karn (12/15/82)
Here's a trivia question I've wondered about occasionally. Virtually everybody has seen that classic film footage taken looking back from the bottom of the second stage of a Saturn V as the first stage falls away, followed by the interstage adapter ring. From the quality of the image (it's shown in the movie "To Fly"), it's obvious that it was film, and not video. My question is, how did they get the camera back? From what I've read about the Saturn V, the launcher was practically in orbit at second stage separation and I'm sure that the second stage would burn up upon re-entering. Any ideas? Phil Karn