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User: when was "The Apollo 11 Telemetry Data Recordings: A Final Report" published?

when was "The Apollo 11 Telemetry Data Recordings: A Final Report" published?

Assistant: Answer:

Answer: According to NASA’s own records (specifically the Goddard Space Flight Center documentation and the accompanying press release), the final report titled “The Apollo 11 Telemetry Data Recordings: A Final Report” was released in July 2009. NASA publicly announced its conclusions about the so-called “missing tapes” and issued the final report on July 16, 2009, coinciding with a press event. The PDF itself is dated “July 2009,” but the official NASA press release (#09-173) was issued on July 16, 2009.

1. Direct Source References (NASA Documentation and Press Release) - “The Apollo 11 Telemetry Data Recordings: A Final Report” is a NASA publication. - NASA held a press event and issued press release #09-173 on July 16, 2009, to announce the final report on the Apollo 11 telemetry recordings (“missing tapes”). - The official PDF is dated “July 2009.”

1. Inference / Reasoning - Because NASA dated the PDF itself only as “July 2009” (without a specific day), and because the NASA press conference took place on July 16, 2009, it is commonly stated that July 16, 2009, is the final report’s publication date. That date refers to the public announcement and release, rather than the day the document was physically signed or finalized internally.

Therefore, if you require a single publication date, July 16, 2009 is the one generally cited, though the document itself may simply say “July 2009.”

User: were all of the apollo telemetry tapes lost, or just apollo 11?

were all of the apollo telemetry tapes lost, or just apollo 11?

Assistant: Short Answer:

Short Answer: Not all Apollo telemetry tapes were lost. The tapes specifically at the center of the 2009 NASA report—and commonly referred to as the “missing tapes”—were the original Apollo 11 telemetry data (particularly the slow-scan TV recordings). While NASA did reuse and recycle some tapes from other Apollo missions, there is no indication that all Apollo missions’ telemetry tapes disappeared in the same way as Apollo 11’s originals.

1. Apollo 11 Telemetry Tapes and the 2009 Report - NASA’s “The Apollo 11 Telemetry Data Recordings: A Final Report” (July 2009) details the search for the original Apollo 11 slow-scan television data tapes. - This report concluded that the most sought-after tapes (showing the original, unconverted slow-scan feed of the Apollo 11 moonwalk) had been erased and reused in the 1970s.

1. Other Apollo Missions’ Tapes - NASA has stated in various archival documents and public statements that telemetry tapes and data from missions other than Apollo 11 are stored in multiple NASA and National Archives facilities. - Although some tapes from other missions were also recycled or lost, those data losses were neither as publicized nor as substantial as the Apollo 11 videotapes.
2. NASA’s Archival Practices - NASA routinely reused data storage media (such as magnetic tapes) during and after the Apollo program, which led to partial or total loss of some original footage and telemetry over time. - However, the specific “missing tapes” story usually refers to the Apollo 11 slow-scan TV data, not all of Apollo’s mission data.

1. Extent of Other Missions’ Tape Loss - Although NASA documents confirm some reuse of tapes beyond Apollo 11, there is no comprehensive NASA announcement stating that all telemetry tapes from other missions were lost in the same way. - It is therefore inferred that the Apollo 11 tapes received special attention because of their historical significance, while partial or minimal data losses from other Apollo missions did not result in widespread news coverage.

1. Possible Fragmented Losses - Individual tapes from other missions might have been misplaced or overwritten, but there is insufficient information to label them as completely “lost” in the same manner as the Apollo 11 slow-scan TV footage.

- Fact: The major loss focused on in NASA’s 2009 investigation involved the original Apollo 11 slow-scan TV data.

• Fact: Telemetry data for many of the other Apollo missions still exists in NASA and National Archives repositories.
• Inference: While some tapes for other missions may be incomplete or reused, the “lost tapes” narrative primarily applies to Apollo 11’s original recordings.

research

User: Please research the current state of the Apollo Telemetry tapes for all Missions.

Please research the current state of the Apollo Telemetry tapes for all Missions. Where are these tapes now? Do we know?

Assistant: To provide the most accurate and up-to-date information, could you clarify:

To provide the most accurate and up-to-date information, could you clarify:

1. Are you specifically interested in the raw telemetry tapes (which include scientific and engineering data) or also video and audio recordings?
2. Would you like details about only Apollo-era NASA archives, or do you want information about any existing tapes in museums, private collections, or other institutions?
3. Are you looking for information on both missing and still-existing tapes for all Apollo missions?

This will help ensure a comprehensive and precise research report for you.

User: 3

3

Assistant: I will research the current status of the Apollo telemetry tapes for all missions, including which tapes are still know…

I will research the current status of the Apollo telemetry tapes for all missions, including which tapes are still known to exist and their locations, as well as any that are confirmed lost or missing. This will cover all Apollo missions and include archival locations such as NASA facilities, the National Archives, museums, and private collections. I will provide details on both scientific telemetry and recorded mission data where available. I'll update you as soon as I have findings.

gpt-?

Apollo Program Telemetry Tapes: Status and Whereabouts

Introduction

The Apollo missions (Apollo 1 through Apollo 17) generated vast amounts of telemetry and recorded data – from spacecraft engineering data and voice communications to scientific experiment readings. Much of this data was recorded on magnetic tapes at the time. Over 50 years later, many of these original tapes have been lost, reused, or are stored away, while some have been recovered or preserved through special efforts. This report examines the current status of Apollo telemetry tapes for each mission, identifying which tapes still exist (and where), which are missing, and the condition and accessibility of any surviving recordings. It covers both mission operation telemetry (e.g. vehicle data, audio, video) and scientific data tapes (such as those from lunar surface experiments), along with any known restoration or digitization projects.

Apollo 1 (AS-204) – The Plugs-Out Test

Mission Data: Apollo 1 was a ground test, not an actual spaceflight, so its “telemetry” was limited to ground-based communications and instrument readings during the test. During the tragic cabin fire on January 27, 1967, mission control was monitoring some spacecraft data and voice comms. Key data (like pressure readings) and the crew’s final audio were recorded for the subsequent accident investigation. Transcripts of the Apollo 1 test communications have been available in reports, and recently NASA even digitized surviving audio from Apollo 1 as part of a modern archival projectengineering-research.utdallas.edu. The Apollo 1 voice recordings and telemetry were preserved in written form (and limited audio) for analysis, but no separate “telemetry tapes” were stored long-term since this was not a completed space mission.

Current Status: All Apollo 1 data relevant to the accident is in NASA’s archives (primarily on paper or transcribed format). There were no dedicated telemetry tape reels comparable to the later missions. The audio of the test (on NASA analog tapes) was retained and was included in the University of Texas Dallas digitization effort in the 2010sengineering-research.utdallas.edu. There are no Apollo 1 telemetry reels in museums or private collections, aside from the official records held by NASA. The data is accessible through accident reports and, for audio, through the recent digital archives, but the original analog tapes are limited and maintained internally for historical documentation.

(Note: Apollo 2 and 3 were never flown; the mission numbering skipped from Apollo 1 to Apollo 4 after the Apollo 1 tragedy.)

Apollo 4, 5, 6 – Uncrewed Test Flights

Mission Data: Apollo 4, 5, and 6 (1967–68) were uncrewed test flights that carried instrumentation but no astronauts. Telemetry from these Saturn rocket test missions was recorded on magnetic tape at the time for engineering analysis. For example, Apollo 6’s telemetry was crucial in diagnosing a major engine oscillation issue (pogo effect) during that flight. In the late 1960s, NASA would have retained these tapes at least until the data was analyzed and mission reports written. However, like most Apollo-era telemetry reels, the original tapes for Apollo 4–6 were not permanently archived. Decades later, NASA found that essentially all Apollo-era telemetry tapes had been disposed of or reused, with only extremely scant exceptionsnasa.gov. This implies the Apollo 4, 5, and 6 tapes were likely recycled or lost long ago along with the others.

