Apollo Program: Tragedy and Triumph (All Parts)

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Published 2021-07-20
This is the dramatic story of NASA's Apollo Program, beginning with President Kennedy's ambitious deadline for a lunar landing by the end of the decade, in response to Soviet success with Sputnik and cosmonaut Yuri Gargarin. We look at how Werner von Braun, a former rocket scientist of the Third Reich, played a leading role in NASA's planning. After groundbreaking success with the Mercury and Gemini missions, NASA was rocked by the Apollo 1 disaster, in which all three crew members (Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee) were killed in an accidental fire on the launch pad. NASA overhauled its designs and methods to achieve a successful manned launch with Apollo 7. Then came the launch of Apollo 8 aboard the mighty Saturn V rocket - the largest and most powerful rocket ever seen. The mission was a complete success, culminating in the first manned orbit of the moon, and the capture of the legendary 'Earthrise' photograph by astronaut Bill Anders.

NASA's next challenge was to test the world's first true 'spacecraft' - the Lunar Module, as well as identify what risks the moon's unexpected 'mascons' posed to future Apollo missions. But in 1969, everything was in place for the Apollo Program to make history, with the first lunar landing attempt - a mission which would test the skills of crew-members Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins to their limit.

Following the success of Apollo 11, and the fulfilment of Kennedy's goal of landing a man on the Moon, questions hung over the future of the Apollo Program. With declining public interest in Moon missions, and government funding slashed, NASA focused on scientific research. But the final phase of the Program is best remembered for the dramatic near-disaster of Apollo 13, in which the ingenuity of astronauts and Mission Control was pushed to the limit.

This video created for Epic History TV by James Malcolm:
www.jamesmalcolm.work
@JamesEMalcolm

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Thanks to Twitter users TJ Cooney (@TJ_Cooney) & Gavin Price (@pilliarscreatio) for additional research assistance.

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All Comments (21)
  • @EpichistoryTv
    We hope you enjoy this dramatic and information-packed account of humankind's first step beyond Planet Earth. My bet would be that long after the great conflicts and upheavals of the 20th century are forgotten, this will be the moment that is still remembered in a thousand years time! Thanks once again to James Malcolm for his stunning editing, visual design and animation throughout the series. If you would like to support the channel's work, as well as get ad-free early access and help chose future topics, please visit www.patreon.com/EpicHistoryTV
  • @mrmoore2050
    You guys are what the history channel should be.
  • @hyypersonic
    This entire series was incredible, but what stood out to me the most was the graphics. The production quality you guys put into this is nothing short of phenomenal. This is one of youtube's greatest channels right here.
  • @holyrolypoly
    This just confirms my theory that humans work best and most creatively when there's a time limit. Only taking nine years to essentially build a space organization from scratch and then accelerate to first place in a race to conquer space is astounding to me.
  • @torch2k
    As a long-term aerospace nerd I've read everything I could get my hands on and watched tons of documentaries on space exploration. I'd never have thought one could condense the Apollo Program into a one-hour presentation and touch on any meaningful portion of the story. You've managed it, though, with a great overview that hits all the milestones, covers the challenges and mishaps, acknowledges the contribution of those on the ground as well as the astronauts, and places the program in not only a technical but also a social and historic context. Brilliant!
  • @Jaabra
    I love the "new" thing yo do by combining all episodes in series to one long.
    Big shout out to the narrator! That voice could make anything sound epic and interesting.
  • Neil, Michael and Buzz were my childhood heroes. What an incredible team. No wonder they choose them for the first landing. An absolute legends
  • @LuMartinelli
    What the hell. This is better produced than hundreds of TV documentaries. Respect.
  • I remember seeing this live on Xmas Eve in 1968. My grandmother was ready to go with us to Xmas Eve church services. However, she lost her balance and nearly fell and almost broke her hip. I grabbed her arms and held onto her, called out to my parents and brothers for help. We decided not to go and placed her health and safety first. She was my buddy and role model and did not die until August of 1971 from natural causes.

    She witnessed many important historical events between the years of her birth in 1887 until her death in 1971, including the Apollo 11 Moon landing in July of 1969, us kids being born and growing up, the Civil Rights Movement, school integration and so many other interesting historical events. She loved history and it was her love of reading and learning that led to many of her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren to succeed in life. She is still missed by many family members today.
  • That was a straight-forward, uncomplicated and thoroughly enjoyable account of the NASA program. Many thanks for airing this.
  • @TheMakumakumaku
    This would be Commander Shepard's favorite channel on YouTube.
  • @mikesmith1290
    This is simply incredible! I’ve watched just about every documentary on the Apollo program, to the point of them being stale by now. What a refreshing take! The graphics, music, editing, and narration are the best I’ve seen yet!
  • @mjbball0610
    I have watched dozens of documentaries about Apollo and had no idea Apollo 12 had been struck by lightning on liftoff. So cool how that was resolved quickly by a confident controller.

    There were several other tidbits in this I didn’t know before - of course the best producers of historical content on the internet crushed it again. Bravo.
  • @ericyardley9348
    Fantastic work. I love the narrator's voice. It's truly EPIC
  • @user-oh6eg4ny3h
    At the height of the Cold War Napoleon Bonerpart moves his grand Army north to the moon. In an attempt to enforce the continental system.
  • My immense gratitude. This is education, wonder, and art all combined into one unit. Please do know that these productions are so very well-made, and I imagine a lot of time and efforts would be put into them. To everyone associated with this channel, do take a bow, and once again, accept my heartfelt admiration and gratitude. History can be fun, as you symbolize :)
  • Brilliant.... I actually spent a long time without context for Gemeni, Mercury & Apollo Programs, thanks for the breakdown. Consider me enthused.
  • @arwahsapi
    Imagine the feelings of the Apollo 1 backup crew after the tragic loss of their fellow astronauts, knowing that they were to be launched in the next Apollo mission.
  • @CountArtha
    This is definitely the documentary I would show a room full of middle school students if I were teaching them about Project Apollo.
  • What a great condensed and beautifully presented timeline of these historic events. For people just getting into the history of space this is a great starting point at 54 minutes.