Project Alexandria: a history of spaceflight done in Real Solar System

[Sanic]

2 minutes ago, Felbourn said:

Ah cool. The way you said "is getting" it made me think you were expecting more Gemini flights. During my 1966 episode I summed up ever remaining Gemini flight. There are no more.

Guess I wasn't paying that much attention, as I said before (kind of) I'm not the biggest fan of the Gemeni program. Sorry for the misleading wording 

 

[Felbourn]

3 hours ago, Sanic said:

Guess I wasn't paying that much attention, as I said before (kind of) I'm not the biggest fan of the Gemeni program. Sorry for the misleading wording 

 

Hopefully you will find Apollo and Soyuz more interesting!

[Brainpop14]

On January 4, 2016 at 2:01 PM, Felbourn said:

Hopefully you will find Apollo and Soyuz more interesting!

I know I will Bob! I also wonder if you can do Venera 4. It was the first attempted landing on Venus. Although I won't be too disappointed if you don't, the landing craft was crushed by the atmospheric pressure before it could reach the surface.

[Felbourn]

Venera 4 was not the first attempted landing on Venus. The US and Soviets have both already tried by 1967. Also the pressure would have crushed it at the surface, but it was not designed to reach the surface. The landing process took longer than the battery power it had.

[Brainpop14]

Maybe so, but this one had gotten farther than any Soviet Venus mission so far. If I'm following your series correctly it seems like the Soviets lost contact with all the Missions that they attempted to send to Venus so far. But as far as I can tell they managed to maintain contact with Venera 4 all the way to the attempted landing.

Edited January 8, 2016 by Brainpop14
Misspelling

[Felbourn]

I'm not saying you won't see Venera 4. It still had a significant "Spaceflight First." I was just correcting the claim "It was the first attempted landing on Venus." FYI-The script/plan for an episode is usually done at about the same time that the previous episode is airing on YouTube. So by the time you're watching 1966, the plan for 1967 is already done and filming has started. If you want to remind me about missions, the best time to do it two years ahead. In other words, right now you can petition for 1968 missions, but 1967 is already planned out. Thanks for helping out!

[Sanic]

  1967 hype!

[Brainpop14]

On January 8, 2016 at 10:03 AM, Felbourn said:

If you want to remind me about missions, the best time to do it two years ahead. In other words, right now you can petition for 1968 missions, but 1967 is already planned out. Thanks for helping out!

In that case, I would recommend that you do Soyuz 3, Apollo 6, Apollo 7, and Apollo 8 at least. You can do more if you want.

[Felbourn]

Really close on 1967. It won't be the morning but it might be tomorrow night. Fingers crossed.

[CatastrophicFailure]

7 minutes ago, Felbourn said:

Really close on 1967. It won't be the morning but it might be tomorrow night. Fingers crossed.

Glad to hear it! Have a virtual Guinea pig. 

[Motokid600]

Cant wait Bob. Love your work keep on keepin' on.

[Felbourn]

YouTube complained about some music that sounds NOTHING AT ALL like this song:

So I am now fighting the claim before I release the video.

[davidy12]

4 hours ago, Felbourn said:

YouTube complained about some music that sounds NOTHING AT ALL like this song:

So I am now fighting the claim before I release the video.

Apollo 4: So close, yet so far away.  

 

@Felbourn: Does this mean we have to wait till the 18th for our long awaited Saturn V launch?

Edited January 19, 2016 by davidy12

[Felbourn]

YouTube cleared the infringement claim

 

[davidy12]

YEESSSSSSSSSSSS!!!! Finally here, starting now

[Sampa]

Must...get...back...to...Alexandria!

 

[davidy12]

@Felbourn: There is one error I think I should bring to your attention on Apollo 4. They actually used Block 1 CM and those never flew to the moon. So in all aspects the CM was never ready for moon flights. The SM, I'm not sure, I believe they used a block 1 CM on Apollo 6 and a block 2 SM on the flight. Still, 1968 looks like it's going to be almost exclusively manned. 

 

Also, just curious, are you going to cover Apollo 9-12 1969? 

Edited January 21, 2016 by davidy12

[Felbourn]

I'm not sure what the error is. I know about the CM being one revision behind what flew to the moon. I only said the test was all-up, which it was. I said the CM was functional, which it was. I said it was "almost ready for the moon," which it was.

I'm not sure what I will cover in each video until I get to actually start it. I'm planning 1968 now.

[batman78781]

Wow! The new booster sep looks really cool! Cant wait for ep. 15, these are awesome!

[Felbourn]

This thing is turning out gorgeous...

[Brainpop14]

For 1969 I would recommend that you do Apollo 8, Apollo 10, Apollo 11, Apollo 12, and Mariner 6 and 7. You can do more if you want, but I would really like to see those Mariner Missions, those were the first spacecraft that were launched to Mars in the same launch window.

[Dman979]

@Felbourn, I bring to your consideration:

Kosmos 212 and 213. I know that they were not the first automated docking, but Kosmos 186 and 188 were skipped.

Zond 5. It was the first spacecraft to circle the Moon and return to land on Earth. Looks like you are already doing that.

Soyuz 2 and 3. A failed mission, but an important first in the Soyuz program.

Edited January 25, 2016 by Dman979

[Felbourn]

Have you ever wondered what it looks like when I begin planning a new episode? It's like this... I create a list of everything that seems noteworthy. I research a little more and decide what to skip, what just mention, and what to actually build and fly. It starts with a simple list:

PART 1

=== 1968 ===
January 7, 1968, 06:30:00 UTC
    Surveyor 7 performs the fifth and final U.S. unmanned lunar landing, touching down near the rim of crater Tycho.

January 22, 1968, 22:48:09 UTC
    Saturn IB    SA-204    Apollo 5    22-Jan-1968    37B
    Apollo 5 carries an unmanned lunar module to orbit to verify operation of its propulsion systems.

Saturn V    SA-502    Apollo 6    4-Apr-1968    39A
    Apollo 6 is the second and final qualification flight of the Saturn V.

2 March 1968 18:29 UTC
    The Soviet Union launches Zond 4, a test flight for a manned circumlunar flight using a modified Soyuz capsule.

17 May 1968
    first joint EU satellite, ESRO 2B 

1968 July 25 - . Launch Site: Kourou. Launch Complex: Kourou ALFS. LV Family: Veronique. Launch Vehicle: Veronique 61M. 
    LV Configuration: Veronique 61M 61M/89.
    FU-185 X-ray astronomy mission - . Nation: France. Agency: CNES. 
    Apogee: 185 km (114 mi). Summary: No recovery. FU185 Technology + X-ray astronomy / Stab mission..
    The first rocket is fired from France's Centre Spatial Guyanais near Kourou, Guiana.

15 September 1968 21:42:11 UTC
    The Soviet Zond 5 completes a circumlunar fly-by and returns to Earth, carrying turtles and other biological samples.

The first rockets fired from Japan's Tanegashima Space Center. Date?
1968 September 17 - . 07:10 GMT - . 
    Launch Site: Tanegashima. Launch Complex: Tanegashima T. LV Family: S. Launch Vehicle: SA-II. LV     
    Configuration: SA-II SA-II A9.
    Test mission - . Nation: Japan. Agency: STA. Apogee: 20 km (12 mi).

1968 September 19 - . 01:58 GMT - . 
    Launch Site: Tanegashima. Launch Complex: Tanegashima T. LV Family: Lambda. Launch Vehicle: LS-C. 
    LV Configuration: LS-C-D.
    Test mission - . Nation: Japan. Agency: STA. Apogee: 100 km (60 mi).

1968 September 19 - . 07:01 GMT - . Launch Site: Tanegashima. Launch Complex: Tanegashima T. 
    LV Family: S. Launch Vehicle: NAL-16. LV Configuration: NAL-16 NAL-16H F1.
    Test mission - . Nation: Japan. Agency: STA. Apogee: 100 km (60 mi).NASA begins early studies of space shuttle designs.

Saturn IB    SA-205    Apollo 7    11-Oct-1968    34
    In October, Apollo 7 is the first piloted flight of the Apollo CSM; first American three-man crew.
    first TV of crew from space

October 25, 1968, 09:00 UTC
    soyuz 2
26 October 1968, 08:34:18 UTC
    Soyuz 3 is the first successful piloted flight of the Soyuz spacecraft; rendezvous with unmanned Soyuz 2.

7 Dec 1968
    OAO 1, first space telescope

Saturn V    SA-503    Apollo 8    21-Dec-1968    39A
    In December, Apollo 8 completes a historic mission. 
    First manned launch of a Saturn V, 
    first human crew to leave low Earth orbit, first manned lunar orbit, and first piloted lunar return reentry.

The second step is to plan the sequence and guess how many minutes each segment would take, and then try to trim it down to 30 minutes. If there is way too much cover then I slip into 40 or even 45 minutes, and I always seem to be cutting things. A lot happened in the late 60s. For example, the first automated docking of two craft was skipped because the first NOT automated docking of two craft was already covered. The next milestone there is to transfer crew after docking.

Edited January 25, 2016 by Felbourn

[Motokid600]

I just got a into video editing myself and I've got a new appreciation for what your doing here to say the least. You must be a very patient man. 

That being said I can't wait for more. Hard to believe your already coming up on 1969. 

[Felbourn]

I've been growing my skills for two years now. It gets easier. Keep at it!