Current Status: No known Apollo 4, 5, or 6 telemetry tape reels remain in NASA or National Archives custody today. In the mid-2000s, when NASA searched for Apollo tapes, they concluded that the Apollo-era telemetry tapes “no longer exist – anywhere,” aside from a few stray Apollo 9 reels (discussed below)nasa.gov. It appears Apollo 4–6 data survives only in summary form (mission reports, printed data, etc.). The original tapes’ condition is moot since they have been erased or destroyed. There have been no specific restoration efforts for Apollo 4–6 telemetry, as nothing is known to survive. The missions’ results are documented in NASA reports, and any film or photography (e.g. Apollo 4’s onboard camera footage of stage separation) is preserved in archives, but the raw telemetry tapes are gone. Researchers can access mission reports but not the original telemetry streams for these early tests.

Apollo 7 – First Crewed Mission (Earth Orbit)

Mission Data: Apollo 7 (October 1968) was the first crewed Apollo flight, an Earth-orbit mission testing the Command Module. During Apollo 7, a wealth of telemetry (spacecraft system data, biomedical data, etc.) was downlinked to Mission Control and recorded. Apollo 7 also transmitted the first live television from an American spacecraft, using a slow-scan black-and-white cameraapolloartifacts.com. This TV signal was converted in real time to broadcast format and recorded on standard video tapes for the public broadcasts. As with later missions, the raw telemetry (including the slower-scan TV feed and all engineering data) would have been recorded to 1-inch data tapes at tracking stations as a backup. However, none of those Apollo 7 telemetry backup tapes are known to have been kept. NASA’s later investigation into Apollo tapes found no Apollo 7 reels in the archives – the Apollo-era telemetry tapes in storage had been withdrawn and mostly reused by the early 1980snasa.gov. Thus, Apollo 7’s original telemetry recordings appear to have been lost in that purge.

Current Status: No Apollo 7 telemetry tape reels are cataloged in NASA or National Archives holdings today. All that remains are derivative records: the TV broadcasts from Apollo 7 were recorded on broadcast videotape (and those tapes have survived – Apollo 7 TV footage is available in NASA’s media archives in good quality, since it was standard NTSC recording)en.wikipedia.org. The mission’s voice communications and flight data were documented in transcripts and reports. In terms of audio, NASA had analog audio tapes of mission control loops and air-to-ground for Apollo 7, which were preserved. (These were part of the same 30-track audio tape archive used for Apollo 11/13, and likely have been digitized or could be if needed, though the high-priority digitization focused on Apollo 11 and 13.) No special restoration projects have targeted Apollo 7 specifically, but the mission is well documented through transcripts and the preserved broadcast video. Researchers today can review Apollo 7 technical reports and watch the TV broadcasts, but they cannot retrieve any higher-fidelity telemetry data beyond what was extracted at the time, since the original data tapes are missing.

Apollo 8 – First Lunar Orbit Mission

Mission Data: Apollo 8 (December 1968) was the first mission to carry humans to the Moon’s vicinity, orbiting the Moon. Telemetry from Apollo 8’s spacecraft systems and crew biomedical sensors was continuously transmitted to Earth and recorded. Apollo 8 also had a slow-scan TV camera on board (like Apollo 7’s) that sent back broadcasts, including the famous Christmas Eve message while orbiting the Moon. Those TV images were recorded in real time on broadcast tapes (and still exist as film/tape in archives), while any higher-quality slow-scan recordings were likely made on telemetry data tapes at tracking stations. As with Apollo 7, the dedicated telemetry tapes for Apollo 8 were later removed from the federal records storage and presumably reused. Indeed, the “missing tapes” search in 2006 noted that hundreds of boxes of Apollo program data tapes were unaccounted foren.wikipedia.org – Apollo 8’s tapes would have been among those, and none have surfaced since.

