Silly but fun Apollo 11 video

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla

2007/09/18 10:58 CDT

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Via unmannedspaceflight.com comes the pointer to this BBC video of James Burke -- then a science correspondent for the BBC, since then a well-known science popularizer on this side of the pond as well -- explaining the Apollo 11 EVA suit to the masses. The video begins fairly straightforwardly, with Burke explaining the parts of the suit. But as he explains each piece, it is removed by two silent, white-coated assistants. As the astronaut's striptease proceeds he does get down to his astronaut's "nappy" and, in the end, we see him singing in the shower. Doug Vandorn, who posted initally about this video on UMSF, asserts that there are two critical seconds missing from this YouTube version, filling in the time between the shot in the skivvies and the one of him stepping into the shower...silly but fun. I hadn't previously known about Burke's Apollo mission reporting; I knew of him through his Connections and The Day the Universe Changed series on public TV, which I watched over and over, as he explored the interconnected nature of scientific, technological, cultural, and political development.