The
Moonwalks as seen at
Honeysuckle
Creek
and other unique footage
Click here for a discussion of the DVD contents in detail (not much there yet – a work in progress).
DVD 2.
The Moonwalks as seen at Honeysuckle Creek (launched in Canberra on March 16 2006.)
Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station was one of the three main stations built by NASA to support the lunar phases of the Apollo missions.
It was through Honeysuckle Creek that the world saw Neil Armstrong step onto the Moon in July 1969.
At Honeysuckle’s video console, Senior Video Tech, Ed von Renouard, processed the television coming in from Tranquillity Base before it went out to the world.
On the day of the Apollo 11 Moonwalk, Ed used his Super 8 movie camera to record the activity at the tracking station – as well as TV from the Moon (in real time and also from telemetry and videotape afterwards).
Ed took his camera to Honeysuckle throughout the Apollo missions and also captured Lunar TV during Apollos 16 and 17 and EVA TV during Skylab.
In mid-2005, Ed found his unique record of Apollo and Honeysuckle Creek, and these DVDs are the result.We’ve used two DVDs to minimise video compression so as to maintain the highest possible picture quality. The low contrast of the start of the Apollo 11 TV doesn’t take well to MPEG compression.
The first DVD, covering Ed’s Apollo 11 footage and also the start of the Australian TV broadcast – unseen since 1969 – runs for around 60 minutes. The second DVD, including footage from Apollos 16, 17 and Skylab II, runs for around 40 minutes.
Super 8 film cartridges were only 3 minutes and 20 seconds long – so most of Ed’s sequences are short – but his film is unique and gives a glimpse into life at Honeysuckle Creek at the peak of the Apollo Moon missions.
In hindsight, Ed wishes he’d filmed more – but these Super 8 movies were only ever intended to be personal souvenirs. Ed never dreamt that he would have the only clear video of Armstrong descending the ladder, or possibly the only recording of the backpacks being dumped after the EVA.
Preview
Please right click on this link to download a 5.7MB MPEG4 video file.
Watch a side by side comparison of what the International TV audience saw and what Ed recorded at the video console at Honeysuckle Creek.
(Have trouble playing the MPEG4 file? It’s also available as a Flash movie
– encoded by Mike Dinn.)
Of special interest on these DVDs
Apollo 11
• Neil Armstrong descends the ladder – as it was only seen at the tracking stations. (See the preview above. Ed didn’t catch the first step, but by that stage the worldwide TV broadcast was using the picture Ed was receiving at Honeysuckle.)
• Possibly the only surviving recording of the Apollo 11 PLSS backpacks being dumped after the Moonwalk.
• The start of the Apollo 11 Moonwalk as was broadcast only in Australia. (This has probably never been seen outside Australia until now.)
• An 8 minute segment that explains what happened to the television on the day of the Moonwalk – and why Australians saw the best TV of all. :-)
• A side by side comparison of: the NASA Archive footage, the Honeysuckle Super 8 footage and the start of the EVA as was actually broadcast in Australia.
• See how “the first step” would have looked if the camera hadn’t been mounted on a tilt inside the MESA.
And for more background on the Apollo 11 TV, see this section – and also stills taken of the TV monitors at Honeysuckle.
Other material includes
• A drive from Canberra to Honeysuckle in 1967 or 1968.
• Alan Shepard’s visit to Honeysuckle Creek in 1968.
• Film of the TV monitors at Honeysuckle during Apollos 16 and 17 in 1972 – showing what the raw TV looked like before it was cleaned up (in real time) by Image Transform in California and then sent back to Houston for release to the TV networks. And film of the Honeysuckle Creek troops watching the live TV from the Moon.
• One minute of Apollo 16 TV seen at Honeysuckle and nowhere else (not even Houston!).
• Honeysuckle during Skylab II in 1973. There are shots of the grounds and the 26m antenna in action – inside the Operations Building – and also some (rather poor quality) EVA TV.
• Footage shot at the 35th Anniversary of Apollo 11 lunch held in Canberra on July 21 2004.
How to get it
In Australia it is $AU30 including postage. I can take cheques or money orders (made out to me). Or call me on 02 9682 7613 if you are in Sydney and would like to pick one up. Or, to use credit cards, click on the graphic below.
Outside Australia, it is $US30 – and includes airmail postage.
For either of the above links, if you are not a Paypal member, just click on the ‘Don't have a PayPal account? Click here’ text below the Paypal login section on the linked page.
If you have any trouble getting that to work, just contact me at the e-mail address below.
Both PAL and NTSC versions of the DVDs are available. (PAL is for the UK, Europe, Australia and New Zealand and many other countries. NTSC is used in the Americas and Japan.)
My other contact details are –
Colin Mackellar
9 Ridge Street
Merrylands West NSW 2160
AustraliaPhone 02 9682 7613 (from outside Australia, +61 2 9682 7613 – we are GMT +10 hours).
E-mail:
