Made during the Apollo program, “Astronaut Training” is an official NASA film produced circa 1968 that shows potential astronauts are shown preparing for their flights during various training programs in the classrooms, geological surveys, and underwater simulators. It opens in May 1961 as Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard prepared to become the first American in space. We see scenes filmed aboard his Freedom 7 spacecraft before switching to a Saturn V rocket on a launchpad (mark 01:32) — a rocket used to take man to the moon. As the missions have changed, so have requirements for astronauts. After again seeing the original Mercury 7 astronauts (Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard, and Deke Slayton) we are told “modern day” astronauts no longer are required to be test pilots and many have advanced degrees. (Although “scientists” still receive flight training.) Classroom training is also much more detailed and focuses on topics as celestial mechanics, rocket propulsion, and “space medicine” as we see Cooper taking notes at mark 02:50. Desert and jungle survival training is also included, as is shown at mark 03:50. At mark 05:25 we watch potential astronauts training in a simulator both individually and as a team, and starting at mark 06:21 observe as they train on a docking simulator that mimics the rejoining of the command and lunar modules in lunar orbit.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
