Remembering "The Greatest Adventure: The Story of Man's Voyage to the Moon", first ever aired as part of PBS' Festival Nights '81 Pledge Drive (Sat. March 7 through Sun. March 22, 1981) for PBS stations across the country including my local station KPBS San Diego, Circa Thursday March 19th, 1981, Expect The Unexpected!!
The one thing that Steve Sabol was extremely good at, was producing classic NFL highlights of team seasons, Super Bowl championships and historical biographies of famous coaches and players, all accompanied by the legendary, narrative voices of the late JOHN FACENDA and HARRY KALAS. It is quite evident, that mr. Sabol did not know anything about mankind's greatest and most glorious adventure, of the 20th Century due to the fact that he never took science courses in school. Realizing the many erroneous mistakes that were added to the film, once the finished product was completed, he personally took the wrath of various space fanatics, who were totally horrified by what they saw in the movie. After seeing the documentary himself, Steve Sabol came to the conclusion that he should have never agreed to produce a film of such historical significance to begin with, in the first place.
I am very happy that Steve Sabol, continued to produce outstanding highlights of teams and games for NFL FILMS, because after the dreadful experience he had with THE GREATEST ADVENTURE, Steve bowed that he would never again produce a NASA space film for the company, which is exactly what he did.
@george vila Indeed - but what producer these days is going to pay attention to a bunch of white straight military men doing incredible things with guts and a slide-rule...
@george vila ...and I will dig out my digital recording for the summer. I also have a cherished documentary covering the Yeager / Crossfield years, which is similarly well done. A different angle but The Space Movie is well worth a look too.
Heh, here in Canada, I open-air recorded it on my tape recorder in the fall of 1980 from a presentation on WNED in Buffalo. I must have listened to that tape falling asleep 500 times over the next several years. It was my lull-a-bye. My assurance that science was real, in command, and that things would be alright.
I have look for years for this Jewel I love this, only watch it one time as a kid in 1984 and never have forgoten it as I did not hade a vhs recorder at the time. Now my life is compleat. Thank God and you for posting.
Jose Hernandez : Thank you very much. So glad you are enjoying it, but i am not the one who posted the movie here on this channel. Someone named loneprimate, actually did it. This is your chance NOW to download this movie, and keep it permanently with the rest of your files. It is simple and very easy to do.
bigbuckeye76 : I am glad that you are enjoying it now, on this channel. If you like to own a copy for yourself, all you gotta do is to simply download it.
bigbuckeye76 : Go directly to the website convertinmp4.com. On the white squared space were it says Enter Your UA-cam Link Here, you type www.youtube.com/watch?v= jaZeSzMkvUc. Then were it is marked Download MP4, click on it, and the film is downloaded automatically. Make a file, were to store the film permanently so that you can always enjoy it, like me.
On the Star Trek episode '' Assignment Earth, '' broadcasted on March 28, 1968, the launch sequence of the Saturn V rocket used in that episode, is an authentic NASA footage from the unmanned flight of APOLLO-4, flown on November 9, 1967.
Besides THE GREATEST ADVENTURE, Apollo-14 astronaut ED MITCHELL was a guest on the award-winning documentary, THE MAN WHO SAW TOMORROW, about the amazing prophesies of NOSTRADAMUS, also narrated by ORSON WELLES and released through Warner Brothers in 1981.
Thank you for posting this. I probably watched it a thousand times as a kid in the early 1980s. Hadn't seen it for 35 years, but couldn't find it anywhere until now.
Paid a dollar for the VHS version at a Garage Sale. It's fantastic. They did do some edits, however. They never waved the flags until they came back to Earth
It's clear that this film holds a special place in the hearts of others - I thought I was the only one who would remember it. I made significant attempts to track down the the themes used throughout and knew Sam Spence worked on the NFL stuff but I still haven't placed it. Seems to did what Bill Conti did for The Right Stuff and simply used a Russian classical composition to provide the melody. Conti basically won an oscar by arranging Tchaikovsky!
@george vila I bought a CD a long time ago titled The Power and the Glory - Original music and voices of NHL films but I do not recall the same music. Maybe it's a different CD I need George?
