I did not know this. Apparently, the only footage we have of the Neal Armstrong moon landing (and the only version that the vast majority of the world has ever seen) is from a super-crappy copy that was converted for live television broadcast.
Wired: “One Giant Screwup for Mankind”:
Not long ago, Lebar learned why the footage had looked like mush: The transfer and broadcast had degraded the image badly, like a third-generation photocopy. “What the world saw was some bastardized thing,” says Lebar, now 81. “Posterity deserves more than that.” Good thing the engineers in Australia recorded the raw feed. Now Lebar and a crew of seasoned space cowboys are trying to get that original footage and show it to the world.
There is just one problem: NASA has lost the tapes.
I can’t even stand to watch movies in VHS or pan-and-scan, so this just personally offends me. Now I won’t be able to watch the moon landing anymore until it comes out on DVD.
Fortunately, there is always hope.
Photo of monitor displaying original transmission
Frame from converted television broadcast
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