Salvage (1979) TV Movie

[MattMason]

Imaginge if one day Mythbusters or someone like that could afford to produce an actual space salvage/history show. My top of the mind things to visit first would be 1965-027A and 1970-103A

Or, "Mythbusters" could work with real-life people to see if the Vulture could be practically made--that is, could someone build a simple vehicle to send themselves to the moon and home again using off-the-shelf stuff? We know it shouldn't be possible. But let's keep dreaming a bit, shall we?

[MattMason]

And the launch.  It looks like they did these shots with the full size mock-up.

Thanks for all of these shots.

They did use the full-size mock up for many things. To make it work, they had a VERY large crane that lifted the vehicle as high as they could, and then zoomed. In fact, I recall someone catching a shadow of the crane during the picnic-razing landing.

[MattMason]

I was just browsing and found a new thread on the use of hydrazine fuel, a real thing.

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=38418.0

It's also known as liquid fluorine, a super oxidizer that would burn with anything except inert gases. It was just too toxic to use safely. The exhaust would leave hydrogen fluorine, which would make hydrofluoric acid on contact! As DMeader said, "EVERYTHING is hypergolic with liquid fluorine!"

http://www.astronautix.com/props/lf2azine.htm

Given the similar "holy crap, no!" reactions to using the film's "monohydrazine" by its characters, it makes you wonder who was the science director/technical advisor for this movie. They may have just used a name that sounded cool and hazardous, or they really knew what the remarkably dangerous fuel/oxidizers were in space history.

[Stan-1967]

I think the magic oxidizer you are looking might be the one affectionately known as FOOF.  ( Dioxygen Diflouride ).

nasty nasty nasty stuff!  Hypergolic with everything.  Especially rocket fuel scientists.

[MattMason]

I think the magic oxidizer you are looking might be the one affectionately known as FOOF.  ( Dioxygen Diflouride ).

nasty nasty nasty stuff!  Hypergolic with everything.  Especially rocket fuel scientists.

Yuck. That stuff, saith the Wikipedia, is so volatile that it has no practical uses at all! It earns its nickname.

Hydrazine, on the other hand, could be workable but it's exhaust makes it only practical in a spaceborne vehicle that will never land or come close to, well, anything, really.

The imagery of that final landing in the park that melts the picnic and melts the picnicker's faces..ow.

[Prober]

I think the magic oxidizer you are looking might be the one affectionately known as FOOF.  ( Dioxygen Diflouride ).

nasty nasty nasty stuff!  Hypergolic with everything.  Especially rocket fuel scientists.

Yuck. That stuff, saith the Wikipedia, is so volatile that it has no practical uses at all! It earns its nickname.

Hydrazine, on the other hand, could be workable but it's exhaust makes it only practical in a spaceborne vehicle that will never land or come close to, well, anything, really.

The imagery of that final landing in the park that melts the picnic and melts the picnicker's faces..ow.

all Hollywood license.....they take a lot of liberties with "facts"
 

[sanman]

I thought this TV show was actually called Salvage One and it starred Andy Griffith (famous for the Andy Griffith  Show and later Mattlock). It also had Joel Higgins (later did Silver Spoons with Ricky Schroeder)




Oh, here's the full movie pilot:

[MattMason]

I thought this TV show was actually called Salvage One and it starred Andy Griffith (famous for the Andy Griffith  Show and later Mattlock). It also had Joel Higgins (later did Silver Spoons with Ricky Schroeder)




Oh, here's the full movie pilot:

The TV series was called "Salvage One." The film was simply, "Salvage."