@george vila Turns out - it isn't. Been through all 36 tracks and no correspondence between TGA music and that on the CD. Hope it's available somewhere.
Well... been through over 200 NFL tracks online now and not a bar of TGA anywhere. Then, simply searched on "TGA" as a title. Needs editing and I wonder, given the title, which came first in the mind of SS - TGA I believe. So, I now have the majority of the music cues but one or two still elude me - particularly the EVA accompaniment at 21 mins.
@@anthonyat2401 The music from the film is "In The Steps Of Central Asia" by composer Borodin. Deutsche Grammophon has a CD recording of it, but it may not be the actual version used in the film
@@mistermac56 I know Borodin's music well, thanks - so of course I noticed the inspiration. It's augmented and re-arranged very well. I have also now located all the tracks from the documentary.
I really would like very much, to see this truly outstanding documentary be released on home video dvd, very soon. I hope that a company like WARNER HOME VIDEO, whom in the past has produced the legendary SUPER BOWL highlights from NFL FILMS, would finally produce THE GREATEST ADVENTURE for the very first time on dvd and blue ray formats. It will surely make many fanatical space fans like myself, very happy indeed.
PatchesRips : This is why many space fans like myself, are feeling extremely happy that this truly outstanding documentary, has finally been posted here on UA-cam.
Besides Apollo-14 astronauts Shepard and Mitchell, the ceremony of planting the American flag on the Moon, as seen in the film, was also carried out by Apollo-17 astronauts Gene Cernan, and Harrison ''Jack '' Schmitt.
There were actually 2 official commemorative plaques, that NASA personally designed for the Apollo Moon Landing program. The one for APOLLO-11, bearred this famous inscription : '' HERE MEN FROM THE PLANET EARTH, FIRST SET FOOT UPON THE MOON. JULY' 1969 A.D. WE CAME IN PEACE FOR ALL MANKIND.'' For Apollo-17, the final Moon Landing of the Apollo Program, the plaque itself contained this very moving inscription : '' HERE MEN COMPLETED HIS FIRST EXPEDITIONS OF THE MOON. DECEMBER' 1972 A.D. MAY THE SPIRIT OF PEACE IN WHICH WE CAME, BE REFLECTED IN THE LIVES OF ALL MANKIND.''
The first actual launch of the mighty SATURN V vehicle, the monstrous American rocket that took our Apollo astronauts safely to the Moon and back, took place at precisely 7:00 AM. E-D-T. on November 9th, 1967, designated as APOLLO-4.
PatchesRips : Sorry to disappoint you, buddy but you did not put up '' THE GREATEST ADVENTURE, '' because i have just checked your channel and the film does not appear in it . A guy by the name of LONEPRIMATE, posted the movie here on this website. I guess you might have been somehow confused, but that's ok. Everybody makes mistakes, including myself sometimes.
Thanx so much for uploading this. I hadn't seen it since the late 80's. The theme music is really beautiful. I was just wondering whether it was originally written by Spence for the NFL and re-used here or vice versa.
Yisrael Saperstein : The music itself, was originally written for the official NFL highlight films, including the Super Bowl. Steve Sabol, head of NFL FILMS, re-used the music for this documentary, after the management of NASA, made a personal request to him.
Yisrael Saperstein : I am sorry, but i did not uploaded this fine movie. A person who goes by the name of loneprimate, actually posted it here on this channel.
These were the actual call-signs of the capsules used by the ORIGINAL 7, during Project Mercury from 1961 to 1963 : FREEDOM -7. LIBERTY BELL - 7. FRIENDSHIP - 7. DELTA - 7. * AURORA - 7. SIGMA - 7 and FAITH - 7. * This was going to be the official called sign of Deke Slayton's Mercury Capsule which was scheduled to fly on the second manned orbital flight, following John Glenn's pioneering 3-orbit ride, in February' 1962.
