Thor187_front (matted & framed 1959 presentation w/citation)

Frame from a 16mm camera recovered from a General Electric Mark 2 Re-entry/Recovery vehicle aboard Thor 187/Thor DM-18A, 12 May 1959. The eastern coast of the Florida peninsula is visible above the spent stage, with Cape Canaveral directly above it.

From the GE Film Catalog description of the footage:
"On May 12, 1959, Air Force Thor Missile Number 187 lifted off its launching pad at Cape Canaveral and headed Southeast out over the Atlantic Missile Range, To most observers, it was apparently just another routine test; however, this flight was different. In its blunt General Electric Mark 2 nose cone, Thor 187 carried a very special payload installed in a small data capsule that would be recovered when the flight was over. As usual, the reliable Thor was right on course. Fifteen minutes and 1500 miles after leaving the launching site, it came down so close to the predicted impact point that crew-members on the recovery ship standing by actually witnessed the data capsule plunge into the sea. In record time the sphere was hauled aboard and the vessel headed for shore. There, General Electric scientists began the careful processing of the capsule's contents. They were not long in finding the results they had hoped for—in the subdued light of a photographic dark room, on a still-dripping strip of developed motion picture film, the eyes of man beheld for the first time the image of the earth as it appears from beyond the atmosphere."

Plaque citation:

“AIR FORCE THOR MISSILE AND FLORIDA PENINSULA FROM 200 MILES IN SPACE

FRAME FROM 16 MM CAMERA CARRIED AND RECOVERED IN GENERAL ELECTRIC MARK 2 RE-ENTRY/RECOVERY VEHICLE. THOR MISSILE 187, MAY 12, 1959

UNITED STATES AIR FORCE BALLISTIC MISSILE DIVISION, LOS ANGELES, CALIF. GENERAL ELECTRIC MISSILE AND SPACE VEHICLE DEPARTMENT, PHILA., PA.”

The amazing footage, from which this frame is taken, is at:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-O99IH9kbPw&feature=youtu.be&....

youtu.be/-O99IH9kbPw

Not too shabby for 1959.

Taken on: February 27, 2019

Tags:

death from above

USAF

USAF Missile

cloud patterns

cylindrical

Atlantic Missile Range

16mm footage

Space History

booster separation

booster stage

booster rocket

Cape Canaveral

Mark 2 Re-Entry/Recovery Vehicle

General Electric

earth from space

Mark II Re-entry Vehicle

Mark II Re-Entry/Recovery Vehicle

IRBM

Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile

earth’s curvature

re-entry/recovery vehicle

re-entry vehicle

Thor DM-18A

spent stage

spent rocket stage

Florida Peninsula

Florida Coastline

ballistic flight

Thor Rocket

Thor Missile

Thor 187 « less

Sets appears in: • Breaking The Bonds & Firsts • Miscellaneous

Groups appears in: • Real Rockets (no models please) • Missiles & Rockets

Camera: Apple iPhone 6s, f/2.2, 1/30 sec, 4.2mm, ISO 25 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Apple iPhone 6s
Aperture:	f/2.2
Exposure Time:	0.033 sec (1/30)
Focal Length:	4.2mm
ISO:	25
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Auto, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Program AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	12.1.4
Show full info

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