Apollo mission Saturn V inter-stage video?

Question

We've all seen the video of the Saturn V rocket interstaging from the Apollo 4 test flight. (here it is) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1vy4xXZynI I've always wondered how this film was captured? Since the stage II burned up in re-entry, how did the film survive? Did they use video cameras? If so this would very good video camera quality for 1967. Anybody know?

Answer 1

lindajune gives a very good answer, and I'm in agreement with it, except for one point.

As an old rocket and space buff, going back well over 40 years, the third clip looks to me to be a Saturn V 3rd stage, the S-IVB, departing from the spent S-II stage under it.

The reason I say that is that the interstage section just below the S-IVB appears to be fixed to the S-II stage, and that it is not the same diameter at it's top that it is lower down. Both attributes point to that interstage section being the top of a Saturn V S-II stage. On the Saturn 1-B, the S-IVB stage sits atop an interstage segment that is not fixed to the stage below it, that comes off separately, just as it did on the Saturn V in the second clip, and it's diameter is the same at both it's top and bottom. Thats not what this video seems to show.  

It was fairly common, especially on the first flights of a new rocket, to fit them with additional instrumentation that would not be carried by later, more operational rockets. In this case, that included jettisonable camera pods, shooting high speed film.

Answer 2

These were captured on film, and the camera pods were ejected to fall back to Earth under parachutes.

The first section of that video is the first stage and interstage of the Saturn V dropping away. It was captured on a film camera located in the bottom of the S-II stage. At the time of staging the rocket was still well inside the atmosphere, so the pod simply fell back into the sea just as the stage sections did. (Incidentally, the curvature of the Earth in that film gives an exaggerated impression of altitude: the film camera had a fisheye lens on it to give a wide angle view of the staging, hence the horizon is artificially curved.)

The second part is actually from a Saturn IB staging event. The second stage of the Saturn IB and Saturn V were essentially the same, an S-IVB stage. A few features give it away, however, most obviously the three small rockets on the edge of the S-IVB. The version flown on the Saturn V had only two. On the Saturn IB the staging event happened again well inside the atmosphere, so the camera pod was ejected from the stage as it fell back to Earth.

Incidentally, the interstage on the Saturn IB remained attached to the first stage, and the apparent tapering diameter is again an effect of the wide-angle lens used.

Answer 3

A compilation of original NASA footage shows the jettisoning of the first stage (S-IC) and the interstage, filmed from the bottom of the second stage (S-II), both from Apollo 4.   This is followed by footage of the separation of an S-IVB second stage from the S-IB first stage of Apollo 5.  The glow seen on the jettisoned stages is due to the hot, invisible hydrogen-oxygen flames of the J-2 engines used by the S-II and S-IVB.  The footage also shows the more conspicuous plumes of the ullage motors as they pull the stages apart before the main engines are fired.

The cameras filmed at high speeds causing an estimated 15 times slow-motion view of the sequence when seen in a documentary. The camera capsules were jettisoned soon after the first stage separation and though at about 200,000 feet in altitude, were still below orbital velocity. They then reentered the atmosphere and parachuted to the ocean where they floated waiting for recovery. Both S-II cameras from Apollo 4 were recovered so that there is footage from both sides of the vehicle.