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Forum:	Early Space
Topic:	1957 Vanguard launch attempt broadcast

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Your Reply: HTML is ON UBB Code is ON Smilies Legend	[QUOTE]Originally posted by Colin Anderton: [B]I have this morning listened to one of three different recordings I have of correspondents' comments as the Vanguard launch attempt took place. With reference to points made above, one of them most certainly sounds like Frank McGee! Even I am now wondering whether this was after all shown live, because I quote a reporter who was speaking as the event occurred: "Well, you have just witnessed what will undoubtedly be a severe propaganda defeat for this country, 110 million dollars having been spent on the project so far." Will this mystery ever be cleared up, I wonder?[/B][/QUOTE]
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<table border=0 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 width="600"><TR><td bgcolor="#000000"><TABLE BORDER=0 cellpadding=4 border=0 cellspacing=1 WIDTH="100%"><TR bgcolor="#660000"><TD COLSPAN=2><CENTER>T O P I C     R E V I E W</CENTER></TD></TR><TR bgcolor="#494949"><TD valign=top>Colin Anderton</TD><TD>I have on a number of occasions read that the Vanguard explosion on 6 December 1957 was broadcast on live TV in the U.S. I have to say I have serious doubts that this was the case!I do know that reporters (Frank McGee, for example) were reporting live via telephone — but whether the launch attempt was actually watched live by TV viewers, I very much doubt, particularly considering how secretive NASA was about the Cape activities in those days.I know it's a long shot, but are there any members who recall actually watching the event live on TV?Also, after collecting audio and video for over 50 years, I have accumulated very little material on this launch attempt. I'd love to have more.</TD></TR><TR bgcolor="#333333"><TD valign=top>Jim Behling</TD><TD>NASA didn't even exist during the first Vanguard launch attempt. Vanguard was transferred to NASA on 1 May 1959 when Goddard Space Flight Center was formed from the Naval Research Laboratory's Vanguard Project. </TD></TR><TR bgcolor="#494949"><TD valign=top>Go4Launch</TD><TD>Jim Behling is correct. Not sure how this myth got started, but it's one of many fact errors in Douglas Brinkley's new book, American Moonshot. The first live TV coverage of a launch was on October 11, 1958.</TD></TR><TR bgcolor="#333333"><TD valign=top>Jim Behling</TD><TD>From the Wikipedia entry for <A HREF="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WTLV" TARGET=_blank>WTLV</A>: <BLOCKQUOTE>On October 11, 1958, channel 12 became the first television station to air a live launch from Cape Canaveral – Thor-Able's successful launch of the Pioneer I lunar probe. The station also provided the remote facilities, and supplied video and audio for all three major networks (ABC, NBC and CBS).</BLOCKQUOTE></TD></TR><TR bgcolor="#494949"><TD valign=top>Cozmosis22</TD><TD>Seem to remember the B&W newsreel footage released showing that launch pad blast being extolled as an example of the open way of doing things in the US as opposed to the USSR. Indeed almost no one in the West knew what Sputnik's rocket really looked like for nearly a decade.So the first actual live TV broadcast was the first major rocket launch after NASA was born on October 1, 1958. The Jacksonville NBC affiliate (WFGA-TV at the time) probably got pretty good viewership as it was on a Saturday when many people were at home.</TD></TR><TR bgcolor="#333333"><TD valign=top>ea757grrl</TD><TD>According to a memoir by Harry Reasoner (who, with Charles von Fremd, was assigned to cover the possible launches in that day), the best CBS could do in that moment was arrange for a bulletin to interrupt programming when the launch happened. No pictures would be seen until a filmed report on that night's news. Reasoner and von Fremd also had to deal with the secrecy around the launch, and developed contacts around the community that could tip them off when the launch might be about to happen. Reasoner remembered that when the launch happened, his job was to watch from the porch of the Starlite Motel cottage where von Fremd and his wife were living. While von Fremd and his cameraman were out covering the story, Reasoner would call out the launch when it happened and Mrs. von Fremd would notify an executive in New York on the other end of the phone line, and then the executive would run off and interrupt programming with a bulletin. When the launch did happen, the executive scurried off to get the bulletin on when he heard "There she goes!" but wasn't there a few seconds later when things turned to "hold on...."</TD></TR><TR bgcolor="#494949"><TD valign=top>Colin Anderton</TD><TD>My apologies! I cannot believe I tried to involve NASA in this — in fact I'm well aware that NASA didn't come into existence until the following year.Does anyone know how the telephone reports by correspondents were utilised? Could it be that radio did cover the launch live? I have a recording of Frank McGee describing the explosion as it happened.And I read somewhere that in order to avoid possible further embarrassment in case of another accident, CBS had decided not to show the launch on live TV! Is this story true or not?In so many publications, there are comments regarding this launch being watched live by millions of Americans. The newsreels, of course, carried the story — but how soon was film of the explosion released to the TV networks? Still pictures were certainly in the newspapers the next day.I've yet to see any footage of the launch attempt, other than the familiar shots that were shown in newsreels.</TD></TR><TR bgcolor="#333333"><TD valign=top>ea757grrl</TD><TD> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Colin Anderton: I read somewhere that in order to avoid possible further embarrassment in case of another accident, CBS had decided not to show the launch on live TV! Is this story true or not?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Probably not true. The military didn't want live broadcasts of its launches, for one thing. There were also some logistical and technical challenges to work around. The best they could do was, by October 1958 (the launch of Pioneer 1), begin showing launches on tape-delay. CBS aired a bulletin with video seven minutes after launch.</TD></TR><TR bgcolor="#494949"><TD valign=top>ColinBurgess</TD><TD>Following on from this discussion, and pardon my ignorance, but was the launch alternatively broadcast live on radio, or was a report on the lift-off failure announced over the air later on?</TD></TR><TR bgcolor="#333333"><TD valign=top>atlas5guy</TD><TD>Finally someone is acknowledging that there was no live television broadcast of the Vanguard TV-3 launch in December 1957. Thank you Colin Anderton for speaking out - I was getting tired of being the lone voice in the wilderness denying the "urban myth" of a live Vanguard telecast. I decried the endless repetition of this story by every recent author who wrote about early space history in my article "Fear and Loathing in the time of Sputnik: The Story of Vanguard TV-3" (Spaceflight magazine, vol. 56, June 2014, pp. 224-232). Film was rushed to New York from the Melbourne airport to appear on the 15 minute nightly news broadcasts of the day. How this newsreel film story was twisted into a live telecast myth is a mystery unto itself. For another compelling account of the events of that day, see Jay Barbree's 2007 book "Live From Cape Canaveral." I hope this renewed scrutiny finally puts the Vanguard TV broadcast myth to rest once and for all! </TD></TR><TR bgcolor="#494949"><TD valign=top>Richard Easton</TD><TD>Vanguardians, including my father Roger Easton, discussed TV-3 and TV-4 in 2008. That's my father and wife at 15 seconds. <center><iframe width="400" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HS72o86aeZo" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen>