The first time that a backup crew was used on a manned space flight, occurred in Gemini-9 when its original crew, comprised of Astronauts Elliot See and Charles Bassett, died in the plane crash of their NASA T-38 aircraft, on February 28, 1966. Tom Stafford and Gene Cernan, were eventually assigned as prime crew members for their mission designated as Gemini-9A, exactly 2 weeks later.
Cosmonaut Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin, the world's first human being to fly in space, achieving a single orbit aboard his spacecraft VOSTOK-1, launched on April 12, 1961, died in the crash of his Mig - 15UTI training aircraft on March 27, 1968.
The world's first artificial Earth satellite in history, SPUTNIK-1, took to the skies on October 4, 1957, signalling to the world the birth of the SPACE AGE. America's first satellite, EXPLORER-1, was launched by a JUPITER-C missile across the night skies of Cape Canaveral, exactly 3 months later on January 31, 1958.
The launch sequence of the SATURN V ROCKET, shown in the highly-controversial 1978 conspiracy film, CAPRICORN ONE, is from the mission of APOLLO-16, launched from Kennedy Space Centre, on Sunday April 16, 1972.
'' By the dawn of the 20th Century, planet Earth has surrendered most of its secrets. Man had taken the measure of his world. He had explored all available earthly frontiers. And so, Man turned his attention TOWARDS THE STARS. ''
2019 will mark the 50th anniversary of mankind's most glorious achievement of the 20th Century : MAN'S FIRST WALK ON THE MOON. I just hope that by then, this fantastic film would have finally made its way into home video dvd, for the very first time ever.
'' EX LUNA, SCIENTIA,'' is the latin phrase for '' FROM THE MOON, KNOWLEDGE,'' inscribed on the official mission emblem of Apollo-13 which like the logo of Apollo-11, did not showed the crew members names in it.
@@Ruda-n4h : It could have been a whole lot better, had Steve Sabol not made so many erroneous mistakes, during the production of this classic documentary.
Does anyone know the name of the piece of music playing at the very beginning while Orson Welles is narrating "By the dawn of the 20th century..."??? I have been trying to find the name of this composition. It says all music is composed by Sam Spence but I have scoured all compositions by Spence and this does not seem to be one of his.
Rian Logan : I believe the title of the song is, OLYMPIC CHAMPION by Sam Spence. It is heard at the beginning of the official NFL Films highlight of SUPER BOWL XIV titled : AN INVITATION TO IMMORTALITY, released in January, 1981.
'' Oh how i have swept the surly bonds of Earth, and danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings, i've chased the wind with tumbling mirth. High, high above a ball of burning blue, i've topped the windswept heights, with easy grace, where never lark or even eagle flew. And while with silent, lifting mind, i've trod the high untrespassed sanctity of SPACE. Put out my hand, and touched the face of GOD.'' High Flight. 1941.
The ORIGINAL 7 astronauts of Project Mercury, were inspired by a fictitious astronaut named Jose Jimenez, performed at the time by well-known comedian, Bill Dana. The Tracy Family, featured on Gerry Anderson's SUPERMARIONATION classic british Tv series, THE THUNDERBIRDS, featuring the fantastic exploits of INTERNATIONAL RESCUE, was also inspired by the Original Seven since the first name of each Tracy son, was christened after one of the Mercury Astronauts. Because Jeff Tracy, the head of International Rescue only had 5 sons instead of 7, the names Deke and Wally were not used in the series.
Unlike american journalists, soviet reporters are actually permitted to enter the perimeter of the launch complex and interview their cosmonauts, prior to boarding the spacecraft. In the film '' THE GREATEST ADVENTURE ,'' local soviet journalists are actually interviewing cosmonauts Alexei Leonov and Valeri Kubasov, at the launch pad, prior to boarding the SOYUZ-19 rocket, for the joint mission with the Apollo-18 capsule, in July' 1975.
America's Spaceport located off the coast of Florida, next to the Atlantic Ocean, carried the name CAPE KENNEDY from 1963 to 1973. However, the title : Kennedy Space Centre, still remains intact to this day. It has recently been announced that COMPLEX 39-A on Merritt Island, the legendary launch pad used for the historic lift-off of APOLLO-11 in July' 1969, has been permanently preserved by the United States Government as a National Historical Site.
