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According to an article on \. 698 out of 700 boxes of the original tapes of the first TV pictures of men on the moon have gone missing. They were recorded on "Slow Scan TV" (SSTV) tapes, then converted to a lower-quality format that commercial television could handle.
According to the (rather large) PDF on the other end of that link, the Data Evaluation Laboratory (DEL) at the Goddard Space Flight Center is the only known place that has the equipment and expertise to play back the tapes and recover the data -- and the DEL is scheduled to be closed in October of this year.
Amusing Space/Music trivia, from The Straight Dope Mailbag: David Bowie's self-titled album, containing the song "Space Oddity" (also known as "Major Tom"), was released to coincide with the first lunar landing. Bowie's creation of Major Tom was influenced by Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film "2001: A Space Odyssey." Bowie is said to have written his song shortly after seeing the movie. "Space Oddity" obviously is a pun on "Space Odyssey."
According to the (rather large) PDF on the other end of that link, the Data Evaluation Laboratory (DEL) at the Goddard Space Flight Center is the only known place that has the equipment and expertise to play back the tapes and recover the data -- and the DEL is scheduled to be closed in October of this year.
Amusing Space/Music trivia, from The Straight Dope Mailbag: David Bowie's self-titled album, containing the song "Space Oddity" (also known as "Major Tom"), was released to coincide with the first lunar landing. Bowie's creation of Major Tom was influenced by Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film "2001: A Space Odyssey." Bowie is said to have written his song shortly after seeing the movie. "Space Oddity" obviously is a pun on "Space Odyssey."
