
Apollo 11 Launch at 500 Frames per Second - jot
http://www.petapixel.com/2010/04/26/apollo-11-launch-at-500-frames-per-second/
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malbs
I think it's pretty cool that they had cameras capable of recording at 500
frames per second back then. Then again they had enough technology and smart
people to actually put men on the moon, so a 500 fps camera would have been a
walk in the park.

In before any 'the moon-landings were faked' statements, although I would be
surprised by any HN reader saying that unless tongue-in-cheek.

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abstractbill
_I think it's pretty cool that they had cameras capable of recording at 500
frames per second back then._

Harold Edgerton was doing amazing things with high-speed photography around
the same time, inventing camera and flash technology that allowed for faster
and faster exposures. Do check out his work if you've never seen it before.

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MaMa
He also invented the Rapatronic camera that was used to take pictures of
nuclear explosions with 10 nanosecond exposure times.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapatronic_camera>
[http://www.simplethinking.com/home/rapatronic_photographs.ht...](http://www.simplethinking.com/home/rapatronic_photographs.htm)

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Emore
On a related note, it was refreshing to have a voice-over by a person who's
actually competent. Sometimes it feels like the internet aggregate of videos
is 70% silent/irrelevant music, and 29% average joe commentary.

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rradu
I wish space travel was a bigger priority, specifically for governments since
they seem most capable so far. We've made so many incredible advancements in
the last 20 or 30 years, it'd be awesome to see how spaceships would have
evolved had we put the same amount of effort into developing them.

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arethuza
Spaceships have evolved plenty in the last 30 years - just not manned
spaceships. The sheer number of things in space these days is stunning:

<http://science.nasa.gov/realtime/jtrack/3d/JTrack3D.html>

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aarongough
I always find it incredibly humbling to watch forces like that at play, even
more so when we humans have managed to harness them for our own benefit.

I still get a shiver down my spine every time I hear, and feel, an F22 do a
hot pass (hell even a P51 Mustang!), but something like this would be orders
of magnitude more intense.

I would definitely love to see a launch in person at some point...

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physcab
Its pretty amazing. Even though the shuttle is less intense than the Saturn V
would have been, its still spectacular. We were a good 6-10 miles away and it
felt like someone was blaring a 15" subwoofer close-by. Then you look up into
the sky and it looks as if the sun is rising and you absolutely cannot believe
there are 7 people strapped to the tip of that ball of fire.

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durana
The original source of the video appears to be
<http://www.spacecraftfilms.com/> and they look to have more NASA related
videos at <http://vimeo.com/user1634425/videos>

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towndrunk
All I can say is... cool... very cool... and with 1960's technology too.

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pavel_lishin
Has the technology that gets us from here to there improved significantly
since then?

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towndrunk
Um... computers?

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ugh
But getting to the Moon is still a three day ride (always will be with the
technology we have) and while the Orion capsule might be a bit more spacious
than the Apollo capsule it’s not all that different.

(The Orion capsule won’t fly to the Moon now but it’s the only hardware on the
horizon that would have that capability.)

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madmaze
I would do close to anything to get a first hand view of a rocket launch. The
shear force that is necessary to lift 100tons+ off the ground is a spectacle
in itself.

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techiferous
Check around; there may be launch sites closer to you than you think. I saw a
small rocket launch in Virginia that put a satellite into orbit. However, the
public viewing spot was about 2-3 miles away. It was still awesome.
<http://www.marsspaceport.com/>

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madmaze
thanks ill definitely check it out

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petercooper
Koy-aaaaan-is-qatsi.....

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petercooper
For anyone who missed the reference, a similar (same?) scene was used in
Koyaanisqatsi: <http://www.collectspace.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/004072.html>