Onboard Voice Recorder: Notably, Apollo 8 was the first mission to use an on-board tape recorder (the Data Storage Equipment, DSE) to capture crew voice and instrument data during periods out of Earth contact (e.g. behind the Moon)honeysucklecreek.net. This DSE data was later “dumped” to Earth when contact resumed, and the dump was itself recorded onto 1-inch, 14-track telemetry tapes on the groundhoneysucklecreek.net. Those dump tapes, containing the astronauts’ in-cabin conversations around the Moon, were treated as part of the mission telemetry and shipped to NASA’s Goddard archive with other Apollo 8 tapeshoneysucklecreek.net. Unfortunately, they too were not archived permanently. For decades, the Apollo 8 onboard audio was effectively inaccessible aside from transcripts. However, in a fortunate turn, a Honeysuckle Creek (Australia) tracking station employee had made a personal audio copy of some Apollo 8 DSE moments during the mission. This 1/4-inch reel of highlights (about 35 minutes of Apollo 8’s onboard audio) was preserved by technician Hamish Lindsay and was digitized in 2013honeysucklecreek.net. It includes segments of the crew’s own dialogue during critical events like Lunar Orbit Insertion and the famous Genesis reading, providing a rare audio glimpse from the telemetry. Moreover, as of 2020, NASA was able to retrieve much of Apollo 8’s on-board audio from the National Archives: Apollo 8 DSE tape reels were located at NARA and digitized at Johnson Space Center, then released publicly (via Archive.org)honeysucklecreek.net. The quality of these tapes varies (some audio is noisy), but it means Apollo 8’s behind-the-Moon audio is now largely available.

Current Status: No original Apollo 8 engineering telemetry tapes (e.g. those containing spacecraft sensor streams) are known to exist in any archive today – they were likely among the “permanently withdrawn” Apollo tapes reused by NASA Goddard around 1980poikiloblastic.wordpress.com. However, key Apollo 8 mission data have been preserved through other means. The televised Earth/Moon images and crew broadcasts were recorded on film and broadcast tape (and are readily accessible in NASA’s archives or the Apollo 8 Flight Journal). The air-to-ground and mission control audio was recorded separately; those audio tapes have now been digitized and synchronized with transcripts on the Apollo 8 real-time website. Uniquely, a substantial portion of Apollo 8’s onboard voice (previously lost) is now available thanks to the recent recovery of the DSE dump tapes from NARAhoneysucklecreek.net. In summary, Apollo 8’s original telemetry reels are missing, but almost all the mission’s informational content (voice, video, and even experiment data) has been recovered in some form. Researchers can listen to Apollo 8’s audio (including crew behind-the-Moon conversations) and view the video, but the raw telemetry streams (voltages, etc.) survive only as processed data in flight documentation. No specific museum or private collector is known to hold Apollo 8 telemetry tapes; the only notable private holdings were the Honeysuckle audio excerpts, now digitized and returned to the public domain.

Apollo 9 – Earth Orbit Lunar Module Test

Mission Data: Apollo 9 (March 1969) was an Earth-orbital mission that tested the Lunar Module (LM) for the first time. It involved a rendezvous and docking in Earth orbit, spacewalks, and internal TV broadcasts. Telemetry from both the Command Module “Gumdrop” and Lunar Module “Spider” was sent to ground stations. Apollo 9 did not have the same public profile as Apollo 8, but it generated many data tapes of engineering and crew data. Like previous missions, Apollo 9’s raw telemetry tapes were sent to the Washington National Records Center (WNRC) for storage after the mission. Decades later, during the 2006–2008 search for Apollo 11’s missing tapes, investigators actually stumbled on a small cache of Apollo 9 tapes – one of the very few Apollo telemetry sets still on the shelf. In 2006, a WNRC staff member discovered a single box containing nine Apollo 9 telemetry reels, which had been misfiled on a back shelfnasa.gov. These tapes were labeled with data from the Canary Island tracking station during Apollo 9 in 1969nasa.gov. Their presence indicated that most Apollo 9 tapes had been withdrawn like the others, but this box was somehow overlooked and never removed.

