This short 1975 film from Rockwell International’s Space Division gives viewers a look at two of the NASA contractor’s projects in development: the command module for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project and the Space Shuttle Orbiter. The film opens with a spaceship and launch vehicle at a launch pad; the rockets ignite, and the system launches into the atmosphere. Viewers see an animation of the unnumbered Apollo space craft that will link up with the Soviet Soyuz spacecraft in July 1975 (01:03). The mission’s Command Module 111 is suspended in a hangar at the Downey, CA facility. Men work on the Space Division-built docking module that will lock the Apollo craft with the Soyuz craft. Footage shows the Saturn launch vehicle and spacecraft as they sit at a launch pad (02:30). An illustration shows the development of a reusable space shuttle. Men walk past a space shuttle orbiter in a hangar. Another illustration shows the shuttle on two solid-rocket boosters at a launch pad. Illustrations show an orbiter in orbit, with open cargo bay doors as a satellite is placed into orbit (04:28). Members of the European Space Community meet to discuss a future space mission with the U.S. (05:08). In the Downey facility, viewers see a full-scale mockup of the orbiter (06:07), where tests are conducted. The film features several shots of mountains and forests (07:01), before cutting to an aerial view of the company’s Palmdale, CA facility where space shuttle orbiters are assembled. Men work on the mid-fuselage piece of an orbiter, and viewers also see shots of the construction phase of the orbiter’s wings and aft fuselage. The Crew Module section is slowly moved into a work bay at the Downey facility (08:20). An engineer works on the electrical wiring inside an orbiter. Men and women work on wire assemblies in Downey. Several men work on the various computer systems used in the orbiter, including the inertial measuring unit (10:24) and general-purpose computer. Two people sit in a simulated crew module inside the Shuttle Flight Simulation Complex at Downey. An aerial view shows the Kennedy Space Center where the orbiter will land (12:20). Illustrations show Navstar satellites orbiting the Earth. At the Space Division’s Seal Beach facility, Navstar satellites are manufactured (13:40). In Downey, a solar array deployment system of a Navstar (14:24). Rockwell International employees work on the Apollo spacecraft and on other pieces of the various projects, concluding the film. The Apollo–Soyuz Test Project (ASTP), conducted in July 1975, was the first joint U.S.–Soviet space flight, as a symbol of the policy of détente that the two superpowers were pursuing at the time. It involved the docking of an Apollo Command/Service Module and the Soviet Soyuz 19 capsule. The unnumbered Apollo vehicle was left over from the cancelled Apollo program and the last Apollo CSM to fly. This mission ceremoniously marked the end of the Space Race that had begun in 1957 with the Sputnik launch. The mission included both joint and separate scientific experiments, including an engineered eclipse of the Sun by Apollo to allow Soyuz to take photographs of the solar corona. The pre-flight work provided useful engineering experience for future joint US–Russian space flights, such as the Shuttle–Mir Program and the International Space Station. ASTP was the last crewed US space mission until the first Space Shuttle flight in April 1981. The Space Shuttle orbiter is the spaceplane component of the Space Shuttle, a partially reusable orbital spacecraft system that was part of the Space Shuttle program. Operated by NASA, the U.S. space agency, this vehicle could carry astronauts and payloads into low Earth orbit, perform in-space operations, then re-enter the atmosphere and land as a glider, returning its crew and any on-board payload to the Earth. We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example: "01:00:12:00 -- President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference." This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
