Here we have a more “traditional” film regarding the flight of Apollo 7 – the typical official NASA Film covering the mission in concise detail, and what detail it is.
The launch footage shown in this film is outstanding – an incredible close up of the Saturn IB booster as it lifts off of the pad, and equally top-notch footage of the booster climbing and staging.
We also get some nice footage of the SLA panels of the S-IVB (mentioned in my previous article 50 Years Ago: The Successful Completion Of Apollo 7) and later a clip of the spent stage spinning quite wildly on orbit! Things don’t just sit still up there, atmospheric drag causes a tumbling of most anything, especially something as massive and as relatively oddly shaped as an S-IVB.
The rest of the film goes on to continue covering the mission with some great onboard footage taken during the flight, and gives quite a positive impression on the mission overall, but still not ignoring the complications Mission Control had with the crew.
I love these films. They may be a little dry, but that’s how I like these things – rather direct and to the point.
Enjoy!