Disney, Von Braun and the Moon

[rsp1202]

Links to pre-Sputnik Disney TV shows featuring Werner Von Braun and his space station and moon rocket.

http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=f1e25eced5d26c301f68
http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=106c43c99cfae0498998

[brihath]

I remember watching these programs on the Walt Disney Show in the 50's.  They were very well done for their time.  What REALLY takes me back is to see him using a slide rule as a pointer..probably a Keuffel and Esser model...they were among the best!

[Naraht]

Those were the programs that inspired Steve Bales to study aeronautical engineering, and thus eventually to become the Guidance Officer during the Apollo 11 landing.

[SpaceCat]

brihath - 10/11/2007  1:49 PM
What REALLY takes me back is to see him using a slide rule as a pointer..probably a Keuffel and Esser model...they were among the best!

I have a K&E that I inherited from my father which I used all through college.  It may even be an ivory laminate, the way it's yellowed.
Then I went to work on Skylab and everybody was carrying these little 6" aluminum Picketts- which seemed to be state of the art until somebody walked in with a little black box from Texas Instruments.

oops- thread drift.  Well, I can't really remember if it was the Disney/VonBraun shows that got me interested in space.... or Captain Midnight.... or Flash Gordon.

[brihath]

SpaceCat - 12/11/2007  10:18 PM

brihath - 10/11/2007  1:49 PM
What REALLY takes me back is to see him using a slide rule as a pointer..probably a Keuffel and Esser model...they were among the best!

I have a K&E that I inherited from my father which I used all through college.  It may even be an ivory laminate, the way it's yellowed.
Then I went to work on Skylab and everybody was carrying these little 6" aluminum Picketts- which seemed to be state of the art until somebody walked in with a little black box from Texas Instruments.

oops- thread drift.  Well, I can't really remember if it was the Disney/VonBraun shows that got me interested in space.... or Captain Midnight.... or Flash Gordon.

I still have my aluminum Pickett from High School- in my bottom dresser drawer...sentimentality, I guess!

[Rusty_Barton]

Anyone remember Dr. Frank Baxter and Bell Labs School Science films from the late 1950's?

Here are some links to the films and Dr. Frank.

http://www.metroactive.com/papers/sonoma/09.23.99/bellscience-9938.html

http://rncin.com/People%20Archive/People%20of%20Focus4DrFrankBaxterResurrectingAnIcon.html

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0062731/

http://www.amazon.com/Bell-Science-Our-Sun-Telephone/dp/6302043174

http://www.amazon.com/Our-Strange-Case-Cosmic-Rays/dp/B0000AKY5Z

http://www.amazon.com/Hemo-Magnificent-Richard-Carlson/dp/6302182484

http://www.amazon.com/Magnificent-Unchained-Goddess-Richard-Carlson/dp/B0000AKY5V

Here's a sample of one of the films on YouTube:

[zerm]

These same shows were released back in 2004 as a boxed set by Disney called Disney Treasures "Tomorrow Land." They can be found on e-bay right now. It is actually a 6 program set each program running about an hour and the are a TRIP! Mine is almost worn out because my 4 year old daughter will not go to bed without one running on her TV. The shows include Man In Space, Man and The Moon, Mars and Beyond et.al. They're a real hoot!

[rsp1202]

I grew up watching Dr. Frank, and it's where I first became familiar with Richard Carlson, even before Magnetic Monster, Riders to the Stars, and Creature From the Black Lagoon. Interesting to see the series, at least the Global Warming episode, was produced by Frank Capra. Not to take this too far afield, but talk about period pieces: I was able to obtain tapes of most of the episodes of Science Fiction Theater, and now I'm trying to score Man and the Challenge. What a golden age.

Back to topic A: I notice the Von Braun spaceplane featured in my first link is the same as that scripted in his book First Men to the Moon. He did like wings early on.

[zerm]

Intrestingly, the show's orbital spaceplane had delta wings which was a switch from the swept wings depicted in his Collier's  Magazine proposed vehicle. One source says that this was due to an issue with copyright of the magazine's artwork vs the Disney production and it was Willy Ley who suggest the change.

When you watch this series, it is intresting to ponder how much is conjecture on actual things to come, and how much could be dis-information. Remember that this was the era where the Cold War was fairly hot and there was a great deal of paranoia about anything leaking to the Soviets. So it is intresting that von Braun's huge booster used hyper-gol propellants when he was at that same moment launching Redstones and none of his future giant boosters used hyper-gols. Also the launch site is depicted as "an isolated atoll in the Pacific" while at that time his team was busy at their new, and second, launch site at the Cape. Also orbit is detailed as being 1,075 miles high. I'm putting this down as fact or proof of some sort of government conspiracy- it's just fun to ponder. Especially when you have a little daughter wo insists on watching one of these 3 shows EVERY night before bed.

BTW- I read that von Braun was a real night owl- work until dawn and then sleep to the crack of noon type. It is reported that while filming one of these shows, the knocked off around midnight and von Braun suggested that they keep going on the next one- because he did not have anything to do until morning.

[MrTim]

For those interested in this era of scifi and/or 50's-view-of-the-80's, I stumbled across a website for an effort to make a film several years ago and I see that it still exists. Looks like a nice effort, and the trailers are a hoot, but it looks like not a lot has happened:
http://manconquersspace.com/
I hope they can finish it, as I have a tender spot in my noggin for the old Von Braun concepts.  