Other mistakes, which are also noticeable on '' THE GREATEST ADVENTURE :'' The ignition sound of the twin liquid-fueled engines from the GEMINI-TITAN II launch vehicle, during the segment covering Alan Shepard's FREEDOM-7 Mercury flight, and the separation of the TITAN II's second stage, during the flight sequence of APOLLO-11. Image of the LM's ascent stage, spinning around in lunar orbit while viewers listen to the familiar voice of Mission Control's Flight Director GENE KRANTZ, ordering Apollo 11 astronauts ARMSTRONG and ALDRIN to begin the powered descent igniciation to the lunar surface. The actual moon landing sequence, filmed from a motion picture camera mounted inside the front window of the LM, comes from APOLLO-14. Shots of MISSION CONTROL, celebrating the SAFE RETURN OF APOLLO-11, on JULY 24. There was no CELEBRATION or flags waving in the Control Centre when EAGLE landed on the moon, JULY 20, 1969. The words '' THEY MADE IT,'' scrolled across an electronic headline bar from a building in New York City, is from APOLLO-13 informing the world that the crew made a safe, perfect splashdown in the Pacific. That scene is taken from the official NASA documentary, ''HOUSTON, WE'VE GOT A PROBLEM.'' Controllers from their consoles in HOUSTON, watching the televised images of APOLLO 15 astronauts DAVE SCOTT and JIM IRWIN, boarding the Lunar Module, code-named FALCON, as they prepare for lift-off and finally the scene, showing the AMERICAN FLAG waving, caused by the exhaust engine of the LM's ascent stage during the lunar launch of APOLLO-14. But perhaps the most beautiful moment of all, is the EMOTIONAL, MOVING quote from ARISTOTLE, which appears at the end of the film itself. It clearly reads : '' OF ALL THE WONDERS OF THE UNIVERSE, THE GREATEST IS MAN ! ''
PatchesRips : It was a shame that VCR's did not exist at the time in 1980. Otherwise, it would have been far more better to video tape it, than recording the film on audio cassette.
PatchesRips : If you like, here is your chance to download the film and keep it permanently in one of your computer files. It is simple and very easy to do.
For those who are interested or even curious, ORSON WELLES also narrated an outstanding documentary called, THE MAN WHO SAW TOMORROW about the amazing prophesies of NOSTRADAMUS , produced by Warner Brothers in January' 1981.
Another very serious glitch of epical proportions, which occured in the film, was the fact that according to Orson Welles, the Space Race between the U.S.A. and the U.S.S.R. ended with the deaths of Soviet cosmonauts, Georgy Dobrovolsky, Vladislav Volkov and Viktor Patsayev. The 3 men crew of SOYUZ-11, who perished by asphyxiation due to loss of oxygen, prior to re-entry on June 30th, 1971, after spending a record 22 days aboard the world's largest orbiting space station at the time, SALYUT-1. Real connoisseurs of the Space Program like myself for example, know full well that the Space Race officially ENDED at precisely 10:56 PM. E-S-T, on Sunday night JULY 20TH, 1969, when APOLLO-11 Commander NEIL ARMSTRONG, made history's FIRST EVER WALK ON THE MOON. The United States, eventually emerged triumphant as a result of the successful mission of APOLLO-11.
THE GREATEST ADVENTURE, was officially released for the first time on VHS home video in July' 1979, to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the glorious Apollo-11 moon landing.
Remembering "The Greatest Adventure: The Story of Man's Voyage to the Moon", first ever aired as part of PBS' Festival Nights '81 Pledge Drive (Sat. March 7 through Sun. March 22, 1981) for PBS stations across the country including my local station KPBS San Diego, Circa Thursday March 19th, 1981, Expect The Unexpected!!
My favorite Documentary ...thank you
I'm so glad you found it, and so privileged that I provided it.
The one thing that Steve Sabol was extremely good at, was producing
classic NFL highlights of team seasons, Super Bowl championships and
historical biographies of famous coaches and players, all accompanied by
the legendary, narrative voices of the late JOHN FACENDA and HARRY KALAS.