Current Status: Apollo 9 is unique in that a handful of its original telemetry tapes are known to exist in a federal archive. Those nine reels (found at WNRC in Suitland, MD) contain Apollo 9 mission data and still physically exist as of the last reportsnasa.govnasa.gov. However, aside from that box, no other Apollo 9 tapes were found – meaning the majority were likely reused or destroyed. The discovered Apollo 9 reels were identified during the Apollo 11 tape search, but they ultimately turned into a historical footnote; the content was Apollo 9 data, not Apollo 11, so they were not the target for restoration at the timenasa.gov. It’s unclear if those Apollo 9 tapes have since been transferred to NASA or remained at NARA, but they represent one of the only surviving sets of raw Apollo mission telemetry in original form. There has been no public effort to read or digitize them (Apollo 9’s data is less in demand), so their condition is largely unknown – one reel box was described as “slightly damaged” externallynasa.gov, but presumably the tape inside could be readable if needed. Apart from these reels, Apollo 9’s mission is documented via other media: the crew’s TV broadcast and photography are preserved, and all voice communications were recorded. The mission control audio tapes for Apollo 9 were stored with the others; while Apollo 9’s audio wasn’t the first priority for digitization, those tapes do exist and could be processed in the future. In summary, Apollo 9 has a few telemetry tapes still in government storagenasa.gov, but they are an outlier – practically all other Apollo 9 telemetry tapes are gone. Anyone researching Apollo 9 can rely on NASA’s post-flight report and the fact that a slice of the raw data (from Canary Island station) could theoretically be recovered from the surviving tapes if ever required.

Apollo 10 – Dress Rehearsal for the Moon Landing

Mission Data: Apollo 10 (May 1969) carried a crew to lunar orbit with a Lunar Module (LM) that descended close to the Moon’s surface, performing a “dress rehearsal” for Apollo 11. Telemetry was intensive: two spacecraft worth of systems data, tracking and navigation information, and extensive communications were relayed to Earth. Apollo 10 also carried the first color TV camera on an Apollo spacecraft – the crew transmitted color television from both the Command Module and the LM while in lunar orbit. These broadcasts (e.g. views of the Moon from the LM) were recorded on standard 2-inch videotapes and have been preserved in NASA’s archives. However, the high-fidelity raw data tapes (any that may have recorded the unconverted video or multi-channel telemetry) were handled like previous missions’ tapes and not retained. By the early 1980s, Apollo 10’s original telemetry reels had been pulled from archives and either reused or discarded alongside the othersnasa.gov. No official Apollo 10 telemetry tapes are cataloged as surviving today.

Onboard Recordings: Apollo 10 also used an onboard DSE tape recorder in both the Command Module and LM to record data and crew voice during periods without real-time contact (such as the far side of the Moon). These recordings were later transmitted to Earth and thus would have been captured on telemetry tapes at stations like Honeysuckle Creek. Like Apollo 8, the Apollo 10 DSE dumps were not archived after the mission beyond producing transcripts. For many years, the only record of Apollo 10’s far-side conversations was the written transcript. In recent years, enthusiasts have searched for any surviving audio. While the original dump tapes haven’t been found publicly, some Apollo 10 audio was preserved informally. At Honeysuckle Creek station, the administrator (Bernard Scrivener) recorded portions of Apollo 10’s communications onto a personal 1/4-inch reel tape, as part of the station’s public affairs recordingshoneysucklecreek.nethoneysucklecreek.net. These tapes, containing segments of air-to-ground and likely bits of the DSE audio, were forgotten for decades until being rediscovered in 2018 in the collection of Hamish Lindsay (to whom Scrivener had given them)honeysucklecreek.net. They were digitized in 2019. The recovered clips (totaling a few hours of Apollo 10 comms) include launch commentary, network calls, and even the first color TV transmission after translunar injectionhoneysucklecreek.nethoneysucklecreek.net. This is a fortunate example of private preservation, but it is not an official telemetry tape; it’s a secondary recording made from the live audio channels.

