A Westinghouse Color Camera, using the sequential colour system, was used to provide live video of the Apollo 13 launch to the Network Pool. This was the only time a colour camera mounted on the LUT provided live video.
The Network Pool switched to this camera just as the Saturn V raced by – but it didn’t show the scene, moments earlier, when the five F1 engines ignited.
You can see a bird fly directly over the LES at “ignition sequence start”. It exits the screen on the centre-right.
Video encoded by Colin Mackellar. The picture has been streteched slightly from the original 4:3 format to compensate for the wide-angle lens used.
With grateful thanks to Stan Lebar, Westinghouse Apollo Lunar Camera Program Manager, who supplied the video.
The voice of “Apollo Launch Control” is Chuck Hollingshead.
Stan Lebar tells the story here: vimeo.com/8429877
More on Apollo 13 and the Apollo Program at honeysucklecreek.net
