NASA Stargazer 1962 project

Vaeltaja

Member
The flat earth / apollo hoax claims are saying that NASA faked space and they are saying that this video is a proof about it. In video, we see the 1962 Stargazer documented by British Pathé tv channel.
The conspiracy theorists are focusing to the part of the end of this video, where there is stars and being seen and they are claiming those are made to cheat people.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K3u0rEmOoo&


The commentary by Michael Fitzmaurice sadly is lost.

Here we have another video of Stargazer, which doesn't have stars.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVCQ3uu5cWY&feature=emb_title


The Stratocat is claiming in their article, that only the seeing data was obtained:
"Unfortunately, the star tracker which used a photomultiplier as a detector did not work due to high-voltage discharge. It was later determined that the potting at the base of the photomultiplier had been damaged during transport to the launch site. A similar difficulty appeared in the scintillation photometer. As a consequence of the above only seeing data was obtained."
http://www.stratocat.com.ar/fichas-e/1962/HMN-19621213.htm

Stargazer gondola in National museum:
https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/V...Y3DCq1o1r3fSMK5HSa6rlmei7JNVaFAt52dMSDmvVMdU/

So, the question remains, what is the clip of stars in the British Pathé video and who made it? I am myself believing it to be made by British Pathé, which was owned by Warner Bros during that time. (info from wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pathé_News )
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I’m sure you’re right about the stars. Someone tacked on a few seconds of rather poorly done space simulation to a 1 minute newsreel-type film. It reminds me of early film animations like Georges Méliès' 1902 film, A Trip to the Moon.

As far as I can tell, Stargazer was designed to take high quality photos, not movies.

What is the actual conspiracy theory behind this? I’m curious. Is it that all space is fake and that this film proves it?
 
I’m sure you’re right about the stars. Someone tacked on a few seconds of rather poorly done space simulation to a 1 minute newsreel-type film. It reminds me of early film animations like Georges Méliès' 1902 film, A Trip to the Moon.

As far as I can tell, Stargazer was designed to take high quality photos, not movies.

What is the actual conspiracy theory behind this? I’m curious. Is it that all space is fake and that this film proves it?

This is the original conspiracy meme. They are claiming in the video that this was one of the NASA:s first tries to fake space and then they become better at it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b0NCVx9O5w&

I believe this kind of videos were used in movie theaters and the media type is cinema newsreel: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newsreel

In hoping to have better understanding of the studio environment, I made a panorama out of the "stars" in the video. It might be some sort of black fabric that has poked holes in it.

stargazer_stars.jpg

And here is the instrument, what ever it is:
instrument.jpg
 
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No, it must be genuine, because we can see a star shining through the transparent body of the moon, just like we flat earthers always said!

sarc\
 
Not sure why this one bothers me so much but here goes. Your first sentence says
The flat earth / apollo hoax claims are saying that NASA faked space and they are saying that this video is a proof about it.

That is certainly what they are saying, without a single shred of proof, and they are making up mocking commentary that has nothing to do with the original video.

I’m not going to try to transcribe the dialog, but they say “imagine if you showed this to people 50 years ago, they would think this is what space looks like”. 50 years ago, I and others in my age group had observed space directly through telescopes and knew perfectly well what space looked like and it was not a low quality stage effect.

They also said that this footage was supposedly what the observers saw. Again, this statement is completely made up because there is no sound track that says that.

Nice work on the composite panorama. It clearly shows the folds of the curtain and the shiny black stage in the foreground. I’m reaching back quite a ways in my memory, but in the 60’s & 70’s, newsreel vendors would attach a blank piece of film to the ends of their products so that the theatre or broadcaster could add their own credits, advertisements, or whatever. This is probably a stock Pathé advertising blank, which coincidentally contains stars.
 
I made a panorama out of the "stars" in the video. It might be some sort of black fabric that has poked holes in it

its a planetarium.

you can see it better here at 2:30 in footage
https://www.britishpathe.com/video/what-do-the-stars-foretell-for-you-aka-the-stars
Exterior of The London Planetarium, Marylebone Road. People queuing up and walking into the Planetarium. Inside we see the complicated projector and display of stars on the ceiling. Pan showing many stars, the sun and moon, outline of Aries the Ram, Leo the lion. Silhouette of London and the night sky and the stars, pan up showing the Pathe Cockerel among the stars!
Content from External Source
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https://www.britishpathe.com/video/man-and-the-stars/query/planetariums
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its a planetarium.

That nails the source of the 'star' footage in the other Pathe clip, but I hope the London Planetarium didn't show that 'starscape' to actual customers. A transparent moon, non-existent and nonsensical constellations, and the sun apparently out in the night sky! I can only speculate that the Planetarium made a jokey mock-up display for benefit of Pathe. The new 'constellation' - the Pathe Cockerel - might tend to support that suggestion, and it would be consistent with the overall tone of the piece - see the comic 'astrologer' at the end of the film. We shall probably never know for sure.
 
and the sun apparently out in the night sky
i think thats the full moon. as it moves across it shows the moon from waxing to full to waning. (or waning to full to waxing :) )

from my iffy memory, planetariums dont really show the sky as is.. you could just walk outside and look up for that.
 
Thank you very much deirdre! That planetarium footage is interesting and helped me very much to find more footage and photos from that planetarium. And indeed, they are using multiple different kind of space projections there. The one in British Pathe has to be one of the oldest and worst ones. imho.. Image search


The same footage is also used in this kids home project:


Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wyh-6iV_mfA

Chicago planetarium 1932. The footage is not used here.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0o9IQbbVGQ
 
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