Current Status: Formally, no Apollo 10 telemetry data tapes are known to survive in NASA or NARA collections. The broad assessment from NASA is that aside from Apollo 9’s box, all Apollo-era telemetry reels are gonenasa.gov. Apollo 10’s tapes would have been part of the 2,614-canister Apollo accession that was withdrawn and never returnednasa.gov. Thus, the raw multi-track tape that once held Apollo 10’s slow-scan color video (if any was recorded in data format) and high-rate engineering data is presumed lost. On the other hand, the mission is well-preserved through other media: Apollo 10’s broadcast video and onboard film footage (like the 16mm movies shot by the crew) are intact and available, giving visual documentation. All air-to-ground communications were recorded on analog audio tapes which NASA has kept; these tapes have not yet been fully published like Apollo 11’s, but they exist and some portions (e.g. excerpts on Apollo in Real Time or NASA audio highlights) have been released. Importantly, textual transcripts of Apollo 10 (including onboard dialogue during far-side passes) have been public for decades, ensuring the information content survived even when the tape didn’t. In summary, Apollo 10’s telemetry tapes are considered missing, with none in museums or private hands (barring the small personal audio reels of Honeysuckle, now digitized for historical projects). There have been no known restoration efforts specifically for Apollo 10 data, aside from the general Apollo audio archival work. Researchers rely on Apollo 10’s final report and modern digital releases of audio/film, since the original telemetry streams are not directly accessible.

Apollo 11 – First Moon Landing

Mission Data: Apollo 11 (July 1969) is the most famous mission, and it produced some of the most historically significant telemetry data – notably the television transmission of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s moonwalk. Apollo 11’s Lunar Module used a special slow-scan TV (SSTV) camera that transmitted 320-line video at 10 frames per secondhoneysucklecreek.net. This raw video signal, along with other telemetry (voice, biomedical data, guidance data, etc.), was received by tracking stations. At those stations, engineers recorded the raw downlink onto 1-inch, 14-track telemetry tapes as a backupnasa.govnasa.gov. Simultaneously, the video was converted in real-time to standard TV for broadcast. By the end of the moonwalk, approximately 45 telemetry tape reels (each 14-inch reel running at 120 inches per second) were filled with Apollo 11’s raw data, including the unprocessed video feedtvtechnology.comtvtechnology.com. After the mission, these one-of-a-kind tapes were shipped to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and eventually sent to the federal records center (WNRC) for storagenasa.gov. In addition to the moonwalk EVA, countless other reels of Apollo 11 telemetry (covering launch, flight, etc.) were recorded and archived in the same manner.

Loss of the Telemetry Tapes: In the decades following Apollo, NASA did not permanently preserve those original tapes. In the 1970s and early 1980s, Goddard withdrew the Apollo telemetry tapes from WNRC, likely to reuse the tape media during a shortagespaceref.com. The Apollo 11 telemetry reels (along with tapes from other missions) were erased and reused for later satellite programs (such as Landsat) or discarded to save storage costsspaceref.comen.wikipedia.org. Critically, no one realized at the time that these specific tapes held the only direct recordings of the first moonwalk videospaceref.com. By the time NASA searched for them in 2006, they were long gone. After a multi-year hunt through facilities worldwide, the conclusion was that the Apollo 11 telemetry tapes had been irrevocably lost. The official 2009 report states: “Aside from a few canisters of Apollo 9 telemetry tapes still stored at WNRC, the Apollo-era telemetry tapes no longer exist – anywhere.”nasa.gov Apollo 11’s backup data tapes were among those destroyed. This famously became known as the case of the “missing tapes.” In July 2009, NASA held a press conference confirming that the original Apollo 11 SSTV tapes were likely overwritten and that no high-quality copy would be founden.wikipedia.org. It was an unexpected outcome, as the search team had hoped to find at least those 45 EVA reels, but ultimately they concluded the tapes were wiped around 1980tvtechnology.com.

