Spotlight: Apollo 11 Launch Footage-July 16, 1969

Today we spotlight the historic launch of Apollo 11 on July 16, 1969, with two items from the National Archives and Record Administration’s (NARA) motion picture holdings of Record Group 255, Records of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Series (NASA). 

• Washington Headquarters – Apollo 11 Pool Footage: Part 1 of 2 (National Archives Identifier: 81443142/Local Identifier: 255-FR-7765)
• Washington Headquarters – Apollo 11 Pool Footage: Part 2 of 2  (National Archives Identifier: 81443144 /Local Identifier: 255-FR-7766) 

The silent, unedited “pool” footage seen in these two 16mm film reels linked shows activities before and during the launch, including the pre-launch crew breakfast; the three astronauts, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin Jr., Neil Armstrong, and Michael Collins, suiting up in preparation for launch; scenes from mission control; and the rocket launch and trajectory. 

“Pool” coverage generally refers to content made available to media or press outlets by a single entity or organization, and the footage seen in the two reels above is likely what most viewers across the US and around the world saw and collectively experienced on the morning of the historic launch and mission.

The NASA “File Roll” Series

Both of the two films linked above are from the NASA series, “Moving Images Relating to Documentary Stock Footage” also known as the “File Roll” series (255-FR). There are currently over 630 video and sound files, and over 7,600 PDF files of shot and scene lists from this series which are accessible for viewing and download in our online Catalog. 

The shot and scene lists provide additional details about the films, often identifying individuals, locations, equipment and other technical information. They are great for conducting in-depth research, or for just following the action as you watch the film, and are particularly helpful since many films from this series are silent. 

The shot list or scene list for the reel Washington Headquarters – Apollo 11 Pool Footage: Part 1 of 2, for example, identifies the people we see in this shot at the beginning of the film, as the astronauts eat their crew breakfast prior to launch.

The National Archives Online Catalog has many other online video files from the historic Apollo 11 mission. Click here for a list of those items, and then click on each individual entry to view the file in the display screen directly. You can also download each mp4 file by clicking the “Download” button on the bottom left of the display window (highlighted below).

Use the “Download” button to download any type of digitized file in the Catalog. If there is more than one kind of file type (for example, a mp4 video file and a PDF file), click on the right hand side of the screen to select each file (which will appear in the display window)  and then click the “Download” button to save the file on your own device.

Interested in exploring more about NASA and the U.S. space program in NARA’s Special Media records? Well, the sky’s the limit! Here are some places to launch your search:

The Unwritten Record Blog