It is quite evident, that mr. Sabol did not know anything about mankind's
greatest and most glorious adventure, of the 20th Century due to the fact
that he never took science courses in school.
Realizing the many erroneous mistakes that were added to the film, once
the finished product was completed, he personally took the wrath of
various space fanatics, who were totally horrified by what they saw in
the movie. After seeing the documentary himself, Steve Sabol came to
the conclusion that he should have never agreed to produce a film of
such historical significance to begin with, in the first place.
I am very happy that Steve Sabol, continued to produce outstanding
highlights of teams and games for NFL FILMS, because after the dreadful
experience he had with THE GREATEST ADVENTURE, Steve bowed that he
would never again produce a NASA space film for the company, which is
exactly what he did.
Saw this 30 years ago, ignited an interest in the Apollo program I still have today!
george vila unfortunately a 30 year old vhs tape hasn’t aged the best 😩
Had it on VHS from when it was first aired (in the UK). Truly wonderful.
@george vila Indeed - but what producer these days is going to pay attention to a bunch of white straight military men doing incredible things with guts and a slide-rule...
@george vila Well, here's hoping. In the meantime, I think I made a recording direct to digital a while back too.
@george vila ...and I will dig out my digital recording for the summer. I also have a cherished documentary covering the Yeager / Crossfield years, which is similarly well done. A different angle but The Space Movie is well worth a look too.
Heh, here in Canada, I open-air recorded it on my tape recorder in the fall of 1980 from a presentation on WNED in Buffalo. I must have listened to that tape falling asleep 500 times over the next several years. It was my lull-a-bye. My assurance that science was real, in command, and that things would be alright.
The Narration is none other than Orson Welles I remember seeing this when I was younger
I have look for years for this Jewel I love this, only watch it one time as a kid in 1984 and never have forgoten it as I did not hade a vhs recorder at the time. Now my life is compleat. Thank God and you for posting.
Jose Hernandez : Thank you very much. So glad you are enjoying it, but i am not the one who posted the movie here on this channel. Someone named loneprimate, actually did it.
This is your chance NOW to download this movie, and keep it permanently with the rest of your files. It is simple and very easy to do.
Thank you so much for uploading this. I saw this when I was a kid and can not wait to share with my 11 year old.
I have been looking for this for YEARS. I loved this when I was a kid!
bigbuckeye76 : I am glad that you are enjoying it now, on this channel.
If you like to own a copy for yourself, all you gotta do is to simply download it.
Thank you, how do I download it?
bigbuckeye76 : Go directly to the website convertinmp4.com.
On the white squared space were it says Enter Your UA-cam Link Here, you type www.youtube.com/watch?v= jaZeSzMkvUc.
Then were it is marked Download MP4, click on it, and the film is downloaded automatically. Make a file, were to store the film
permanently so that you can always enjoy it, like me.
On the Star Trek episode '' Assignment Earth, '' broadcasted on March 28, 1968, the launch sequence of the Saturn V rocket used in that episode, is an authentic NASA footage from the unmanned flight of APOLLO-4, flown on November 9, 1967.
Besides THE GREATEST ADVENTURE, Apollo-14 astronaut ED MITCHELL was a guest on the award-winning documentary, THE MAN WHO SAW TOMORROW, about the amazing prophesies of NOSTRADAMUS, also narrated by ORSON WELLES and released through Warner Brothers in 1981.
Thank you for posting this. I probably watched it a thousand times as a kid in the early 1980s. Hadn't seen it for 35 years, but couldn't find it anywhere until now.
@george vila Already done!
Paid a dollar for the VHS version at a Garage Sale. It's fantastic. They did do some edits, however. They never waved the flags until they came back to Earth
It's clear that this film holds a special place in the hearts of others - I thought I was the only one who would remember it. I made significant attempts to track down the the themes used throughout and knew Sam Spence worked on the NFL stuff but I still haven't placed it. Seems to did what Bill Conti did for The Right Stuff and simply used a Russian classical composition to provide the melody. Conti basically won an oscar by arranging Tchaikovsky!
