Posted on 08/05/2006 3:50:29 PM PDT by nnn0jeh
THE heart-stopping moments when Neil Armstrong took his first tentative steps onto another world are defining images of the 20th century: grainy, fuzzy, unforgettable.
But just 37 years after Apollo 11, it is feared the magnetic tapes that recorded the first moon walk - beamed to the world via three tracking stations, including Parkes's famous "Dish" - have gone missing at NASA's Goddard Space Centre in Maryland.
A desperate search has begun amid concerns the tapes will disintegrate to dust before they can be found.
It is not widely known that the Apollo 11 television broadcast from the moon was a high-quality transmission, far sharper than the blurry version relayed instantly to the world on that July day in 1969.
Among those battling to unscramble the mystery is John Sarkissian, a CSIRO scientist stationed at Parkes for a decade. "We are working on the assumption they still exist," Mr Sarkissian told the Herald.
"Your guess is a good as mine as to where they are."
(Excerpt) Read more at smh.com.au ...
The orthicon tube might be blinded by now. Lots of sunlight got through the baffles.
"But, they might as well not have sent men to the moon for all the good it has done."
But isn't it in man's nature to explore? Since we stood on 2 feet we have wandered as far as we could go. It is just that at that time the moon was as far as we could go. There is no doubt that some of the technology used to take us there is indeed incorporated into your every day life now! The medium you are using to respond to this story is just one of them. You have at your fingertips, more computing power than Neil Armstrong had at his in 1969.
Yeah, but the elevation of the human spirit aspect evidently didn't take permanently, except for a few who probably didn't need elevating assistance anyway.
I found mine in the phone book.
LOL...
It's one inch mag tape. Might be unreadable by now anyway.
That'd be fine for collectors. The tech side isn't as important as possession.
Great. NASA wants billions of dollars to find life on other planets and they can't even find the stupid moon tapes.
What field are you hiring? I am on the look for a job. I currently do CAD drawings.
Don't be silly. They used GPS.
Haven't they heard of backups?
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