Haven't you ever heard of remote cameras? They had several installed on the exterior of the LEM, activated from within. Once Armstrong got out, Aldrin was able to mount another camera.
Didn't go back? Why? No money, that's why. NASA's budget was cut and the last three planned missions were canceled. The Vietnam War was ramping up and going to the Moon was becoming a bore, so President Nixon decided to pull down the curtain on the Apollo program. And then afterward, we were all entertained by the Shuttle program and the International Space Station. The explanation is pathetically prosaic. You have to realize that things like going to the Moon do not have a limitless credit card for the satisfaction of the small minority that thought it was worthwhile. It's like a family that goes to Disneyland once upon a time, then has no budget to do it again in the future. They didn't lose the "ability" to go there; they lost the finances to go there. But once you shut down the production of launch vehicles, you sure enough lose the ability to go there.
You travel incredible distances in a deadly environment where there can be NO slip-ups, nerves taut when the landings took place (and the first landing had a last minute surprise when on the final approach), and then no letup on the very long trip home, then suffering the high-gs from the aerodynamic re-entry and the jostle about being plucked out of the water.... Yeah, they are heroes for even being able to walk, and you complain that they didn't look chipper as chipmunks? They were dead tired after holding it together for over a week. Who does something like that? "Most people"? Maybe someone who has returned from a grueling ascent of Mount Everest, or a trek across the Antarctic polar cap. I don't recall when the interview took place. Some of the physical strain may have worn off. But there is also a psychological strain of being in something not much larger than a phone booth for a week, with two other guys, no privacy, and a full schedule of tasks every day without letup. And there is the philosophical reaction to being on another world and getting your head around that. Perhaps they were so awed with what they experienced, they were distracted from trivialities like making interview chit-chat.
Sorry if my tone is off. I've crawled inside an Apollo capsule at the museum in Huntsville. I've seen the Saturn V vehicle there, once all stretched out on the ground, longer than a football field, and all assembled vertically. I'm familiar with the system design and how much went into it. The whole program was shocked with the deaths of Apollo 1. I'm just trying to convey the circumstances and considerations.
But, yeah, there are explanations. More questions are welcome.
It's closed-circuit TV (CCTV). You have a camera, mounted and focused to capture a scene, and the signal and control wires connect it to a control point. Every convenience store has remote closed-circuit TV cameras. This technology is quite old. The only new twist has been the advancement in camera design so that they are now very small.
Another example that can be seen readily are the camera shots from the upper stage of a launch vehicle, looking back at the first stage separating at the end of burn. SpaceX posts those shots fairly often. There is obviously no one on board holding a camera for those shots. Here is a quick example of the CCTV images from a Falcon 9 launch. The stage separation occurs about 2:38 on the timeline. https://www.space.com/spacex-launch-doubleheader-march-2023
I don't know exactly where the first camera was placed, but if you examine images of the LEM, you will find there are plenty of places where the body protrudes out far enough to view the exit hatch. Aldrin had to install a camera on a jutting mount, but that was the second camera.
Haven't you ever heard of remote cameras? They had several installed on the exterior of the LEM, activated from within. Once Armstrong got out, Aldrin was able to mount another camera.
Didn't go back? Why? No money, that's why. NASA's budget was cut and the last three planned missions were canceled. The Vietnam War was ramping up and going to the Moon was becoming a bore, so President Nixon decided to pull down the curtain on the Apollo program. And then afterward, we were all entertained by the Shuttle program and the International Space Station. The explanation is pathetically prosaic. You have to realize that things like going to the Moon do not have a limitless credit card for the satisfaction of the small minority that thought it was worthwhile. It's like a family that goes to Disneyland once upon a time, then has no budget to do it again in the future. They didn't lose the "ability" to go there; they lost the finances to go there. But once you shut down the production of launch vehicles, you sure enough lose the ability to go there.
You travel incredible distances in a deadly environment where there can be NO slip-ups, nerves taut when the landings took place (and the first landing had a last minute surprise when on the final approach), and then no letup on the very long trip home, then suffering the high-gs from the aerodynamic re-entry and the jostle about being plucked out of the water.... Yeah, they are heroes for even being able to walk, and you complain that they didn't look chipper as chipmunks? They were dead tired after holding it together for over a week. Who does something like that? "Most people"? Maybe someone who has returned from a grueling ascent of Mount Everest, or a trek across the Antarctic polar cap. I don't recall when the interview took place. Some of the physical strain may have worn off. But there is also a psychological strain of being in something not much larger than a phone booth for a week, with two other guys, no privacy, and a full schedule of tasks every day without letup. And there is the philosophical reaction to being on another world and getting your head around that. Perhaps they were so awed with what they experienced, they were distracted from trivialities like making interview chit-chat.
Sorry if my tone is off. I've crawled inside an Apollo capsule at the museum in Huntsville. I've seen the Saturn V vehicle there, once all stretched out on the ground, longer than a football field, and all assembled vertically. I'm familiar with the system design and how much went into it. The whole program was shocked with the deaths of Apollo 1. I'm just trying to convey the circumstances and considerations.
But, yeah, there are explanations. More questions are welcome.
No problem. I do ask questions because it just didn't make sense. Those are good answers.
No, I have no idea about remote cameras. How does that work?
It's closed-circuit TV (CCTV). You have a camera, mounted and focused to capture a scene, and the signal and control wires connect it to a control point. Every convenience store has remote closed-circuit TV cameras. This technology is quite old. The only new twist has been the advancement in camera design so that they are now very small.
Another example that can be seen readily are the camera shots from the upper stage of a launch vehicle, looking back at the first stage separating at the end of burn. SpaceX posts those shots fairly often. There is obviously no one on board holding a camera for those shots. Here is a quick example of the CCTV images from a Falcon 9 launch. The stage separation occurs about 2:38 on the timeline. https://www.space.com/spacex-launch-doubleheader-march-2023
Thanks for the info. I figured back then they will need some long mechanical arm in order to do that but I did not see that long arm
I don't know exactly where the first camera was placed, but if you examine images of the LEM, you will find there are plenty of places where the body protrudes out far enough to view the exit hatch. Aldrin had to install a camera on a jutting mount, but that was the second camera.