So clear, you can taste the cheese: This image from the Apollo 15 mission is presented here with less than 1% of the resolution the new scans will offer. Image from NASA / University of Arizona.

The University of Arizona is working with NASA to put all the original photographs from the Apollo moon missions on-line, free and available to the public. The original images have rarely been seen—they are irreplaceable, so NASA keeps them under lock and key in a deep-freeze. Fuzzy, second-generation prints is all most of us have ever seen.

But now, thanks to digital technology, high-resolution scans can be made. And I do mean high: resolution will range up to 200 pixels/mm (the Internet displays pictures at about 3 pixels/mm), and file size up to 12 gigabytes. The resolution is so fine, you can actually see the original photographic grain.

Some 36,000 images in all will be scanned. The project is expected to take three years to complete.

All tags

Tags : moon digital photography Apollo

How would you tag this story?

My tags:

• Email