This 1960s NASA film “Lunar Mission Update” was created sometime before the Apollo 11 lunar landing in 1969. It shows explanations and preparations for the first lunar landing, including previous test flights, animations, simulations with mock-ups of the lunar module and spacecraft, and Saturn V and Moon footage. The film opens with a black-and-white view of Earth, then zooms out to a view of the Moon (0:25). An indigenous lunar calendar (0:29); a launch tower and rocket blasting off (0:38), probably from a Saturn V test flight. Closeups of the moon’s surface and craters, taken from previous Mariner and lunar spacecraft (1:18). An astronaut on a simulated lunar module (1:53). Title page: “Apollo Lunar Mission” (2:11). An animated diagram of the moon orbiting Earth (2:23) and Apollo 11’s proposed trajectory looping around the moon and returning. The Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center (3:33), where preparations for the moon launch took place. A Saturn V space vehicle on its mobile launcher (3:50), which traveled to the launchpad on a transporter crawler. The command module living quarters for the Apollo 11 crew (4:05), with the mission commander, a command module pilot, and lunar module pilot sitting next to each other. The service module, which contains a large propulsion engine (4:34). The lunar module (4:57), which guides the spacecraft into orbit and carries instruments and electronics. A closeup of the Saturn V launch vehicle (5:19), which launched more weight than previous missions Gemini and Mercury. Employees at control panels in the Launch Control Center (5:46). The launch escape tower (6:07). Footage from the first, second, and third stages of the Saturn V launch (7:00). A diagram shows the launch escape system and various stages being jettisoned (7:07). Propulsion experts monitor the flight at Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama (7:28). Flight director at Mission Control Center Houston (8:03). A diagram shows the command and service modules separating from the lunar module (8:33), the mission commander docking with the lunar module, and the lunar module orbiting the moon before landing, leaving the command module pilot to fly the Apollo spacecraft in orbit. Drawings of the lunar module landing and astronauts putting on spacesuits (10:25). A drawing of two astronauts on the Moon’s surface (10:43). A simulated moon landing where astronauts in fake spacesuits set up the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP), a series of instruments to collect moon data and samples. A diagram of the return flight, showing the lunar module re-joining the command module, jettisoning the service module, and entering back into Earth’s orbit (12:31). The flight director at Mission Control speaks into a headset (12:57). A view of Earth from space (14:00); the re-entry path is controlled by computer. The main landing parachutes slow the spacecraft down (14:35); a helicopter overhead as it lands in the ocean. Narration explains that a mobile quarantine laboratory will pick up the crew and go to the Lunar Receiving Laboratory for a 3-week quarantine period, and scientists will study the collected samples. Scientists look through microscopes to analyze samples (15:30). The film ends with footage of the moon’s surface as the film describes the Apollo lunar mission as “our beginning of the inevitable exploration of space.”

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