posted January 16, 2006 09:31 PM               

but...

I am also considering delaying it as I do not yet have everything I want to put on the set. I will make the final decision this week.

And...

I have changed our pre-order policies this year. We will begin to take preorders at the time we deliver the masters to the replicators. This will shorten the preorder time considerably, but provides a definitive date on release. I did this to minimize customer concerns and inquiries on final release dates for ordered products. Helps me sleep a little better at night as well.

This is the reason I haven't taken orders for Challenger or Apollo 14 as yet.

posted January 17, 2006 09:58 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by spacecraft films:
I am on track for the Challenger set...

but...

I am also considering delaying it as I do not yet have everything I want to put on the set. I will make the final decision this week.

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Thanks for the update. My vote would be to get all of the material you want before releasing it. That way you'll never look back and say "It could've been better if only I waited to include..."

posted January 20, 2006 02:41 PM               

My plan is to do an Apollo 1 set next January and a Columbia set the following January. Of course, any of this can and probably will change.

posted January 20, 2006 03:36 PM               

While it's painful footage to watch, having as many launch and tracking angles as possible can only help in the understanding of what happened.

I would vote for as much post-explosion footage as possible, as well. Most footage we see terminates within a few seconds of the explosion. Rarely do we see the footage of the SRB destruction and falling debris, other than tiny snippets that show up in documentaries.

I'm sure this is all part of your plan already, but if not, consider it a vote to include it.

While I can't say I'm "excited" to watch this footage, it's important to document this event. We can learn more from Challenger by seeing what happened and remembering the loss. Having debris buried in a missile silo and covered over is not a suitable way to remember this tragedy.

Also, if you find any footage to document the crew and their careers, training, interviews, missions, etc. prior to the 51-L, those would also be nice inclusions in the set.

Do you have a rough layout of what the discs will show. Is it something similar to:

Disc 1 - Pre-mission activities, training, interviews, crew bios, etc.

Disc 2 - The events of January 28: Crew breakfast and walkout, launch footage, post-explosion coverage

Disc 3 - Investigation and findings, memorial to crew

posted February 03, 2006 01:46 PM               

I was just wondering what is the current status of the DVD

Many thanks

posted March 11, 2006 08:49 AM            

Have the Apollo 14 and Challenger sets gone to the replicators yet? What's the best guess for a shipping date?

posted April 04, 2006 06:52 PM               

Is the photographic evidence just the close-up pad cameras...or do you also include the tracking cameras up to (and after) the explosion? Will you include a full set of launch and tracking angles? Also, if so, do you have launch and tracking footage that only contains natural sound...with no commentary (or the ability to turn off the commentary and listen to the natural sound). I've never seen the raw launch and tracking footage presented in full without commentary. And rarely do we ever see anything other than the one tracking angle that was presented on television. It would be good to see the full launch sequence at least once, in natural sound, to get a good idea of what the event was like. Granted, it's not fun stuff to watch, but would be very powerful testimony to what happened (and a good reminder why the mistakes that led to the disaster should be avoided at all costs).

Also, I recall seeing footage (that I presume came from the Rogers commission) analyzing and illustrating the debris coming from the explosion plume. It's tough stuff to watch, but would be good to include with this set...just because it gives us an idea of how destructive (or non-destructive) the explosive burn was.

posted April 04, 2006 07:45 PM               

The "annotated" track is the footage as it was presented to the Commission, and includes freezes at key points in the flight, and includes enhanced footage. It also includes a section showing key parts of the Challenger emerging from the burn, yes...

I'm still waiting on just a couple of more things to come in, so I can't fully answer the audio question, except to say that it will contain the normal launch with commentary as well as the flight director loop on separate tracks. The flight director loop extends to the point where they go to contingency procedures and basically everyone goes off line to preserve data. This happens around 10 to 15 minutes after the accident. I'm hoping it will also include a nat sound track only.

Hope this answers the questions.

The reason it has been delayed is that as I got deeper into the subject (as always) I started adding more and more to the original concept of the set. Oh, well. I think it will be worth it. If you'll note - even though I put up a full description I added a line at the end that some more items may be added. I expect the set to be released in about 3.5 to 4 weeks.

posted April 04, 2006 08:08 PM               

I did see the little note saying more material may be added. Nothing wrong with that. At least it didn't say that material may be subtracted.

posted June 04, 2006 12:39 AM               

Perhaps the most heart-wrenching moment was watching the footage captured by the TV van. I had never seen this launch footage before. It really gave a good idea of what it must have been like to witness this from the ground level. And while I knew what was coming when I saw this, it made the tragedy seem completely (and utterly) fresh once again. I had to take a break after watching that footage.

One question for Mark Gray...the preview clip on the website showed footage of the pre-launch breakfast and the walkout. But I didn't seen either of those on the DVD set. Did they get omitted or did I miss them?

posted June 06, 2006 08:47 AM               

I'm in the midst of finishing Apollo 14 and honestly can't remember for sure... I know there's some on the timeline and some on the menu track... and I thought it is on the launch tracks, but I may be mistaken.

posted June 07, 2006 07:23 AM               

this set is a sobering reflection of the Challenger accident. Every set you have made so far has dealt with triumph, whether that is Apollo 11's landing, or Apollo 13's successful failure. This set though is very different.

posted June 14, 2006 03:57 AM               

One small point of criticism: I would rather have had the complete breakfast and walkout than, for example, Reagan's first reaction.

Please be sure to include the usual pre-flight highlights (crew arrival at KSC, breakfast and walkout) in future Shuttle sets. I think these are a must!

Other than that, the Challenger set is another great SpacecraftFilms production that every space buff should have.

Now we are GO for Apollo-14!

Ed

posted June 14, 2006 11:55 PM               

Otherwise it wouldn't be complete in my view...

posted June 15, 2006 02:34 PM               

I'll take that under note for future sets. In my first list of stuff I had it as a track, and I thought it was on one of the launches, but it could be longer.

We'll strive to improve...

posted September 01, 2006 12:22 PM               

My plan is to do an Apollo 1 set next January and a Columbia set the following January. Of course, any of this can and probably will change.