On Tue, 15 Aug 2006 07:38:37 -0700, molczan wrote:

Jorge R. Frank wrote:
wrote in news:1155650001.761196.58410
@h48g2000cwc.googlegroups.com:

The landing was broadcast live around the world. My question is,
aren't there many "original" tapes that various news and other
organizations would have in their possesion that would make this
point moot. Is is just a question of "NASA's" copy gone south? Does
it make a difference?..........Doc

It makes a lot of difference. NASA's originals are much higher quality
than what was broadcast live, due to the low-tech NTSC conversion
method used (literally, point a TV camera at a monitor playing the
original).

The following pages, from Australian radio telescopes involved in
tracking Apollo, provide an indication of the considerable degradation
that resulted from the scan conversion process:

http://www.parkes.atnf.csiro.au/apol...V_quality.html

http://www.honeysucklecreek.net/Apollo_11/

Hopefully, the raw data tapes will be found - in readable condition.


Yeah, it's a race with time. They're already pretty old.

I can imagine there is a rather large number of old not so well documented
data tapes hanging around NASA. I wonder if there is anyone still working
at NASA who would even know what is written on the label of the tape. Or,
if the label is even attached.

This is probably one of the most valuable tapes. Imagine all the other
slightly less valuable tapes waisting away, waiting for their data to be
copied to a hard drive. Ideally, they could start coping data from all
the tapes, then hopefully they would run across the tape in question. The
second worst case would be if they find it right away and let all the
other tapes waist away. The worst being they never find it.

--
Craig Fink
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