Comments on: Apollo 11 - 17 Mission Panoramas

Apollo 11 - 17 Mission Panoramas

AlexReynolds — Tue, 08 Feb 2005 23:24:41 -0800

Apollo 11 - 17 Mission Panoramas - Hans Nyberg treats us with a stunning full-screen use of QTVR, taking high-resolution scans of Apollo 11, 12 and 17 panoramic photographs, stitching them together for a full 360° view. [from Slashdot]

By: AlexReynolds

AlexReynolds — Tue, 08 Feb 2005 23:25:46 -0800

Before someone says it is a double post, the site has a new panorama posted.

By: arse_hat

arse_hat — Tue, 08 Feb 2005 23:31:18 -0800

It's still cool to see the Apollo missions. Thanks for the new material.

By: thedevildancedlightly

thedevildancedlightly — Wed, 09 Feb 2005 01:39:17 -0800

Still gives me chills to hear the crackle of the first radio transmission from a human standing on the moon. Just imagine what that must have been like - especially in the context of the times (Vietnam, the peace movement, hippies versus squares, etc). Simply amazing. When do we land on mars?

By: NinjaPirate

NinjaPirate — Wed, 09 Feb 2005 01:53:39 -0800

That's some glorious stuff, and some brutally primitive equipment too. You sure these are real?

By: LeLiLo

LeLiLo — Wed, 09 Feb 2005 01:56:11 -0800

Wow. That Apollo 17 panorama truly is stunning — especially on NASA's special effects budget. Were all three filmed at the same shed in New Mexico, or just the first moon landing?

By: The Salaryman

The Salaryman — Wed, 09 Feb 2005 03:12:17 -0800

Cheers, Alex! A few years back I saw the 'Full Moon' exhibition at the Hayward Gallery (got the book and a poster as I could not resist) and was blown away by the otherworldly beauty and human achievement of it all. Apparently, only recently has the tech been available to print the photos properly (blacks that are really, really black etc). It just brings home to me how far NASA has fallen (not entirely its own fault as allegedly the expensive, pointless Shuttle was allegedly forced on it) since then. I have read that the Saturn V technology was safer, cheaper (in terms of per tonne to orbit), heavier lifting and more flexible than anything around today. Remember that the IT involved in this was less powerful than that in a mobile phone! What a failure of the imagination that the last few Apollo missions were cancelled along with all of the wonderful Apollo Applications ideas (except Skylab). The Space Station is a wasteful flying barge that does no useful science and Dubya and co can't even be bothered to keep an orbiting telescope that everyone loves going. Beautiful and sad – we can't seem to dream this big anymore. Only the robotic missions to Mars and other planets come close, but they don't have the magic of a footprint.

By: Zonker

Zonker — Wed, 09 Feb 2005 05:26:39 -0800

This is great, thanks Alex. One question: The site says that "[d]uring the last year the original films have been rescanned in large resolution and the Apollo 11 images were released the week before the 35 year anniversary". Do any of you know where the high resolution pictures can be found?

By: Cyrano

Cyrano — Wed, 09 Feb 2005 07:13:57 -0800

lelilo, I sure hope you're kidding. That "we never landing on the moon!" stuff has been pretty thoroughly debunked by now.

By: fungible

fungible — Wed, 09 Feb 2005 07:43:07 -0800

Also interesting: How the horizon seems much closer on the moon than in any Earth photographs. I guess this proves how the Earth and Moon really are round. (Unless of course, that's just the edge of the TV studio.)

By: carter

carter — Wed, 09 Feb 2005 07:49:30 -0800

That "we never landing on the moon!" stuff has been pretty thoroughly debunked by now. Ahem.

By: DieHipsterDie

DieHipsterDie — Wed, 09 Feb 2005 08:58:03 -0800

Wow. That Apollo 17 panorama truly is stunning — especially on NASA's special effects budget. Were all three filmed at the same shed in New Mexico, or just the first moon landing? There are also people who believe the earth is flat.

By: daq

daq — Wed, 09 Feb 2005 10:18:58 -0800

BWAHAHAHAHA!!! carter: That link is too damn funny.

By: fenriq

fenriq — Wed, 09 Feb 2005 10:57:21 -0800

Nice find, Alex!

By: LeLiLo

LeLiLo — Wed, 09 Feb 2005 12:12:50 -0800

lelilo, I sure hope you're kidding. Cyrano: I just said that to give carter a chance to post that fine link. (At least I think that's why I said it.) I know we went to the moon, because the weather is all screwed up.

By: jb5dogs

jb5dogs — Wed, 09 Feb 2005 12:22:34 -0800

Do any of you know where the high resolution pictures can be found? Here... Click on Image Library

By: jb5dogs

jb5dogs — Wed, 09 Feb 2005 12:24:30 -0800

oops... Fixed Link

By: Smedleyman

Smedleyman — Thu, 10 Feb 2005 16:07:26 -0800

Way cool.