Apollo 13 Launch


 

A13 launch video

Click the image for a 59 second 7MB MPEG4 video file.

A Westinghouse Color Camera, using the sequential colour system, was used to provide live video of the Apollo 13 launch to the Network Pool. This was the only time a colour camera mounted on the LUT provided live video.

The Network Pool switched to this camera just as the Saturn V raced by – but it didn’t show the scene, moments earlier, when the five F1 engines ignited. It’s possible this complete sequence has never been broadcast.

You can see a bird fly directly over the LES at “ignition sequence start”. It exits the screen on the centre-right.

Video encoded by Colin Mackellar. The picture has been streteched slightly from the original 4:3 format to compensate for the wide-angle lens used.

With grateful thanks to Stan Lebar, Westinghouse Apollo Lunar Camera Program Manager, who supplied the video.

The voice of “Apollo Launch Control” is Chuck Hollingshead.


Stan Lebar letter

Herre’s a letter from Stan Lebar, Westinghouse Apollo Lunar Camera Program Manager, to the author, written in 2009, with some more details on the use of the colour camera.


Back to Apollo 13 main section.