HBO Miniseries From the Earth to the Moon

[Obviousman]

That reminds me of the early days of Star Trek and when they first introduced the Orion slave girls. The actresses were painted a deep green but when the directors viewed the rushes, the colour of the Orions was all washed out. They increased the colour intensity by using brighter skin paint but time and time again when the rushes were viewed, the green skin colour of the Orion slave girls would be washed out.

Finally in frustration, the director asked the film processors if there was anything strange about the film being used. At first he said no but then remarked that they had been having trouble with some of the colours: these dancing girls kept on coming up with a dark green skin colour and they were having a terrible time trying to get rid of the green!

[bobdude11]

I love this series and it is so good to see the comments here addressing some of my questions - oddly enough, I also was wondering how true the Aldrin/Armstrong first issue was.
I was absolutely fascinated by the "Spider" episode because of the detail it showed in how it was built ... I would love to know if it's true that the engineers spent all night to "Let's make him see it" 

[Ranb]

Thomas Kelly wrote about this in his book, Moon Lander.  The chapter on "Crew Systems and the LM Cockpit" describes Rigsby, Harms and Sherman rehashing cabin design and asking, "What if we get rid of the seats?".  This was followed by a frenzied afternoon of sketching and debating among the three.  The next day they showed their plans to Kelly; he agreed it was a superior approach.

I think the resistance shown by Kelly, as well as the cardboard mockup of the windows they built to convince him in the TV series, was dramatic license.

The episode on Spider was my 2nd favorite, after the episode on Apollo 12.  The series could have discarded the episodes on Apollo 11 and 13 and been the better for it in my opinion.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1526298.Moon_Lander

[Jason Thompson]

I think the resistance shown by Kelly, as well as the cardboard mockup of the windows they built to convince him in the TV series, was dramatic license.

More 'let's help the viewers see it' than helping Kelly see it. Kelly was an engineer. I'm reasonably sure he'd have seen the plans and understood without the need for a full-size mockup. It makes for a much more engaging moment in a TV drama, though, so it's a bit of dramatic licence I can get behind. 

The episode on Spider was my 2nd favorite, after the episode on Apollo 12.

They're in my top 3. Apollo One is my favourite, for very different reasons.

The series could have discarded the episodes on Apollo 11 and 13 and been the better for it in my opinion.

I'm not sure a series about the journey from the Earth to the Moon could have got away with not having an episode about Apollo 11. The difficulty is that it's inevitably the episode that tells a story the viewers most likely to tune in are already very familiar with. The Apollo 13 episode is probably my least favourite, but of course they had not long made an entire movie about it so had to find a new angle on the story. I think it's a shame that Apollo 16 was relegated to little more than a footnote in the astronauts' wives episode. Maybe Apollo 13 would have suited that better, or maybe they just couldn't find enough new to talk about with Apollo 16.

Overall, though, a damn good series with some amazing moments.

[bobdude11]

Thomas Kelly wrote about this in his book, Moon Lander.  The chapter on "Crew Systems and the LM Cockpit" describes Rigsby, Harms and Sherman rehashing cabin design and asking, "What if we get rid of the seats?".  This was followed by a frenzied afternoon of sketching and debating among the three.  The next day they showed their plans to Kelly; he agreed it was a superior approach.

That makes more sense to me.

[Obviousman]

I did enjoy the Apollo 13 ep as it focused on how the media changed, and the viewing audience changed: no longer was the Walter Cronkite, fact-orientated news delivery sufficient. People now wanted excitement, fear... and the networks were prepared to give them what they want. I actually felt genuine sadness & concern when Emmett Seaborn is 'pushed out' of his senior position in favour of the young reporter with the 'human interest' side of the incident.

[Ranb]

I did enjoy the Apollo 13 ep as it focused on how the media changed,....

That episode centered around fictional characters, so it was no good for me.

[Ranb]

I'm not sure a series about the journey from the Earth to the Moon could have got away with not having an episode about Apollo 11.

Perhaps I should have said they could have done without what they produced. 

A better version of the Apollo 11 episode could have featured some of Apollo 10 and the test of the abort procedure, more about the LLRV crash, why they landed long, etc. 

The Apollo 13 episode could have centered more on the efforts of Grumman and mission control to bring the crew back.

[Jason Thompson]

I'm not sure a series about the journey from the Earth to the Moon could have got away with not having an episode about Apollo 11.

