Camera, Stage Separation, Saturn I
Camera, Stage Separation, Saturn I
Stage separation camera consisting of: a white rectangular metal case containing camera components and film (which can visible beneath a glass cover on one side of the camera); a triangular metal mounting bracket; lens.
Display Status:
This object is on display in the James S. McDonnell Space Hangar at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA.
Small movie cameras like this one made by D.B. Millikin were placed inside parachute-equipped capsules to document the rocket staging process during development of the Saturn launch vehicle. The camera capsules ejected from the vehicle and filmed for nearly a minute to give engineers a closer look at the success or failure of staging. Images from later Saturn V flights, such as Apollo 4 and 11, are often used in documentaries on the space program, and show the first stages of the rocket falling back to Earth.
For display purposes, this camera has a wedge-shaped bracket on one side (for mounting to a display) and a Plexiglas cover on one side to allow viewing of the filming apparatus.
NASA transferred this camera to the Museum in 1976.