@george vila I bought a CD a long time ago titled The Power and the Glory - Original music and voices of NHL films but I do not recall the same music. Maybe it's a different CD I need George?
@george vila Turns out - it isn't. Been through all 36 tracks and no correspondence between TGA music and that on the CD. Hope it's available somewhere.
Well... been through over 200 NFL tracks online now and not a bar of TGA anywhere. Then, simply searched on "TGA" as a title. Needs editing and I wonder, given the title, which came first in the mind of SS - TGA I believe. So, I now have the majority of the music cues but one or two still elude me - particularly the EVA accompaniment at 21 mins.
@@anthonyat2401 The music from the film is "In The Steps Of Central Asia" by composer Borodin. Deutsche Grammophon has a CD recording of it, but it may not be the actual version used in the film
@@mistermac56 I know Borodin's music well, thanks - so of course I noticed the inspiration. It's augmented and re-arranged very well. I have also now located all the tracks from the documentary.
I really would like very much, to see this truly outstanding documentary be released on home video dvd, very soon. I hope that a company like WARNER HOME VIDEO, whom in the past has produced the legendary SUPER BOWL highlights from NFL FILMS, would finally produce THE GREATEST ADVENTURE for the very first time on dvd and blue ray formats. It will surely make many fanatical space fans like myself, very happy indeed.
PatchesRips : This is why many space fans like myself, are feeling extremely happy that this truly outstanding documentary, has finally been posted here on UA-cam.
Besides Apollo-14 astronauts Shepard and Mitchell, the ceremony
of planting the American flag on the Moon, as seen in the film, was also carried out by Apollo-17 astronauts Gene Cernan, and Harrison ''Jack '' Schmitt.
There were actually 2 official commemorative plaques, that NASA
personally designed for the Apollo Moon Landing program.
The one for APOLLO-11, bearred this famous inscription :
'' HERE MEN FROM THE PLANET EARTH, FIRST SET FOOT UPON
THE MOON. JULY' 1969 A.D. WE CAME IN PEACE FOR ALL
MANKIND.''
For Apollo-17, the final Moon Landing of the Apollo Program, the
plaque itself contained this very moving inscription :
'' HERE MEN COMPLETED HIS FIRST EXPEDITIONS OF THE MOON. DECEMBER' 1972 A.D.
MAY THE SPIRIT OF PEACE IN WHICH WE CAME, BE
REFLECTED IN THE LIVES OF ALL MANKIND.''
The first actual launch of the mighty SATURN V vehicle, the monstrous American rocket that took our Apollo astronauts safely to the Moon and back, took place at precisely 7:00 AM. E-D-T. on November 9th, 1967, designated as APOLLO-4.
PatchesRips : Sorry to disappoint you, buddy but you did not put
up '' THE GREATEST ADVENTURE, '' because i have just checked your channel and the film does not appear in it . A guy by the name of LONEPRIMATE, posted the movie here on this website.
I guess you might have been somehow confused, but that's ok.
Everybody makes mistakes, including myself sometimes.
Thanx so much for uploading this. I hadn't seen it since the late 80's.
The theme music is really beautiful. I was just wondering whether it was originally written by Spence for the NFL and re-used here or vice versa.
Yisrael Saperstein : The music itself, was originally written for the official NFL highlight films, including the Super Bowl. Steve Sabol, head of NFL FILMS, re-used the music for this documentary, after the management of NASA, made a personal request to him.
Yisrael Saperstein : I am sorry, but i did not uploaded this fine movie.
A person who goes by the name of loneprimate, actually posted it here
on this channel.
At the time of the release of this documentary in 1979, STEVE SABOL served as both film maker and executive producer of NFL FILMS.
These were the actual call-signs of the capsules used by the ORIGINAL
7, during Project Mercury from 1961 to 1963 :
FREEDOM -7. LIBERTY BELL - 7. FRIENDSHIP - 7. DELTA - 7. *
AURORA - 7. SIGMA - 7 and FAITH - 7.
* This was going to be the official called sign of Deke Slayton's Mercury Capsule which was scheduled to fly on the second manned orbital flight, following John Glenn's pioneering 3-orbit ride, in February' 1962.
