and will be releasing it later this fall...

Product Spotlight: Apollo 1

When we came to the Apollo 1 set I had some difficult choices to make... how to present the overall mission materials, and what to include - or not include.

At the National Archives I discovered that the uncut audio was available and not restricted. I also discovered a large number of the photos of the spacecraft that I had never seen published. None of those photos involved the crew. I resolved to include all the photos, which are on the set. The audio was another question.

When I heard the audio for the first time, there on the 4th floor of the National Archives building in College Park, MD (usually called Archives II), the Apollo 1 tragedy changed forever in my mind. I knew all the fact surrounding the mission, but it was always at a distance - a historical distance. Hearing the astronauts struggle with the fire made it into a palpable human tragedy for me, and that is why I ultimately decided to include the uncut audio on this set.

Also, as I wrote in the DVD insert:

"We included the audio because it is part of the story of Apollo 1 and space flight is a dangerous business. The conquest of space has already cost several human lives, and will doubtless cost more. This cost in precious treasure should be faced directly, and as the mission of Spacecraft Films has been to present the history of space exploration in as real a manner as possible, I felt this recording should be included. Since one cannot "look away from a sound," we have also provided an edited version of this material should you wish to refrain from hearing the short but very disturbing last transmission."

The set contains a short tribute to the Apollo 1 crew, footage from crew visits to North American Aviation and the Marshall center. Suitup, preparation and ingress to an altitude chamber run is included, with a rare audio recording from an Apollo 1 simulation. Press day material of the crew in the simulator and footage from the crew arriving at LC34 on the day of the fire are included. 

We constructed a visual timeline, unique in the conveyance of key happenings during the audio from the spacecraft on the day of the fire. 

The DVD contains press-pool footage of the spacecraft after the fire on LC34, the removal of the CM from the launch vehicle, the removal of the SM from the launch vehicle, CM disassembly, a reel showing an intact block 1 Apollo spacecraft as a reference, and activities of the Apollo 204 review board.

The DVD also contains footage from the memorial services of all three astronauts, plus bonus tracks including Gus Grissom and Alan Shepard getting their astronaut wings and Ed White during a visit to Brooks Air Force base after his Gemini IV flight.

The photos surrounding the mission and the documentation photos of fire damage in the spacecraft round out the set.

If you don't have the Apollo 1 set, it is one of our finest and most comprehensive, loaded with rare material that hasn't been available anywhere else.

Product Spotlight: STS-1 to STS-41-B

Since we've started shipping this set I've been getting a good number of questions about what is in it. We developed the 10 DVD Space Shuttle Mission Series sets as a change from the original way we were handling the shuttle missions, going from the individual missions that we did on STS-26, for example, to these compilation sets in 10 mission increments. Our goal for each mission is to include, at a minimum, a sampling of highlights from the mission as well as the post flight press conference film as narrated by the crew. Most of the missions contain much more than this, but particularly the DOD missions can be limited. 

Here is a good example set, the first, STS-1 to STS-41B:

STS-1 contains a lengthy countdown and launch sequence, television downlink during orbits 2, 7, 9, 17, 18, 21, 23, 25, 34, a compilation of material on entry and landing, as well as chase activities during landing, the NASA film "A Remarkable Flying Machine," a NASA anniversary clip reel, a production on the development of the shuttle, and bonus materials featuring onboard film from the mission. Alone the STS-1 disc is a tremendous value.

John Young and Bob Crippen suiting up prior to the STS-1 mission

STS-1 launch, as seen from the launch tower

 

John Young on orbit on the flight deck during the STS-1 mission

Touchdown of Columbia at the end of the STS-1 mission

STS-2 contains a lengthy countdown and launch sequence, as well as a T-38 chase plane view and SRB retrieval. On-orbit television is included from orbit 2, 4, 17, 19. The NASA film "Space Shuttle Columbia: The Second Flight," is included, along with the post flight press conference film as narrated by the crew and video highlights.

The launch of STS-2

The aft flight deck of Columbia, on orbit during the STS-2 mission

STS-3 contains countdown and launch plus engineering launch views, extensive television from on-orbit including several dumps from the onboard VTR, the post flight press conference reel narrated by the crew, video highlights from the mission and the NASA film "STS-3: One Step Closer."

Television transmission revealing missing tiles on the nose of Columbia during STS-3

STS-4 contains the post flight press conference film as narrated by the crew, video highlights from the mission, extensive television from on-orbit as well as the NASA film "Opening New Frontiers."

On orbit TV showing the coast of Florida (including KSC) from STS-4

STS-5 contains launch, launch from the chase plane, extensive on-orbit television, video highlights, the post flight press conference film narrated by the crew.

Aft flight deck from on orbit TV during the STS-5 mission

STS-6 contains the post flight press conference film narrated by the crew as well as video highlights from the mission.

The crew enters the spacecraft prior to the STS-6 mission

STS-7 contains the post flight press conference as narrated by the crew as well as extensive video highlights from the mission.

On orbit television from the STS-7 mission

STS-8 contains the pre-flight press conference, the post flight press conference film as narrated by the crew as well as video highlights from the mission.

Film from the flight deck of Challenger during entry of the STS-8 mission

STS-9 features the post flight press conference film as narrated by the crew as well as extensive video highlights from the mission.

Crew members enter Spacelab for the first time during the STS-9 mission

STS-41B features the post flight press conference film as well as extensive video highlights from the mission.

Astronaut Bruce McCandless flies free during the STS-41B mission

Since the first 10 missions are now done, we will probably be releasing (and opening for order soon) the third set, STS-51J to STS-28. The reason for this being next is that several of the missions we've already done, Challenger, STS-26, 27, 29, and 30. The 51-L disc in this set will be a one disc version of our Challenger set. Then we will release the second set, STS-41C to STS-51I. After that set is complete we'll move along the timeline.

Here's a quick phone cam pic of the first three sets and their packaging, side by side:

I hope this gives a clear picture as to what you can expect from these large sets. When we get the total missions complete, you'll have an incredible library of the entire space shuttle program.