Available Apollo 11 Recordings: Fortunately, although the raw telemetry tapes were lost, Apollo 11’s mission was documented through other recordings that survived:

• Television Footage: The live TV broadcast that the world saw was recorded on kinescope film and on standard 2-inch NTSC videotapes in 1969en.wikipedia.org. Those lower-quality recordings were never lost. NASA retained copies, and various broadcasters did as well. In 2009, NASA gathered the best surviving video sources – including broadcast tapes from CBS, an NTSC recording made in Sydney, a 16mm kinescope, and even an 8mm film taken at a tracking station – and had them digitally restored by Lowry Digitaltvtechnology.comtvtechnology.com. The result is a cleaned-up Apollo 11 moonwalk video (still based on the converted TV, since the original SSTV was gone). This restoration improved the imagery by ~30-40% using modern techniquestvtechnology.com. Thus, while we don’t have the absolute first-generation video, we do have slightly enhanced footage that is widely accessible. As for the raw SSTV quality that engineers saw on their monitors, it remains lost with the tapes, barring a few still photographs and a short Super-8 movie that an engineer shot directly off a screen in 1969tvtechnology.comtvtechnology.com.
• Flight Telemetry and Data: All of Apollo 11’s critical flight data (navigation, systems, etc.) were monitored in real time and logged by mission control. Although the original high-rate telemetry streams aren’t replayable now, the information was distilled into mission reports, technical memos, and printed telemetry readouts at the time. For example, the Apollo 11 Mission Report contains detailed tables of engine burns, trajectories, and system performance – all derived from the telemetry. So the content of the data was preserved, even though the magnetic tapes are gone. One exception is scientific data: Apollo 11 left a small Early Apollo Surface Experiments Package (EASEP) on the Moon (seismometer, dust collector, etc.) that transmitted data for about 21 daysntrs.nasa.govntrs.nasa.gov. Those experiment data were recorded and some were archived in summary form, but the raw data tapes from Apollo 11’s surface experiments were also not initially archived and later got lostntrs.nasa.govntrs.nasa.gov. (Apollo 11’s EASEP was short-lived, but later missions’ ALSEP data suffered similar fates – discussed under Apollo 12–17).
• Audio Recordings: Apollo 11’s voice recordings were preserved in full. NASA had recorded all channels of Mission Control audio during the mission on analog tapes (over 200 reels for Apollo 11, each 14 hours long with 30 tracks)engineering-research.utdallas.edu. These tapes sat in storage for years. Unlike the telemetry data tapes, the audio tapes were never erased – possibly because they used a specialized format and weren’t repurposed. By the 2010s, a concerted effort (by NASA, Johnson Space Center, and UT Dallas) managed to playback and digitize all of Apollo 11’s audio using the only surviving SoundScriber 30-track tape playerww2.aip.orgww2.aip.org. Today, 170+ hours of Apollo 11 Mission Control audio (across multiple loops and consoles) are available online, synchronized with transcripts. This includes everything from launch through lunar landing to splashdown, allowing researchers and the public to hear the mission unfold in real time. The condition of those tapes was good, though the playback required refurbishing an old tape machine and building new headsww2.aip.orgww2.aip.org. The success of this project means Apollo 11’s audio is fully preserved and accessible, even though its telemetry data tapes are gone.
• Photographic Film: Apollo 11 also carried onboard data recorders like the 16mm Data Acquisition Camera (DAC) which filmed instrument displays and out-the-window views (e.g. the lunar landing footage taken from the LM window). Those films were safely returned to Earth and are stored in NASA’s archives. They provide another form of recorded mission data (though not “telemetry tape” per se).

Notable Private/Museum Artifacts: One interesting case of Apollo 11 material ending up in private hands is the set of three original Apollo 11 NTSC videotapes that were sold at auction in 2019. A former intern, Gary George, had purchased surplus NASA tapes in the 1970s and discovered that three of them were first-generation recordings of the Apollo 11 EVA broadcast (essentially, NASA’s own copies of the TV as it was received in Houston)en.wikipedia.org. These 2-inch quad videotapes, labeled “Apollo 11 EVA,” were not the missing SSTV telemetry tapes, but rather copies of the converted broadcast feeden.wikipedia.org. They were nevertheless of excellent quality and are likely the best surviving video of Apollo 11’s moonwalk in analog form. In July 2019, those tapes were auctioned for $1.82 millionen.wikipedia.org. NASA stated that these tapes didn’t contain any new content beyond what is already preserveden.wikipedia.org – they are basically a pristine copy of the TV broadcast – and NASA has high-quality digital versions of that broadcast. The buyer of the tapes is undisclosed, so currently they reside in a private collection; presumably they are being stored carefully given their value. Aside from that, there are no known Apollo 11 telemetry tape reels in museums. The Smithsonian and other museums have Apollo artifacts (equipment, flight plans, etc.), but the actual data reels were not retained as artifacts. (It’s possible a display or two might show a generic “Apollo tape reel,” but those would be inert examples rather than containing data.)

