Editing AS-202 (section)

==Staging footage==

[[File:Separation of Rocket Stages During Apollo Mission AS-202.webm |thumb|left |200px |alt=Footage showing the separation of two stages of the Saturn IB rocket.  The S-IVB pulls away from the spent S-IB, and the latter falls to Earth. |Footage showing the separation of two stages of the Saturn IB rocket.  The S-IVB pulls away from the spent S-IB, and the latter falls to Earth.]]

AS-202 was one of three uncrewed Apollo missions which obtained notable close-up footage of a Saturn rocket during staging, the others being [[Apollo 4]] and [[Apollo 6]].  Ejectable cameras were mounted to each launch vehicle, technology first developed for the Saturn I.<ref name="eject">{{cite web |url=https://history.nasa.gov/afj/camerapods/camerapodessay.html |title=Ejectable camera pods |last=Oleszewski |first=Wes |website=Apollo Flight Journal |year=2019}}</ref>  On AS-202, a camera was mounted to the Saturn IB vehicle's first stage, the S-IB, looking forward.  It captured footage of the vehicle's second stage, the S-IVB (200 series) pulling away and firing its single J-2 engine.<ref name="Saunders">{{cite book |last=Saunders |first=Andy |title=Apollo Remastered: The Ultimate Photographic Record |date=October 25, 2022 |publisher=Black Dog and Leventhal |isbn=9780762480241 |page=30}}</ref>  The upper stage is identifiable by its firing of three ullage motors; a later iteration of the S-IVB, the 500 series, had only two ullage motors, and was that used on Saturn V launches.<ref name="Woods">{{cite web |url=https://history.nasa.gov/afj/ap08fj/01launch_ascent.html |title=Apollo 8, Day 1: Launch and Ascent to Earth Orbit |last1=Woods |first1=David |last2=O'Brien |first2=Frank |website=Apollo Flight Journal}}</ref><ref name="Drew">{{cite web |url=https://www.drewexmachina.com/2016/08/25/as-202-the-last-test-flight-before-apollo-1/ |title=AS-202: The Last Test Flight Before Apollo 1 |last=LePage |first=Andrew |website=Drew Ex Machina |date=August 25, 2016}}</ref>

Although the footage was captured during an uncrewed flight, it is frequently used as [[stock footage]] in documentaries of crewed flights, to illustrate staging.<ref name="Woods" />  The footage was used in the documentary film ''[[Apollo 11 (2019 film)|Apollo 11]]'', and is sometimes erroneously attributed to Apollo 11, or other crewed missions.