Lost Apollo 11 high-quality video - Search Is on for Original Apollo 11 Footage

We got back from two months in Thailand this Sunday and had a few e-mails waiting in the que. (and a lot of junk mail to clear out, which along with security updates has delayed my posting to the lunar-update list.)

Ron Wells sent me some information about the search for the original TV telemetry tapes that were made of the Apollo 11 landing at Honeysuckle Creek in Australia and sent to NASA in the USA. (this by contractual agreement and I had thought by error. Please note correction. -LRK-)

The search has been going on for about a year now and not found yet.

Boxes get moved, stored, dumped, and just maybe in someone's garage.
(not mine, that would be Pioneer 10 stuff)

If you or someone you know, worked on the Apollo 11 and have any recollection of the tapes in question, please let the folks in Australia know.

Here is a note from Colin Mackellar and there is more below.
- LRK -

"Colin Mackellar" colin@honeysucklecreek.net
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Hi Ron - and Larry,

Sure - the address is

http://honeysucklecreek.net/Apollo_11/tapes

We'd appreciate any amount of passing around. :-)


I'm sure you won't be surprised that the loonies are now onto the story.
"NASA has hidden the tapes because they show the alien structures next to the Apollo 11 landing site." (Obvious, isn't it - why didn't I think of
that?)

Since the broadcast, there have been a number of contacts from all sorts of people. I looks like most of them are from people who thought we were looking for NTSC videotapes - not telemetry tapes - but some of the leads might get us somewhere.

with best wishes

Colin

Snip
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Thanks for looking up with me.

Hopefully on our return to the Moon we will do a better job of archiving.
(now who misplaced that 4 Gig iPod?)
- LRK -

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsltr.: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update
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http://www.honeysucklecreek.net/Apollo_11/tapes/
The search for the Apollo 11 TV tapes

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5578853
Search Is on for Original Apollo 11 Footage

http://honeysucklecreek.net/Apollo_11/index.html
HSK, Apollo 11 & TV from the Moon
Monday 21st July 1969 Australian time

http://www.apolloexplorer.co.uk/default.asp?libsrc=/bymedia.htm
Media Index

http://www.apolloexplorer.co.uk/default.asp?libsrc=/bymission.htm
Mission Index
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The following posts were taken from the ProjectApollo Yahoo group discussion, Digest Number 2201
- LRK -
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4a. Lost Apollo 11 high-quality video
From: pgh_hound
4b. Re: Lost Apollo 11 high-quality video
From: Mark Gray
4c. Re: Lost Apollo 11 high-quality video
From: Colin Mackellar
4d. Re: Lost Apollo 11 high-quality video
From: Mick Winfield
4e. Re: [ProjectApollo] Re: Lost Apollo 11 high-quality video
From: ygroups@ektr.com
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4a. Lost Apollo 11 high-quality video
Posted by: "pgh_hound" schroede@bnl.gov pgh_hound
Date: Mon Jul 31, 2006 7:16 pm (PDT)

I'm surprised that I don't see any discussion of the piece that aired on National Public Radio this morning about the lost Apollo 11 video tape.
( story at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5578853 )

This was a startling piece. In all of the Apollo history I've read, there have been many mentions of the low quality, "ghostly" images sent back by the Apollo 11 surface TV camera, but no mention of the fact that this was because we were watching a television camera pointing at a screen that contained the actual video signal.

>From the story:
-------------------------
To convert the originals, engineers essentially took a commercial television camera and aimed it at the monitor. The resulting image is what was sent to Houston, and on to the world.

"And any time you just point a camera at a screen, that's obviously not the best way to get the best picture," says Richard Nafzger, a TV specialist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. He worked with Apollo's lunar TV program, and says that conversion was the best they could do at the time.
------------------------

Here's a link to the The Apollo 11 tape search website...

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


Anyone else ever hear this story before?

Gary

Messages in this topic (5)
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4b. Re: Lost Apollo 11 high-quality video
Posted by: "Mark Gray" mwgray@bellsouth.net markwgray2001
Date: Mon Jul 31, 2006 7:29 pm (PDT)

We've been discussing the subject for some time. The search has been going on for over a year.

It is for telemetry tapes. If they can be found, and they are still in good shape, better TV can be extracted.