Perhaps I should have said they could have done without what they produced. 

A better version of the Apollo 11 episode could have featured some of Apollo 10 and the test of the abort procedure, more about the LLRV crash, why they landed long, etc. 

Now that I can get on board with. Maybe more focus on what Collins was up to as well. Almost everything you see, hear or read about the Apollo landing missions minimises the stuff being done by the CMP during the landing phase, almost giving the impression they basically just sat up there waiting. Yes, the stuff on the Moon is probably more interesting but there was perhaps a missed opportunity to highlight a lesser-known area of the missions.

The Apollo 13 episode could have centered more on the efforts of Grumman and mission control to bring the crew back.

I think that would still have been a big overlap with the movie, but maybe more could have been made of the sequence of minor mishaps that led to a near disaster, providing more focus on the ground crews and lengthy prep work that went into the missions beyond astronaut training.

[Ranb]

I think that would still have been a big overlap with the movie, but maybe more could have been made of the sequence of minor mishaps that led to a near disaster, providing more focus on the ground crews and lengthy prep work that went into the missions beyond astronaut training.

There was lots of material in the book that was not shown in the Apollo 13 film.  For example, the contribution by Grumman to resolving the emergency was limited to a single character in the film claiming they cannot ensure that anything will work.  There were more course corrections and a battery explosion to deal with also. 

The book contained a brief anecdote about a bill (from Grumman to McDonnell Douglas) for towing and accommodation in the LM during the lifeboat rescue back to Earth, being passed around Mission Control. 

[JayUtah]

For example, the contribution by Grumman to resolving the emergency was limited to a single character in the film claiming they cannot ensure that anything will work.

An unfair characterization, since the Grumman went to enormous effort to support the Apollo 13 contingent mission.

The book contained a brief anecdote about a bill (from Grumman to McDonnell Douglas) for towing and accommodation in the LM during the lifeboat rescue back to Earth, being passed around Mission Control.

From Grumman to North American. There were actually three versions of this: two invoices on Grumman's standard forms and one in letter form on Grumman letterhead. We have a framed copy of one of the invoices on the wall in our accounting division at work. Fred Haise autographed one of the invoices and added, "Thanks for the lift!"

[Jason Thompson]

There was lots of material in the book that was not shown in the Apollo 13 film.  For example, the contribution by Grumman to resolving the emergency was limited to a single character in the film claiming they cannot ensure that anything will work.  There were more course corrections and a battery explosion to deal with also.

Fair point. Grumman definitely got shafted in the movie, being made to look like they were more concerned about liability in the event of problems (and then the cliched 'I knew it all along' reaction when the burn works) than in doing everything possible to ensure it succeeded.

[Ranb]

It is interesting what Lovell left out of his book.  He devoted only two sentences to Apollo 13 liftoff and TLI.

Apollo 13 was launched on schedule, at 13:13 Houston time on April 11, and three hours later blasted out of Earth orbit toward the moon. For Swigert and Haise, neither of whom had ever been in space before, the experiences of launch and orbit and translunar burn were inexpressably novel.

Nothing about the severe pogo during the 2nd stage of the flight that resulted in the center engine shutting down early.

In his book, in contrast to the film, the reaction of Grumman was also interesting.

The engineering support team that would be here to monitor the LEM during a lunar mission consisted of only a few people, and their cars would normally be lost in the asphalt prairie that surrounded the buildings.

Tonight the scene was very different. As far as Kelly could tell, there were day-shift crews here, evening crews, design crews, assembly crews, and crews that for the life of him he couldn’t name. Even in an emergency, Grumman wouldn’t call in this many people in the middle of the night. Clearly, these were employees who had heard on their own about the emergency in space and had come to the plant unbidden.

[JayUtah]

Fair point. Grumman definitely got shafted in the movie, being made to look like they were more concerned about liability in the event of problems (and then the cliched 'I knew it all along' reaction when the burn works) than in doing everything possible to ensure it succeeded.

Even worse, the dialogue between the umbrella character and Gene Kranz ("I guess you get to keep your job") makes it sound even more personal and petty.

Northrop Grumman has taken over the old Thiokol assets (by way of Morton-Thiokol, ATK, Orbital-ATK) and with them the contracts I held with them. It's the same rank-and-file people here in Utah I've worked with for many years, but the NG management has been pretty good.