The first time that a backup crew was used on a manned space
flight, occurred in Gemini-9 when its original crew, comprised of
Astronauts Elliot See and Charles Bassett, died in the plane crash of their NASA T-38 aircraft, on February 28, 1966.
Tom Stafford and Gene Cernan, were eventually assigned as prime crew members for their mission designated as Gemini-9A, exactly 2 weeks later.
Cosmonaut Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin, the world's first human being to fly in space, achieving a single orbit aboard his spacecraft VOSTOK-1, launched on April 12, 1961, died in the crash of his Mig - 15UTI training aircraft on March 27, 1968.
The world's first artificial Earth satellite in history, SPUTNIK-1, took to the skies on October 4, 1957, signalling to the world the birth of the SPACE AGE.
America's first satellite, EXPLORER-1, was launched by a JUPITER-C missile across the night skies of Cape Canaveral, exactly 3 months later on January 31, 1958.
The launch sequence of the SATURN V ROCKET, shown in the highly-controversial 1978 conspiracy film, CAPRICORN ONE, is from the mission of APOLLO-16, launched from Kennedy Space Centre, on Sunday April 16, 1972.
'' By the dawn of the 20th Century, planet Earth has surrendered most of its secrets.
Man had taken the measure of his world. He had explored all available earthly frontiers. And so, Man turned his attention TOWARDS THE STARS. ''
2019 will mark the 50th anniversary of mankind's most glorious achievement of the 20th Century : MAN'S FIRST WALK ON THE MOON.
I just hope that by then, this fantastic film would have finally made its
way into home video dvd, for the very first time ever.
'' EX LUNA, SCIENTIA,'' is the latin phrase for '' FROM THE MOON,
KNOWLEDGE,'' inscribed on the official mission emblem of Apollo-13 which like the logo of Apollo-11, did not showed the crew members names in it.
@@georgevila2777 A brilliant documentary - the music and Welles' narration just adds to it.
@@Ruda-n4h : It could have been a whole lot better,
had Steve Sabol not made so many erroneous mistakes, during
the production of this classic documentary.
Does anyone know the name of the piece of music playing at the very beginning while Orson Welles is narrating "By the dawn of the 20th century..."??? I have been trying to find the name of this composition. It says all music is composed by Sam Spence but I have scoured all compositions by Spence and this does not seem to be one of his.
Rian Logan : I believe the title of the song is, OLYMPIC CHAMPION
by Sam Spence. It is heard at the beginning of the official NFL
Films highlight of SUPER BOWL XIV titled : AN INVITATION TO
IMMORTALITY, released in January, 1981.
'' Oh how i have swept the surly bonds of Earth,
and danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings,
i've chased the wind with tumbling mirth.
High, high above a ball of burning blue, i've topped the windswept heights,
with easy grace, where never lark or even eagle flew.
And while with silent, lifting mind, i've trod the high untrespassed
sanctity of SPACE. Put out my hand, and touched the face of GOD.''
High Flight. 1941.
At the time of Sputnik-1 in 1967, NACA ran the U.S. Space Program short for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics.
The ORIGINAL 7 astronauts of Project Mercury, were inspired by
a fictitious astronaut named Jose Jimenez, performed at the time by well-known comedian, Bill Dana.
The Tracy Family, featured on Gerry Anderson's SUPERMARIONATION classic british Tv series, THE THUNDERBIRDS, featuring the fantastic exploits of INTERNATIONAL RESCUE, was also inspired by the Original Seven since the first name of each Tracy son, was christened after one of the Mercury Astronauts. Because Jeff Tracy, the head of International Rescue only had 5 sons instead of 7, the names Deke and Wally were not used in the series.
It would have taken exactly, a total of 90 seconds for the hatch to open, and have
the Apollo-1 crew, escape out of that blazing inferno.
Unlike american journalists, soviet reporters are actually permitted to enter the perimeter of the launch complex and interview their cosmonauts, prior to boarding the spacecraft.
