Apollo Portable RCA TV camera at Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center Virginia USApollo Lunar Television Camera, as it was mounted on the side of the Apollo 11 Lunar Module when it telecasted Neil Armstrong's "One small step". The camera was stowed upside-down on its top, due to that being its only flat surface.[1]
The Apollo program used several television cameras in its space missions in the late 1960s and 1970s; some of these Apollo TV cameras were also used on the later Skylab and Apollo–Soyuz Test Project missions. These cameras varied in design, with image quality improving significantly with each successive model. Two companies made these various camera systems: RCA and Westinghouse. Originally, these slow-scan television (SSTV) cameras, running at 10 frames per second (fps), produced only black-and-white pictures and first flew on the Apollo 7 mission in October 1968. A color camera – using a field-sequential color system – flew on the Apollo 10 mission in May 1969, and every mission after that. The color camera ran at the North American standard 30 fps. The cameras all used image pickup tubes that were initially fragile, as one was irreparably damaged during the live broadcast of the Apollo 12 mission's first moonwalk. Starting with the Apollo 15 mission, a more robust, damage-resistant camera was used on the lunar surface. All of these cameras required signal processing back on Earth to make the frame rate and color encoding compatible with analog broadcast television standards.
Starting with Apollo 7, a camera was carried on every Apollo command module (CM) except Apollo 9. For each lunar landing mission, a camera was also placed inside the Apollo Lunar Module (LM) descent stage's modularized equipment stowage assembly (MESA). Positioning the camera in the MESA made it possible to telecast the astronauts' first steps as they climbed down the LM's ladder at the start of a mission's first moonwalk/EVA. Afterwards, the camera would be detached from its mount in the MESA, mounted on a tripod and carried away from the LM to show the EVA's progress; or, mounted on a Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV), where it could be remotely controlled from Mission Control on Earth.
The Apollo program used several television cameras in its space missions in the late 1960s and 1970s; some of these ApolloTVcameras were also used on...
broadcast. For technical reasons, the Apollo 11 lander carried a slow-scan television (SSTV) camera (see ApolloTVcamera). To broadcast the pictures to regular...
Selenocysteine, an amino acid Secondary Electron Conduction Tube, part of the ApolloTVcamera SEC experiment (Scattering Experiment Chambers) at CERN Southeastern...
NASA has operated several cameras on spacecraft over the course of its history. ApolloTVcamera Hasselblad "Electric Camera" (modified 500 EL) with 70...
the TVcamera. Apollo 11 used slow-scan television (TV) incompatible with broadcast TV, so it was displayed on a special monitor and a conventional TV camera...
descent stages of the United States Apollo Lunar Modules flown on lunar landing missions Apollo 11 through Apollo 17, to be left permanently on the lunar...
Mauro. At 30:40:50 into the mission, with the TVcamera running, the crew performed a burn to place Apollo 13 on a hybrid trajectory. The departure from...
The Apollo 11 goodwill messages are statements from leaders of 73 countries around the world on a disc about the size of a 50-cent piece made of silicon...
pressure sensors, and a TVcamera. This flight occurred on July 5, before AS-202, which was delayed because of problems getting the Apollo spacecraft ready for...
carried the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package, a group of nuclear-powered scientific instruments, as well as the first color television camera taken...
Apollo 15 (July 26 – August 7, 1971) was the ninth crewed mission in the United States' Apollo program and the fourth to land on the Moon. It was the first...
transmission by the ApolloTVcamera, the largest television audience for a live broadcast at that time. The Apollo missions 11 to 17 (except Apollo 13, which aborted...
(NASM) Surveyor 3 camera brought back from the Moon by Apollo 12, on display at NASM Surveyor 3 scoops, photographed by the Apollo 12 astronauts Soil...
the surface. Apollo 15 Lunar Module Falcon lifts off from the Moon, August 2, 1971. View from TVcamera on the Lunar Roving Vehicle. Apollo 15 Lunar Module...
Experiment (LEAM) was a lunar science experiment that flew to the Moon on board Apollo 17 in 1972. It collected information on dust particles produced as a result...
throughout Apollo's J missions. The day's next task was to deploy the ALSEP; while they were parking the lunar rover, on which the TVcamera was mounted...
broadcast was the most watched TV program ever. Apollo 8's successful mission paved the way for Apollo 10 and, with Apollo 11 in July 1969, the fulfillment...
As part of the Apollo program by NASA, 24 astronauts flew nine missions to the Moon between December 1968 and December 1972. During six successful two-man...
exploration. It was commissioned and placed on the Moon by the crew of Apollo 15 at Hadley Rille on August 2, 1971, UTC, next to a plaque listing 14 names...
cameras were carried aboard all crewed Apollo missions. Grissom's crew received approval in June 1966 to design a mission patch with the name Apollo 1...
astronauts on the lunar surface in 1969 as part of Apollo 12, and later flying on Apollo 14 and Apollo 15. The goal of SIDE was to study any potential lunar...
images from inside Apollo 7, Apollo 8, and Apollo 9, as well as the Apollo 11 Lunar Module television from the Moon; see ApolloTVcamera. The SSTV system...
Apollo 7 (October 11–22, 1968) was the first crewed flight in NASA's Apollo program, and saw the resumption of human spaceflight by the agency after the...
Assembly (MESA), which was attached to the side of the LM and carried the ApolloTVcamera, sample bags, batteries, CO2 scrubbers for the space suits, and other...
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