Tuesday, August 15, 2006

One giant cock-up for mankind

The original film of man's first steps on the Moon has been lost.

The footage of Neil Armstrong's historic moment is one of the most important artefacts of the 20th century.

While the television broadcast seen by 600 million people in July 1969 is preserved for posterity, the original tapes from which the footage was taken have been mislaid in the vast archive of the United States space agency Nasa.

The footage could transform our view of the Moon landings, offering images far sharper than the blurred, grainy video shown around the world.

It could also lay to rest the conspiracy theory that the landings were faked on a Hollywood soundstage.

Despite its iconic status, the television footage was the equivalent of a photocopy of a photocopy.

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