Mark

On Jul 31, 2006, at 10:13 PM, pgh_hound wrote:

> I'm surprised that I don't see any discussion of the piece that aired
> on National Public Radio this morning about the lost Apollo 11 video
> tape.
> ( story at
> http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5578853 )
>
> This was a startling piece. In all of the Apollo history I've read,
> there have been many mentions of the low quality, "ghostly" images
> sent back by the Apollo 11 surface TV camera, but no mention of the
> fact that this was because we were watching a television camera
> pointing at a screen that contained the actual video signal.
>
> From the story:
> -------------------------
> To convert the originals, engineers essentially took a commercial
> television camera and aimed it at the monitor. The resulting image is
> what was sent to Houston, and on to the world.
>
> "And any time you just point a camera at a screen, that's obviously
> not the best way to get the best picture," says Richard Nafzger, a TV
> specialist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. He
> worked with Apollo's lunar TV program, and says that conversion was
> the best they could do at the time.
> ------------------------
>
> Here's a link to the The Apollo 11 tape search website...
>
> http://www.honeysucklecreek.net/Apollo_11/tapes/
>
>
> Anyone else ever hear this story before?
>
> Gary
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>

Messages in this topic (5)
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4c. Re: Lost Apollo 11 high-quality video
Posted by: "Colin Mackellar" colin@honeysucklecreek.net colinmackellar
Date: Mon Jul 31, 2006 11:34 pm (PDT)

--- In ProjectApollo@yahoogroups.com, "pgh_hound" wrote:
>
> I'm surprised that I don't see any discussion of the piece that aired
> on National Public Radio this morning about the lost Apollo 11 video tape.
> ( story at
> http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5578853 )

Hi Gary,

Yes, we hope that story will bring out of the woodwork someone who knows where the tapes are. There must be *someone*.

Part of the trouble with "magnetic tapes" is that, to the casual observer, they all look pretty much the same. For example, a contractor might have been involved in moving them (from one storage facility to another) while having no idea of what it was they were moving. The tapes were more likely to have "NCG-725" rather than "Apollo 11" on the tape label.

Three things came together to prompt the search -

i.) The discovery of still photos taken of the slow scan and scan converted TV monitors (17 photos from Honeysuckle Creek, 2 from Goldstone and 1 from
Parkes)

ii.) The discovery of a Honeysuckle Creek telemetry tape. This is the one mentioned in the story. Although it was from a 1967 simulation, not from Apollo11, when sent to Goddard, data could be recovered from it OK.

iii.) The discovery of the Super 8 film taken at Honeysuckle Creek during the Apollo 11 EVA. Even though it was only hand-held Super 8, some of the footage is significantly better than was seen outside Goldstone, Honeysuckle and Parkes.

When questions were asked about the telemetry tapes from the three receiving stations - that's when the fun started.

By the way, scan-converted TV (on 2" Ampex quad tape) was also recorded at Goldstone, Honeysuckle and Sydney Video (for the Parkes picture). These wouldn't be as good as the slow scan / telemetry tapes - but if they could be found, their picture would be an improvement on what we have. Trouble is
- those tapes are probably in the same place as the telemetry tapes. :-(

Colin Mackellar

Sydney


Messages in this topic (5)
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4d. Re: Lost Apollo 11 high-quality video
Posted by: "Mick Winfield" winfieldmick@hotmail.com winfieldmick
Date: Tue Aug 1, 2006 1:01 pm (PDT)

Sorry guys, should probably be paying more attention but are only the tapes of A11 'lost' or is there better quality material out there for other missions waiting to be discovered?

Mick W.


Messages in this topic (5)
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4e. Re: [ProjectApollo] Re: Lost Apollo 11 high-quality video
Posted by: "ygroups@ektr.com" ygroups@ektr.com andorauk
Date: Tue Aug 1, 2006 1:31 pm (PDT)

IIRC, they have lost virtually all of the Apollo telemetry tapes, approx.
700 boxes, each with 5/6 reels of tape, covering all missions!

Also, the only known NASA facility (The Data Evaluation Lab/DEL) that can read these tapes is due to close in October, after this point, it will become more dificult to read any tapes that may be found. It is not clear (to me at any rate) if some of the this unique equipment will be kept operational after this point. Very little mention has been made about this important fact in recent prior posts.

Something must be done to escalate this search - so this important historical record is not lost forever, before its too late. The news that the DEL is living on borrowed time puts this into perspective, we have a few tens of days NOT months to make some progress here.

I am also disppointed/dismayed that so little debate has been prompted on this forum, following this recent news.

The only hope, in my humble opinion, would be to mount a national appeal over the US media networks, perhaps backed by someone like Tom Hanks.

Somebody get me his number, and I will call him !

+tim+

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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

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