Author
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Topic: Smithsonian transcribing Apollo Stowage Lists
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Robert Pearlman Editor Posts: 42981 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 11-12-2015 06:35 PM
collectSPACE Smithsonian seeking space fans to retype Apollo spacecraft packing listsAre you a fan of the Apollo moon landings? Are you curious about all of the different types of items that the astronauts carried onboard their spacecraft? Can you type? If so, then the Smithsonian might have the perfect pastime project for you. The National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. has launched its first collaboration with the Smithsonian's Transcription Center to digitize the long lists of equipment that flew along with the Apollo astronauts from the Earth to the moon and back. "Today, we are publicly launching an exciting initiative to transcribe the Apollo stowage lists of all government- and contractor-provided equipment stowed on the Command and Lunar Modules during the six Apollo missions to [land] the moon," wrote Allan Needell, a curator with the Air and Space Museum's space history department. "With the help of volunteers, these transcriptions will eventually lead to a reliable and searchable database." |
SpaceAholic Member Posts: 4437 From: Sierra Vista, Arizona Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 11-12-2015 07:52 PM
Not tracking why this must be done manually. There are many good OCR applications that should be able to automate transcription. |
pupnik Member Posts: 114 From: Maryland Registered: Jan 2014
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posted 11-12-2015 08:03 PM
Probably because that while there may be many good OCR programs out there, there are none that are perfect. These transcriptions will effectively become the prime source for research and misinterpreted readings will propagate through the years. This is doubly true when a vast amount of the transcription doesn't include words and abbreviations found in most dictionaries. |
Robert Pearlman Editor Posts: 42981 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 11-12-2015 08:03 PM
From what I understand, the Smithsonian, working together with the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal, tried using OCR software with the cleanest of the available stowage list copies (for Apollo 11) and though it worked, it required much more time than the manual entry completed as a test for this project with Apollo 12. The key issue is the quality of the available copies. |
SpaceAholic Member Posts: 4437 From: Sierra Vista, Arizona Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 11-12-2015 08:07 PM
Either way a Q/A process is required... human entry is also error prone. |
Robert Pearlman Editor Posts: 42981 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 11-12-2015 08:21 PM
That is part of the transcription center's tools: Once a volunteer decides they've finished and they're ready for review, a different volunteer (who must have an account on the site) can review the transcription and either send it back for edits, or complete the transcription. |
spaced out Member Posts: 3110 From: Paris, France Registered: Aug 2003
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posted 11-13-2015 03:27 AM
This is a great initiative as crowd sourcing is ideal for this kind of task.I've looked through those lists hundreds of times and where the PDF versions are searchable the OCR-generated results are very unreliable. Humans also make mistakes but with with careful review and cross-checking the results should be 99.99% reliable, and having the end result in database form will be a great step forward. |
cosmos-walter Member Posts: 691 From: Salzburg, Austria Registered: Jun 2003
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posted 11-13-2015 03:34 AM
Will the astronauts' PPKs also be covered? |
SpaceAholic Member Posts: 4437 From: Sierra Vista, Arizona Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 11-13-2015 06:14 AM
quote: Originally posted by spaced out: This is a great initiative as crowd sourcing is ideal for this kind of task.
reCAPTCHA does exactly this already. Most people don't realize that when logging into many sites with CAPTCHA protection they are digitizing documents. |
Robert Pearlman Editor Posts: 42981 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 11-13-2015 06:59 AM
quote: Originally posted by cosmos-walter: Will the astronauts' PPKs also be covered?
The PPK manifests are still in the astronauts' (or their estates') control. They are not in the public domain, nor does the Smithsonian's or NASA's history archives have copies to reference. |
needella New Member Posts: 4 From: Washington, D.C. Registered: Nov 2015
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posted 11-13-2015 07:42 AM
We appreciate all your comments. A few points, OCR accuracy is important but only one consideration that led to trying the Transcription Center. To capture the data and construct a useful database we don't only need to accurately transcribe the words and alphanumerics, we have to assign each entry to a specific item (row) and field (column). I couldn't find an accessible program that could do that automatically. Most require you to manually draw table boundaries on the images before running OCR. When we use the volunteers at the Transcription Center, not only are we using their eyes and brains to recognize and transcribe characters, words and abbreviations (the OCR), but to assign each string to its proper field. We find this far far more efficient use of the available expert time and effort. As for the PPKs, they are in the database, but only as entire units. Individual items are not listed. ------------------ Allan Needell Space History, National Air and Space Museum |
needella New Member Posts: 4 From: Washington, D.C. Registered: Nov 2015
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posted 11-13-2015 07:46 AM
The plan, as of now, is to activate one mission at a time (and then a project to record the tables with last minute revisions).Once complete, we'll have to do a thorough review before final approval. We could then move on the the non-lunar landing missions. |
Lou Chinal Member Posts: 1306 From: Staten Island, NY Registered: Jun 2007
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posted 11-15-2015 08:55 PM
I will volunteer. |
cfreeze79 Member Posts: 455 From: Herndon, VA, USA Registered: Nov 2000
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posted 11-15-2015 11:38 PM
Any chance of a "mission patch" being designed/produced for the effort? I'd love to snag a couple, and I sure there is a eager designer or two on the board here (hint-hint).
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spaced out Member Posts: 3110 From: Paris, France Registered: Aug 2003
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posted 11-16-2015 03:39 AM
One thing that needs to be changed (I sent an email but it might not have got through) - the font used for the transcribed data needs to show a visible difference between an uppercase "O" and a zero.Right now it's impossible to tell the two apart in the transcribed data which makes reviewing pages with "Oxxxx" references almost impossible. |
LM-12 Member Posts: 3207 From: Ontario, Canada Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 11-16-2015 09:49 AM
Some part numbers are common to more than one mission. Cameras, for instance. Will the new list include serial numbers? |
cfreeze79 Member Posts: 455 From: Herndon, VA, USA Registered: Nov 2000
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posted 11-17-2015 02:41 PM
quote: Originally posted by cfreeze79: Any chance of a "mission patch" being designed/produced for the effort?
Wow - no takers... Surprised by that! |
AstronautBrian Member Posts: 287 From: Louisiana Registered: Jan 2006
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posted 11-17-2015 10:00 PM
Thanks for sharing this information.I had no idea something like this existed online. Not just for the Apollo lists, but for other things as well. It could become an interesting side hobby. |