"In 2007, the Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project (LOIRP) began a process to convert the Lunar Orbiter Images directly from the original analog video recordings of the spacecraft data to digital image format, a change which provided vastly improved resolution over the original images released in the 1960s. The first of these restored images were released in late 2008."

1. Friday, June 12, 2009

2. Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project
Adventures in Techno-Archeology,
Restoring Lunar Images for a New Generation of Exploration
Friday, June 12, 2009

3. In the Beginning
1966-67 - five NASA
spacecraft mapped the
moon in unequaled
quality
1986 - almost 2000
original 1960’s hi-def
analog tapes were saved
2008 - last surviving tape
drives were revived from
oblivion
Friday, June 12, 2009

4. Lunar Orbiter Spacecraft
Friday, June 12, 2009

5. Lunar Orbiter
Camera
Two cameras:
• High resolution 24” (610 mm) aperture
• Medium resolution 8” (80mm) aperture
Friday, June 12, 2009

6. Lunar Orbiter Cameras
Friday, June 12, 2009

7. Spacecraft Film Scan
Friday, June 12, 2009

8. Imaging Process
Friday, June 12, 2009

9. Friday, June 12, 2009

10. Lunar Orbiter Analog Tapes
Friday, June 12, 2009

11. Analog Tapes
Friday, June 12, 2009

12. Earthrise-1966
Friday, June 12, 2009

13. Lunar Orbiter
Tapes 1986
• Nancy Evans, a NASA scientist, was
asked “What to Do With These
Tapes?”
• She ordered the tapes sent to JPL
and located surplus tape drives
• Project languished due to NASA’s
lack of interest
Friday, June 12, 2009

14. Lunar Orbiter
Tapes 2007
Friday, June 12, 2009

15. Visit to Nancy’s
Friday, June 12, 2009

16. The Tapes
Storage at a NASA JPL offsite
climate-controlled storage
facility
Friday, June 12, 2009

17. The Journey to
McDonalds
Tape Drives Tapes Arrival
From Nancy’s from JPL at Ames
Friday, June 12, 2009

18. Friday, June 12, 2009

19. Getting to Work
Friday, June 12, 2009

20. Drive Refurbishment
Friday, June 12, 2009

21. Techno-Archeology
Friday, June 12, 2009

22. Success!
Friday, June 12, 2009

23. Building an Image
Friday, June 12, 2009

24. Friday, June 12, 2009

25. Earthrise 2008!
Friday, June 12, 2009

26. Friday, June 12, 2009

27. Earth Detail
Friday, June 12, 2009

28. Earth Detail From Lunar Orbit
Friday, June 12, 2009

29. Quality Assessment
Reproduced Images Match the Modulation Transfer Function
of the Original 70mm Film
!
Friday, June 12, 2009

30. Manual Image Production Flow
Friday, June 12, 2009

31. Automated Production
Friday, June 12, 2009

32. Developing the Code
Friday, June 12, 2009

33. -&./01*(23405*$-5678$
!quot;#$%&''()*$+*,'*$
?@/$+(*B$(*)A$
quot;5'2*$%&''A$+(*$
Notice the image shear,
!quot;#%&''9:;+,;<=>?$.5@(2$ correlated with the nicks
Notice the little nicks
in the left edge
No DFT DFT factor 1.0
First 2 frequencies
Friday, June 12, 2009

34. Got rid of the nicks
but not the shear
Got rid of the shear
(yes, they were related)
DFT Factor 1.25 DFT Factor 1.25
Friday, June 12, 2009

35. 1 thru 4 are spread sheet tests, using actual data from runs. 5 is a record for a test in the image
processing code, using the first synchronization bucket on this data set. Note the similarity to 4. The
reason for the false signal before actual detection is the presence of a fiduciary marker in the data.
Friday, June 12, 2009

36. Second
Image
Life Magazine’s
“Image of the Century”
Friday, June 12, 2009

37. Original vs Recovered Image
The LOIRP Recovered Version Has Greater Tonal Variation Allowing
for Measurements not Available Before
Friday, June 12, 2009

38. Dennis:
Add Sur veyor 1 Image
Friday, June 12, 2009

39. Dennis:
Add Sur veyor 1 Image
Friday, June 12, 2009

40. Friday, June 12, 2009

41. Friday, June 12, 2009

42. Friday, June 12, 2009

43. OpenCL
Enables deeper data sets including:
• Multi Spectral Remote sensing
• Real time navigation of images in 3D
• Multi core data processing
Friday, June 12, 2009

44. Friday, June 12, 2009