Where does this come from, and can I check it?

Fritz Lang's 1929 picture used the device for dramatic tension. The figure is taken from British Film Institute, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

Is this really a space fact?

Yes. It sits on the Space shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.

What else can I read about it?

The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.

Mondo Knows Facts

The countdown came from a German film

Fritz Lang's 1929 picture used the device for dramatic tension Science adviser Hermann Oberth helped stage the launch in Frau im Mond, and the numbered countdown made a story device out of an observation of the visual drama of a rocket. Rocket teams later adopted it as a real operational convention. The A2 and V2 programmes used countdown sequences in the 1930s and 1940s. It sits in Mondo's space collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.

Where this comes from

British Film Institute

Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.

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Tags: countdown, history, film

The countdown came from a German film: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: Fritz Lang's 1929 picture used the device for dramatic tension. The figure is taken from British Film Institute, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a space fact?: Yes. It sits on the Space shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.