I recently talked about the early space program, and GPS. I just moved and found a 15 page checklist for the TV-3 launch. Am sending it to NRL's historian who will make copies of it.

A E Andres

For what it's worth, "Chasing the Moon" clearly states there was no live broadcast and retells the now well-known Harry Reasoner story. The book notes that only his report "There she goes!" was sent on to the New York newsroom and the launch was announced as a news bulletin.

CBS had beaten ABC and NBC in broadcasting the news from the Cape but had incorrectly reported that the launch had gone well. The shock of the failure was somewhat reduced by the fact that pictures of the explosion hadn't been broadcast on live television. But the humiliating film of Vanguard's end was shown repeatedly later in the day, often in slow motion. In the days that followed, the Air Force Missile Test Center chose to impose tighter media regulations, going so far as to prohibit binoculars and cameras on the nearby beaches.

I remember finding some accounts of news film getting on the air later that day. In Robert Stone's film I believe the live audio is from either the BBC or CBC but it was recorded for later broadcast.

Colin Anderton

quote:
Originally posted by A E Andres:
I believe the live audio is from either the BBC or CBC but it was recorded for later broadcast.

I presume by CBC you mean the Canadian broadcaster? The voice sounds very much like Frank McGee to my ears, and he worked for NBC.

Can anyone sort this mystery?

Go4Launch

I’m fairly sure it’s not Frank McGee. He had been hired by NBC just a few months earlier and was covering the civil rights movement at the time.

Jonnyed

So I'm reading through the fun and handy "America in Space" series by Eugen Reichl and from the volume on Project Mercury, early in the book there is this passage:

The launch of the Vanguard was scheduled for December 6, 1957. A huge crowd of people gathered at observation points around Cape Canaveral and television brought the first major live coverage of a space flight event to millions of American households. It was the day when American national pride was to be restored. What followed is engraved deep in the national memory to this day. The rocket's power plant ignited and the Vanguard slowly rose about a yard from the launch pad. Then it fell back onto the pad and detonated in an enormous explosion before the eyes of the entire nation. America collectively sank into a state of shock.

So knowing that this particular discussion thread is currently active on cS, I think to myself, "Ah-ha, Jon you should check for footnotes, endnotes, references," to ground truth the TV bit.

Well... there's nothing, nada, zip in the book to reference back to the TV factoid.

In posting this, I am not meaning to criticize or scold Reichl. This is merely a specific example in a relatively decent publication which demonstrates how elusive it is to validate the (what seems to be incorrect) TV coverage legend.

