Search - Moon Race: The History of Apollo on DVD

Giant Leaps

Ursus Somnolicus | Bearizona, USA | 03/24/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This two DVD set of NASA documentaries focuses on the Project Apollo missions of the late 1960s and early 1970s. This box set combines Moon Race - The History of the Apollo, Vol. 1: The Eagle Has Landed - Apollo4-Apollo11 and Moon Race - The History of the Apollo, Vol. 2: Houston, We Have a Problem - Apollo 12-Soyuz at a price (when this was written) only $1 more than the price of either DVD alone! This is a terrific bargain for anyone interested in space exploration.

Disc 1: Moon Race - The History of the Apollo, Volume 1: The Eagle Has Landed
* The Time of Apollo (Project Apollo overview)
* Apollo 4 (unmanned launch of the gigantic Saturn V rocket)
* Apollo 5 (unmanned launch into earth orbit and flight test of the lunar module)
* Apollo 8: Go for TLI (first manned lunar orbit)
* Apollo 9: Three to Make Ready (first manned test flight of the lunar module)
* Apollo 10: Green Light for Lunar Landing (lunar orbit and test of the operations required for lunar landing)
* Apollo 11: The Eagle Has Landed (first manned lunar landing and exploration)

Disc 2: Moon Race - The History of the Apollo, Volume 2: Houston, We Have a Problem
* Apollo 12: Pinpoint for Science (second lunar landing finds a previously launched unmanned probe)
* Houston, We Have a Problem (Apollo 13's mission of exploration becomes a struggle for survival)
* Apollo 14: Mission to Fra Mauro (lunar landing searches for the oldest rocks ever found)
* Apollo 15: In the Mountains of the Moon (lunar exploration extends its reach using the lunar rover)
* Apollo 16: Nothing So Hidden (an exploration of the lunar highlands)
* On the Shoulders of Giants (Apollo 17, the last and longest lunar landing, brings the first scientist to the moon)
* The Mission of Apollo - Soyuz

This set provides a splendid overview of Project Apollo. It was nice to see the films of the unmanned flight tests. I haven't found these in other collections. (Perhaps documentary films were never made for the other unmanned test flights: Apollo 2 and 3 tested the Saturn IB rocket and Apollo 6, like Apollo 4, tested the Saturn V.)

One glaring omission is the first manned Apollo space flight, Apollo 7. I can't imagine why it was left out. But most of all, any history of the Apollo era is incomplete without discussion of the tragic loss of the Apollo 1 crew in a launch pad fire, and the effect that accident had on the space program.

So while there is room for improvement here, this collection of public domain video preserves the view NASA had of its work at the time. This view of history-in-the-making can often be more revealing than a slickly-produced retrospective."

Good history of Apollo space program

E. Torbert | GA | 10/24/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Good coverage of Apollo space program from preliminary flights through actual landings. Videography is not up to today's standards, but then it is what was available when it was happening."