Newly Restored Video of Apollo 11 Moonwalk
- By Betsy Mason
- July 16, 2009 |
- 1:36 pm |
- Categories: Space
NASA has released newly restored video of the Apollo 11 Moon landing to celebrate the 40th anniversary of this feat.
Fifteen key moments are available, including Neil Armstrong’s first step on the Moon and Buzz Aldrin and Armstrong planting the American flag. The videos are part of a larger project to restore more video of the moonwalk.
A team of Apollo-era engineers who were responsible for the live broadcast of the moonwalk in 1969 gathered the best available video of the event from around the world and worked with experts who specialize in restoring old Hollywood classics.
In 1969, the live broadcast was recorded, along with biomedical, voice and other data, onto one-inch telemetry tapes as a backup if the live feed failed. But those tapes were lost, and a three-year hunt for them was unsuccessful.
So engineers were left with recordings of the TV broadcast, which lost a lot of resolution as they traveled from the Moon to ground-based tracking stations, to satellites via microwave links and through analog landlines to Mission Control in Houston.
“The restoration is ongoing and may produce even better video,” engineer Richard Nafzger at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, who oversaw television processing at the ground tracking sites during Apollo 11, said in a press release. “The restoration project is scheduled to be completed in September and will provide the public, future historians, and the National Archives with the highest quality video of this historic event.”
NASA TV will be streaming the footage in HD from noon to 7 p.m. EDT July 16 and 17.
See Also:
- One Giant Bounce for Mankind
- Moon Rock Reveals Hot Molten Core
- Lunar Probe Sends First High-Res Images
- Photo Gallery: Astronauts’ Risky Spacewalk, Step by Zero-G Step …
- Gallery: Oddities From NASA’s Massive Image Archive
- NASA’s Best Photos: You Make the Call
Video: NASA
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Well, I think that Neil Armstrong was absolutely the worst choice for the title of “First Man on the Moon”! There would have been a lot of good things he could have done for the world, capitalizing on his fame and name recognition. Instead, he spent his life as a virtual hermit, disdaining anything except sitting on a few corporate boards for more $$. Don’t get me wrong, him hawking “Sham-Wow’s” on TV is not what I’m talking about. Environmental issues, world peace efforts, making the planet a better place to be, could all have used a spokesperson of his stature. At least when they choose the Mars mission, hopefully they’ll get someone with a little more sense of the import of that accomplishment. Oh, and if he didn’t want to step up to the plate on this, he should have been the second man on the moon and given the honor to someone else.
To johnleb’s comment: Why? John Glenn was a true American hero long before he set foot on he Moon. Was it not also good enough that John Glen became an Ohio State Senator? Course, if you think all congressional senators are hermits, then you have been living with your head in the sand - or someplace else.
As for the Mars mission, I guess you would like someone like Queen Pelosi to head the mission. Course, that may not be a bad idea. Have her ride shotgun on the outside of the space craft sans spacesuit.
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Back to the article, I was 16 watching the live feed on TV. At the time, even the grainy, fuzzy video from another celestial object with humans on it was awesome.
Wolfganag523: “John Glenn was a true American hero long before he set foot on he Moon.”
John Glenn never stepped foot on the moon.
[sarcasm]Wait - you mean this isn’t a tribute to Michael Jackson?[/sarcasm]
It’s a myth that Neil Armstrong is a ‘virtual hermit’, he’s done loads of interviews over the years. But it must be difficult when you’re so famous that your own barber sells the hair he cut off your head.
That he doesn’t say yes to every interview request (thousands a year, I’d wager) actually adds to the myth of the man. And if you really want to know what happened, just ask Buzz.
I think it’s awful that people think that since Armstrong did something great he all of a sudden belongs to the public. What right do you have to tell him how to live his life? He had probably the two most stressful jobs on the planet (Test pilot and astronaut) so if he wants some peace and quiet, I think he’s certainly earned it.
I hope they didn’t leave an audio recording with the plaque. Aliens would come down to the Deep South looking for the superior intellect of “the first men to step foot upon the mewn”
Umm the restored version still has drop-outs. I would have thought they’d be the first thing to go
Although Neil Armstrong become a recluse, Edgar Mitchell founded the Institute of Noetic Sciences in 1971. Although some feel he’s too intellectual (or woo-woo if you prefer) he’s probably the sort of person johnleb has in mind — someone who became an articulate speaker rather than someone who does the exact opposite. http://www.noetic.org/about/history.cfm