Colin Anderton

I have this morning listened to one of three different recordings I have of correspondents' comments as the Vanguard launch attempt took place. With reference to points made above, one of them most certainly sounds like Frank McGee!

Even I am now wondering whether this was after all shown live, because I quote a reporter who was speaking as the event occurred:

"Well, you have just witnessed what will undoubtedly be a severe propaganda defeat for this country, 110 million dollars having been spent on the project so far."

Will this mystery ever be cleared up, I wonder?

ea757grrl

Further substantiating the lack of live coverage until 1958 is this 2001 article by Harold Baker, who worked for WFGA-TV in Jacksonville and worked closely with NBC's crews in those days. He writes that the first "live-camera" coverage of a launch was a Thor-Able launch on August 17, 1958, but because there were no direct-transmission lines available, the launch was videotaped and shown on Today. Not until the October 11, 1958 of Pioneer I was a launch shown live, as it happened.

Baker also writes that it took a lot of work to persuade the telephone company to install lines capable of handling live video from Cape Canaveral. He also writes about all the restrictions that were placed on early launches and how they worked around them. I strongly recommend checking this article out, since it was written by someone who was there and had to deal with the technical and official restrictions in effect at that time. He pretty much makes it clear that a live television broadcast of the Vanguard attempt in December 1957 didn't happen.

Colin Anderton

Thanks for that info. I feel that you are correct about there being no live coverage. I just wonder if anyone can explain the reporter's comments I quoted?

ea757grrl

It's possible the reporter was doing the film's narration in real time for later rebroadcast. That may explain his dry "Well, you have just witnessed...." reaction, which would make sense in a live-to-telefilm context.

Colin Anderton

Yes, I wondered if that could be so, but around ignition time he said "It hasn't left the ground yet". And then "You have just witnessed" etc.

Whether live or not, his comment "you have just witnessed" would certainly seem to indicate it was from a TV broadcast.

Go4Launch

Information posted here by Jodie (ea757grrl) and others have clearly established there was no real-time "TV broadcast" of this launch. The existing motion pictures and/or associated audio of the event were filmed and/or recorded for later broadcast. More information comes from Broadcasting magazine in its Dec. 16, 1957 issue:

WTVT (TV) Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla., aired 400 feet of film on the explosion of the Vanguard missile one hour and 50 minutes after the earth satellite burst into flames Dec. 6 at Cape Canaveral, Fla., 110 miles from the station. Roger Sharp, a WTVT newscaster, and a two-man camera crew had been recording the preliminaries of the attempted launching for three weeks prior to the target date. They covered the explosion from four miles away and rushed the film to WTVT by chartered plane. WTVT supplied prints for stations in New York, Oklahoma City, New Orleans, Montgomery, Louisville and Miami in time for newscasts that same day.
WMFJ Daytona Beach, Fla., claims it carried news of the Dec. 4 cancellation of the Vanguard missile firing 24 minutes before national media made any announcement of it. WFMJ stationed correspondents on the beach and a Civil Air Patrol member, who was flying in the safe zone in that area, provided coverage via land and air.
Bob Lape, news director of WICE Providence, R.I., was on hand to cover the Vanguard mis-fire for his station and its affiliated WCUE Akron, Ohio, and gave 25 direct reports by beeper phone to both outlets within five days.

Broadcasting, in its Dec. 23 issue, also provided this related story on coverage of the subsequent suborbital test of Atlas 12A on Dec. 17, 1957:

The Atlas intercontinental missile test last week gave the station-network team of NBC and WFGA-TV Jacksonville, Fla., another chance to try out rocket coverage machinery, which was first set up to cover the Vanguard satellite launching attempt Dec. 6. WFGA-TV News Director Harold Baker and Program Manager Rusty Bruton, working with NBC News staffer Roy Neal, have been originating network reports on the activity 100 miles [away] on the cape, flying newsfilm out of the scene as soon as it is shot.

There is no record of Frank McGee's involvement in NBC's 1957 space coverage.

ea757grrl

Thank you very much for the excerpts from Broadcasting. That archive is a gold mine for anyone who's researching anything having to do with television or radio history, and these extracts demonstrate it yet again. Thank you!

Colin Anderton

Fascinating stuff! Many thanks for all that information.

Now I'm gonna be really silly, and start wondering whether any of this precious footage shot for TV still exists....

Colin Anderton

quote:
Originally posted by Go4Launch:
Information posted here by Jodie (ea757grrl) and others have clearly established there was no real-time "TV broadcast" of this launch.

Despite my queries, I'd just like to make it clear that I now accept 100% that there was no live TV of the Vanguard explosion.

But given the information that has been provided, I'm sure glad I asked the original question.

Thanks to all.

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