[rsp1202]

I've had the site bookmarked for quite a while, and you're right; not a lot has happened since first contact. Lots of fun, though.

[joema]

There's a lot of quality images, artwork, and technical info at the "Atomic Rockets" web site: http://www.projectrho.com/rocket/

Anyone who likes the Colliers articles and Disney "Von Braun" TV episodes should check this out.

[LEGO Space]

rsp1202 - 10/11/2007  12:24 PM

Links to pre-Sputnik Disney TV shows featuring Werner Von Braun and his space station and moon rocket.

http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=f1e25eced5d26c301f68
http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=106c43c99cfae0498998

OMG time index 7:21 of the second video has the characteristic Star Trek Red Alert sound! So Star Trek stole it from Disney/Von Braun!

[sfxtd]

LEGO Space - 29/11/2007  2:04 PM
OMG time index 7:21 of the second video has the characteristic Star Trek Red Alert sound! So Star Trek stole it from Disney/Von Braun!

More likely both were taken from the same stock sound effects library.

[Generic Username]

MrTim - 14/11/2007  5:51 PM

For those interested in this era of scifi and/or 50's-view-of-the-80's, I stumbled across a website for an effort to make a film several years ago and I see that it still exists. Looks like a nice effort, and the trailers are a hoot, but it looks like not a lot has happened:
http://manconquersspace.com/

From November 11:

http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/manconquersspace/message/105

 

  Just to let those who are interested know: I finish my full time
  contract work at the end of this week.
 
  Hooray.
 
  Some working double shift for a couple of months (gah! nearly killed me)
  was enough to put cash ahead of me to pay rent, phone, utilities etc for
  a few months in advance, thus freeing me up to work full time and finish
  the MCS preparations for Cannes next year.
 
  The MCS Executive Producers have started the wheels in motion for a
  series of meetings with studios, backers, investors, philanthropists etc
  as of around February next year in the US, providing the preliminary
  foundations for negotiations that take place in May at Cannes in France.
 
  MCS has also just been awarded a 10B tax ruling from the Australian
  Federal Government, meaning Australian investors have provision for tax
  incentives on investments made with MCS. Not that I'm expecting many
  investors from these shores, but it's nice to know it's there if
  necessary.
 
  In an interesting aside, this 10B ruling is the very first support from
  any Australian government body for MCS *ever*, and believe me, I've
  tried.
 
  The materials being put together include the screenplay (completion of
  latest draft set for late January next year), support documents (I refer
  to them as the 'spin' documents); a poster (looks rather natty and
  coming soon to this group for your downloading pleasure); a DVD with the
  nicest material on it; and copies of correspondence demonstrating the
  project's popular appeal (I've received emails from all over the world
  and from some pretty amazing places and people).
 
  Then it's off to the USA and later France (I'm selling some assets to
  pay for that horrifically expensive series of trips) and then the
  long-distance negotiations take place.
 
  We shall see...        
 

[LEGO Space]

sfxtd - 29/11/2007  4:43 PM

More likely both were taken from the same stock sound effects library.

Possible, but until now I thought it was an original creation of Star Trek. There are a lot of sounds that appear in all sorts of different films, tv shows and computer games.

[SciNews]

Man in Space, 1955 is now available on Disney+
https://www.disneyplus.com/movies/man-in-space/409xP2oeAAWC
Includes footage of early US launches

[Vahe231991]

When did Walt Disney first get to know Wernher von Braun?

[davamanra]

Y'know, if we had followed Von Braun's strategy, we could have had a much better space program AND beaten the Soviets in a different game.  We would still have to build a big rocket, but instead of going to the moon, we build a reusable space plane.  Given the NASA budget, we could have built a much better shuttle than we did, and it could be launched on top of a Saturn V first and second stage before the end of the 1960's.  Then we use Von Braun's 1965 wet workshop Space Station design and completely humiliate the Soviets.  We have a space station with an internal volume of 35,000 cu ft and all they can put up is one 1/10 the size.  From there we build a space port in orbit, and we're commuting back and forth to lunar orbit.  We establish a base on the moon while the Soviets are still stuck in LEO.  With this space infrastructure established, Mars would be an easy mission before 1980.

[Jim]

Y'know, if we had followed Von Braun's strategy, we could have had a much better space program AND beaten the Soviets in a different game.  We would still have to build a big rocket, but instead of going to the moon, we build a reusable space plane.  Given the NASA budget, we could have built a much better shuttle than we did, and it could be launched on top of a Saturn V first and second stage before the end of the 1960's.  Then we use Von Braun's 1965 wet workshop Space Station design and completely humiliate the Soviets.  We have a space station with an internal volume of 35,000 cu ft and all they can put up is one 1/10 the size.  From there we build a space port in orbit, and we're commuting back and forth to lunar orbit.  We establish a base on the moon while the Soviets are still stuck in LEO.  With this space infrastructure established, Mars would be an easy mission before 1980.

Wrong on so many points.  You have been posting a lot of nonsense on a lot of threads lately and this one takes the cake.

A.  Von Braun realized the wet workshop was unworkable.
B.  Von Braun didn't want to build a big rocket.  His preferred strategy was EOR.  He wanted to develop LEO first.  He would have  built stations and propellant depots before going to the moon.   
c.  There wouldn't be a big rocket because smaller ones would be used.  He would have used Saturn C-2 and C-3. There would not have been a Saturn V.
d.  The reason why the Saturn V was a dead end because it was built for one reason, to beat the Soviets and Kennedy's goal.