In the film '' THE GREATEST ADVENTURE ,'' local soviet journalists are actually interviewing cosmonauts Alexei Leonov and Valeri Kubasov, at the launch pad, prior to boarding the SOYUZ-19 rocket, for the joint mission with the Apollo-18 capsule, in July' 1975.
America's Spaceport located off the coast of Florida, next to the Atlantic Ocean, carried the name CAPE KENNEDY from 1963 to 1973.
However, the title : Kennedy Space Centre, still remains intact to this day.
It has recently been announced that COMPLEX 39-A on Merritt Island, the legendary launch pad used for the historic lift-off of APOLLO-11 in July' 1969, has been permanently preserved by the United States Government as a National Historical Site.
Other mistakes, which are also noticeable on '' THE GREATEST ADVENTURE :'' The ignition sound of the twin liquid-fueled engines from the GEMINI-TITAN II launch vehicle, during the segment covering Alan Shepard's FREEDOM-7 Mercury flight, and the separation of the TITAN II's second stage, during the flight sequence of APOLLO-11.
Image of the LM's ascent stage, spinning around in lunar orbit while viewers listen to the familiar voice of Mission Control's Flight Director GENE KRANTZ, ordering Apollo 11 astronauts ARMSTRONG and ALDRIN to begin the powered
descent igniciation to the lunar surface. The actual moon landing sequence, filmed from a motion picture camera mounted inside the front window of the
LM, comes from APOLLO-14. Shots of MISSION CONTROL, celebrating the SAFE RETURN OF APOLLO-11, on JULY 24. There was no CELEBRATION or flags waving in the Control Centre when EAGLE landed on the moon, JULY 20, 1969.
The words '' THEY MADE IT,'' scrolled across an electronic headline bar from a building in New York City, is from APOLLO-13 informing the world that the crew made a safe, perfect splashdown in the Pacific. That scene is taken from the official NASA documentary, ''HOUSTON, WE'VE GOT A PROBLEM.''
Controllers from their consoles in HOUSTON, watching the televised images of
APOLLO 15 astronauts DAVE SCOTT and JIM IRWIN, boarding the Lunar Module, code-named FALCON, as they prepare for lift-off and finally the scene,
showing the AMERICAN FLAG waving, caused by the exhaust engine of the LM's ascent stage during the lunar launch of APOLLO-14.
But perhaps the most beautiful moment of all, is the EMOTIONAL, MOVING quote from ARISTOTLE, which appears at the end of the film itself. It clearly
reads :
'' OF ALL THE WONDERS OF THE UNIVERSE, THE GREATEST IS MAN ! ''
PatchesRips : It was a shame that VCR's did not exist at the time in 1980. Otherwise, it would have been far more better to video tape it, than recording the film on audio cassette.
PatchesRips : If you like, here is your chance to download the film and keep it permanently in one of your computer files. It is simple and very easy to do.
For those who are interested or even curious, ORSON WELLES also narrated an outstanding documentary called, THE MAN WHO SAW TOMORROW about the amazing prophesies of NOSTRADAMUS , produced by Warner Brothers in January' 1981.
Another very serious glitch of epical proportions, which occured in the film, was the fact that according to Orson Welles, the Space Race between the U.S.A. and the U.S.S.R. ended with the deaths of Soviet cosmonauts, Georgy Dobrovolsky, Vladislav Volkov and Viktor Patsayev. The 3 men crew of SOYUZ-11, who perished by asphyxiation due to loss of oxygen, prior to re-entry on June 30th, 1971, after spending a record 22 days aboard the world's largest orbiting space station at the time, SALYUT-1.
Real connoisseurs of the Space Program like myself for example, know full well that the Space Race officially ENDED at precisely 10:56 PM. E-S-T, on Sunday night JULY 20TH, 1969, when APOLLO-11 Commander NEIL ARMSTRONG, made history's FIRST EVER WALK ON THE MOON.
The United States, eventually emerged triumphant as a result of the successful mission of APOLLO-11.
THE GREATEST ADVENTURE, was officially released for the first time on VHS home video in July' 1979, to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the glorious Apollo-11 moon landing.