"Moonscape" Documentary Sample - Chapter 2 of 13

The duration of the video sample above is approximately 16-minutes and is taken from the almost 3-1/2 hour documentary. We are presenting it as a sample so that you can see an example of the style that was used throughout the documentary. You can see our unique use of enhancements that integrated additional materials into the video to provide expanded clarity.

The chapter presented above (just one of 13 total chapters) is titled "Contact Light" and shows the entire "powered descent" phase of the Moon landing, starting when the data acquisition camera was turned on. The data acquisition camera was mounted in astronaut Buzz Aldrin's window on the left side of the LM and provided an excellent view.

The 16mm data acquisition camera (DAC) was a purpose-built camera made by Maurer. The camera was used primarily to record engineering data and for continuous-sequence terrain photography. Apollo 11 carried two of these cameras, one on the CM and one on the LM. The CM camera had lenses of 5-mm, 10-mm, and 75-mm focal lengths; the LM camera was fitted with an 18-mm wide-angle lens. Accessories included a right-angle mirror, a power cable, and a CM boresight window bracket. To record the powered descent phase of the LM and the Moon landing itself, the camera was set to record 6 frames per second. Since this was film, these images were NOT seen live on Earth during the lunar descent. Instead, Earth audience didn't see these images until the film was returned and processed.

Moonscape End Credits