Topic: Apollo 16 Far Ultraviolet Camera (AS16-123)
apollo16uvc Member
Posts: 142 From: Next to LEM, Descartes Highlands, Moon Registered: Jan 2017
posted 01-29-2017 04:20 PM
As far as we are aware, magazine Apollo 16 magazine AS16-123 has not been scanned in high resolution like most Apollo-era photos. This is a shame, because the Far Ultraviolet Camera/Spectroscope (Apollo 16 ALSEP Experiment S201 UVC) is still the only telescope on an other heavenly body.
Like other Apollo magazines not online, or only in low resolution, it is a hole in space history.
And to make matters worse, only a few scans are readily available. Here are the images found online so far:
As you can see, these images appear to be low resolution scans of later generation copies and probably prints. So we decided to take matters into our own hands and ask NASA for the images.
We received the images, and what we got were completely non-standard files not readable by normal image software. They appear to be raw bit streams taken from the tape. Luckily, information on how they were scanned and saved is available.
The Revised S201 catalog of far-ultraviolet objects has every image and inspects it in detail. A great source of information. (If you are a partner of babel, please download the entire document and send it to us!)
After messing around with the files we received from NASA, we slowly but surely began to get recognizable images. We continued to tweak them, until we finally got acceptable results. Since these are uncompressed scans of first generation negatives, they are of much higher resolution and dynamic range than many images on the internet.
We proudly present the files from NASA unconverted and converted to standard JPGs. This set includes UVC images taken on Apollo 16 and Skylab.
In each image, the first 600 bytes were used for a header. We converted the first 600 bytes of each image to text which can be viewed here: Text | Excel.
If you come up with anything interesting, please share it with us!
posted 01-30-2017 06:43 PM
Here is a cover cancelled on the Apollo 16 moon landing date. The cover depicts the Far Ultraviolet Camera/Spectroscope that was deployed on the moon by Apollo 16. It was autographed by the Principal Investigator, Dr. George Carruthers of the Naval Research Lab.
heng44 Member
Posts: 3413 From: Netherlands Registered: Nov 2001
posted 02-01-2017 08:28 AM
quote:Originally posted by apollo16uvc: Magazine AS16-123 is lost to the online world no more!
Well done! We need more initiatives like this. For example for the Skylab onboard images.
apollo16uvc Member
Posts: 142 From: Next to LEM, Descartes Highlands, Moon Registered: Jan 2017
posted 02-01-2017 08:36 AM
Do you mean the UVC images taken on SkyLab? I uploaded those too.
Philip Member
Posts: 6002 From: Brussels, Belgium Registered: Jan 2001
posted 02-01-2017 09:22 AM
Superb stuff from the first telescope on the Moon!
heng44 Member
Posts: 3413 From: Netherlands Registered: Nov 2001
posted 02-02-2017 03:55 AM
quote:Originally posted by apollo16uvc: Do you mean the UVC images taken on SkyLab?
No, I mean the 70mm and 35mm handheld photos that were taken during the Skylab missions.
cspg Member
Posts: 6222 From: Geneva, Switzerland Registered: May 2006
Apollo 16 astronauts placed the observatory on the moon in April 1972, where it sits today on the moon’s Descartes highland region, in the shadow of the lunar module Orion. Asked to explain highlights of the instrument's findings for a general audience, Dr. Carruthers said "the most immediately obvious and spectacular results were really for the Earth observations, because this was the first time that the Earth had been photographed from a distance in ultraviolet light, so that you could see the full extent of the hydrogen atmosphere, the polar auroris and what we call the tropical airglow belt."
holcombeyates Member
Posts: 253 From: UK Registered: Dec 2010
posted 02-11-2017 07:58 AM
This is a great initiative. Thank you for doing this.
Was this done by an academic institution or agency?
I have some scans of the star charts used by Houston to identify UV sighting opportunities. Do let me know if they are of interest.
apollo16uvc Member
Posts: 142 From: Next to LEM, Descartes Highlands, Moon Registered: Jan 2017
posted 02-18-2017 07:50 AM
I put the images together to make a slideshow!
apollo16uvc Member
Posts: 142 From: Next to LEM, Descartes Highlands, Moon Registered: Jan 2017
posted 02-18-2017 10:11 AM
quote:Originally posted by holcombeyates: Was this done by an academic institution or agency?
The raw files were converted to jpegs by Thomas, you can view his work here.
Yes, if you have any documents please scan them, I'll upload them and credit you.
apollo16uvc Member
Posts: 142 From: Next to LEM, Descartes Highlands, Moon Registered: Jan 2017
posted 09-21-2019 05:15 AM
I have uploaded the photos to a Flickr album, which is much easier to view than the ancient Internet Archive viewer.
posted 01-29-2017 04:20 PM
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