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  Apollo 11: Enhancement reveals Aldrin's face

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Author Topic:   Apollo 11: Enhancement reveals Aldrin's face
SpaceAholic
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Posts: 4494
From: Sierra Vista, Arizona
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 10-03-2019 08:59 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for SpaceAholic   Click Here to Email SpaceAholic     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The iconic image of Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin looking at the flag on the surface of the Moon has been given a new lease on life after an amateur photographer restored the image to reveal Aldrin's smiling face.
Andy Saunders, a property developer from England, said that he used photo enhancing technology used by astronomers and hours of hard work to clean up the image. Aldrin is seen smiling at the camera being held by Neil Armstrong on the lunar surface.

Robert Pearlman
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Posts: 43576
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 10-03-2019 09:06 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
This is a good example of what happens when an enthusiast with probably good intentions attracts the attention of journalists (also probably with good intentions), and neither do their research first.

The visibility of Buzz Aldrin's face has been known about for years; it is well documented and has been shown in numerous "enhanced" and "non-enhanced" images. For example, from the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal:

Journal Contributors Owen Merrick, Brian McInall, and Markus Mehring call attention to the fact that, in the high-resolution detail by Thomas Schwagmeier, we can see Buzz peering over at Neil. In 5874 Buzz is facing the flag and saluting; but, by the time Neil takes 5875, Buzz has turned his body slightly — and his head a great deal more — to look over to see if Neil has taken the picture, possibly having lowered his right hand in the interim.

Normally, the high reflectivity of the gold visor would keep us from seeing Buzz's face but, as Mehring notes, in this case "his face is directly illuminated by the sunlight from the front and at a right angle to the observer's point of view, so it literally shines through the visor, especially because he's sticking his head forward. At different viewing and illumination angles and with his head deeper inside the helmet and less brightly illuminated, reflections off of the visor that would wash out anything behind it. But in this case we're lucky."

Saunders is the same person who earlier this year claimed to uncover the "first clear picture of Neil Armstrong's face while walking on moon," but again, with a little bit of research, he would have known that his "discovery" of the 16mm still was the same image that Andrew Chaikin released in 2009.

Blackarrow
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Posts: 3160
From: Belfast, United Kingdom
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 10-04-2019 11:43 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Blackarrow     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Yes, a typical non-story blown up out of all proportion.

In other news, I have invented a wonderful round device which rolls along the ground and might be very useful for mobility purposes. I'm thinking of calling it "the wheel."

Cozmosis22
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Posts: 986
From: Texas * Earth
Registered: Apr 2011

posted 10-04-2019 04:22 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Cozmosis22     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Would like to thank Scott for bringing this to our attention since it looks like it hasn't been mentioned on this site before now. Thanks also to Robert for pointing out that the amateur photographer involved is apparently a bit of a charlatan.

Robert Pearlman
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Posts: 43576
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 10-04-2019 04:33 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I don't know enough about Andy Saunders' motivations to suggest anything other than he did not do his research. (As for being mentioned, the topic of Aldrin's face being visible was also briefly discussed in 2009.)

Buel
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From: UK
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posted 10-04-2019 04:52 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Buel   Click Here to Email Buel     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Blackarrow:
In other news...
I enjoyed this, Geoffrey.

Ross Sackett
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Posts: 18
From: Santa Fe, NM
Registered: Aug 2015

posted 10-05-2019 11:01 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ross Sackett   Click Here to Email Ross Sackett     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
It surprised me that it took "hours" of processing to clean up that image. It was a straight forward 41 seconds in photoshop to produce an image that looked a lot like his--select the visor, copy and paste into an adjustment layer, HDR tone to bring out the face, dial down the noise a little, flatten, and save.

p51
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Posts: 1658
From: Olympia, WA
Registered: Sep 2011

posted 10-05-2019 01:05 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for p51   Click Here to Email p51     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
This is a good example of what happens when an enthusiast with probably good intentions attracts the attention of journalists (also probably with good intentions), and neither do their research first.
This reminds me of the non-news event a few years back of the photo of War Correspondent Ernie Pyle's corpse soon after he was killed being recently "found," when the photo was very well-known to historians for decades beforehand (heck, I had a 1945-printed copy in my own collection for years before the story came out).

AstroCasey
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Posts: 49
From:
Registered: Feb 2019

posted 10-05-2019 08:56 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for AstroCasey     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I thought the same thing about this article. The image of Buzz Aldrin’s face is something that has been around for a while. While some stories like this are honest mistakes, others are not.

After a while, I learned to only get news like this from respectable space websites (such as collectSPACE) that know what they are talking about and not from the news media. False information like this is reported quite frequently.

It reminds of 2003 when Mars was making a close approach to Earth. I was sent a chain email from my giddy grandpa with an article claiming that Mars would be as big in the night sky as the Moon. I’m still amazed many people on the chain believed this would actually happen.

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 43576
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 10-25-2019 01:06 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Andy Saunders reached out to me via email and after learning more about how and why he created the images he did, I owe him an apology. He did do his research.

As I expressed to him privately, my reaction was based on the news coverage of his work, which I think did him and his images a disservice. Rather than focus on his reasons for reprocessing the Armstrong and Aldrin imagery, many of the articles relied on superlatives and hyped claims to attract readers.

Suffice to say, Andy did put in thought when he worked on the Apollo 11 imagery and had nothing but good intentions while doing so. His efforts do not deserve to be discouraged and I am sorry for my part in doing just that.

MadSci
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Posts: 230
From: Maryland, USA
Registered: Oct 2008

posted 11-26-2019 10:06 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for MadSci     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Am I the only one who actually sees Buzz's face in profile, instead of looking to his left at the camera?

It's like one of those drawings that shows two figures, depending on how your mind resolves the ambiguities. Personally, I keep seeing it flip back and forth.

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 43576
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 01-20-2020 03:22 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Andy Saunders latest photo processing work has been profiled by Fox News:
High-definition images of Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin standing on the surface of the Moon were released Monday on the occasion of Aldrin's 90th birthday.

Andy Saunders, a property developer from England, worked with "Apollo 11" documentary archive producer Stephen Slater to create the high-def transfers of existing images, showing new detail of Aldrin's face, enhanced color and additional clarity.

"This is the moment one of the most iconic ever photographs is taken, it's of Buzz Aldrin saluting the U.S. flag," Saunders said in an email to Fox News. "[Apollo 11] gave me the opportunity to actually lift 13 separate frames which could be stacked to improve the signal/noise ratio and push the processing as hard as possible to reveal some terrific detail. You can even clearly see Neil [Armstrong] holding the camera the moment the infamous photograph is taken."

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 43576
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 04-10-2020 08:39 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Andy Saunders' work on an Apollo 13 photo has again made the news:
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 13 mission, a panoramic high-definition image of astronaut Fred Haise napping in the "lifeboat" Lunar Module has been produced...

The panoramic image, which was produced by photography specialist Andy Saunders, attempts to provide an insight into what Lovell saw as he surveyed the Lunar Module. "Step into the boots of Commander Jim Lovell (hand, left) as he keeps watch over his ship and crew as they try to rest in the cold, dark Lunar Module 'lifeboat'," said Saunders, a property developer in the U.K., in a statement emailed to Fox News.

Rick Mulheirn
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Posts: 4208
From: England
Registered: Feb 2001

posted 04-11-2020 06:06 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Rick Mulheirn   Click Here to Email Rick Mulheirn     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Great job. Is this image available as a download in hi res?

Space Cadet Carl
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Posts: 225
From: Lake Orion, Michigan
Registered: Feb 2006

posted 04-11-2020 10:45 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Space Cadet Carl   Click Here to Email Space Cadet Carl     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Saunders says that "full images are coming soon." He created that panorama from 1,000 16mm movie frames. Incredible!

thisismills
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Posts: 297
From: Michigan
Registered: Mar 2012

posted 04-11-2020 10:59 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for thisismills   Click Here to Email thisismills     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
A larger version of the photo can be found on Andy Saunder's Twitter feed.
Step on-board Apollo 13! Restored image consisting of 1,000 separate samples from x36, 16mm film frames.

Commander Lovell (hand, left) keeps watch over his ship and resting crew: Haise, and Swigert (curled up in the storage area). The CO2 filter is in-situ (left).

Rick Mulheirn
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Posts: 4208
From: England
Registered: Feb 2001

posted 04-11-2020 02:22 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Rick Mulheirn   Click Here to Email Rick Mulheirn     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I don't suppose any member can tell me what the black felt pen arrows are for adjacent to the rendezvous window above Freddo's head?

Some kind of makeshift docking aid perhaps? I asked Jim Lovell when he was in Pontefract in 2015 but he could not recall.

mode1charlie
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Posts: 1184
From: Honolulu, HI
Registered: Sep 2010

posted 04-11-2020 04:00 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for mode1charlie   Click Here to Email mode1charlie     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Amazing work.

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 43576
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 04-11-2020 05:54 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Andy Saunders has also worked on the imagery of Apollo 13's service module, which has now been published as part of the Apollo Flight Journal.
This article considers the utilization of modern image processing and enhancement to determine the impact of the catastrophic failure of Cryogenic Oxygen Tank 2, and it's subsequent impact on Bay 4 and critical systems on Apollo 13. The analysis also aims to aid visualization and identify key components of the damaged Service Module.

thisismills
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Posts: 297
From: Michigan
Registered: Mar 2012

posted 04-11-2020 06:29 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for thisismills   Click Here to Email thisismills     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Figure 8 on the Apollo Flight Journal page linked above sure is a neat piece of visual story telling. The animation provides a feeling of how significant the damage was unlike anything I'd seen before. Cheers to the work put into making it.

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