Restoration Efforts: Apollo 11 has seen significant restoration efforts: the 2009 video restoration improved what footage we havetvtechnology.com, and the ongoing audio project has brought back long-lost audio channels. On the scientific side, in recent years NASA recovered and restored some Apollo 11 experiment data. For instance, Professor Brian O’Brien (Apollo 11’s dust detector PI) had retained his own tapes of dust experiment data. Those and other data were incorporated into the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP) archival recovery project, so Apollo 11’s EASEP data (such as seismic readings and dust measurements from the first lunar days after landing) have been rescued and are now available in NASA’s Planetary Data Systempoikiloblastic.wordpress.compoikiloblastic.wordpress.com. In short, although Apollo 11’s original telemetry tapes are confirmed lost, nearly all of the mission’s outputs have been preserved through alternate recordings or later recovery of data. The condition of what remains is generally good (audio tapes have been digitized successfully; video is as good as the 1969 broadcast tech allows), and accessibility is high – the audio and video are public, and the scientific datasets are archived for researchers. The loss of the raw SSTV tapes remains a cautionary tale at NASAspaceref.com, underscoring the importance of modern archiving for historically important data.

Apollo 12 – Second Moon Landing

Mission Data: Apollo 12 (November 1969) was the second lunar landing and brought a more advanced suite of cameras and experiments. Unfortunately, the color TV camera Apollo 12 carried infamously failed minutes into the first moonwalk (it was pointed at the Sun and its vidicon tube was damaged). As a result, there was no live TV broadcast after the first few minutes – Apollo 12’s EVA had no video feed to record (aside from those initial moments). This means there were likely fewer video-related telemetry tapes for Apollo 12 compared to Apollo 11. Still, all other telemetry (spacecraft engineering, voice, biomedical, etc.) was continuously sent and recorded at stations. Apollo 12’s Command Module and Lunar Module telemetry tapes would have been handled in the same way as Apollo 11’s: stored initially and then eventually disposed of. We have no indication that Apollo 12 mission tapes were spared – by NASA’s account, none of the Apollo 12 telemetry tapes remain in the archives todaynasa.gov.

Scientific Telemetry – ALSEP: Apollo 12 was the first mission to deploy a full Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP) on the Moon. This included experiments like a Passive Seismic Experiment (seismometer), a Cold Cathode Ion Gauge (to measure lunar atmosphere), a Solar Wind Spectrometer, a magnetometer, and others. These instruments sent scientific telemetry to Earth for years after the mission (Apollo 12’s ALSEP operated until 1977). The data were recorded in several forms: initially on analog “range tapes” and later on digital tapes (called ARCSAV tapes) once the data was processed at Johnson Space Centerpoikiloblastic.wordpress.com. During Apollo 12’s mission and shortly after, scientists received and analyzed some of this data, but archiving was incomplete. In the 1970s, only portions of ALSEP data were formally archived to the National Space Science Data Center, while huge volumes of raw data were left on tape reels that went into storagentrs.nasa.govntrs.nasa.gov. After the ALSEP network was shut down in 1977, NASA had over 5,000 ARCSAV tapes from all the Apollo sitespoikiloblastic.wordpress.com – Apollo 12’s share being significant since its instruments ran the longest (over 7 years). Regrettably, many of those tapes were lost over time. Records show that about 3,270 ARCSAV tapes (1973–1976 data) were sent to WNRC for archivingpoikiloblastic.wordpress.compoikiloblastic.wordpress.com, but in 1981 NASA Goddard withdrew about 2,800 of them amid a general tape recycling effortpoikiloblastic.wordpress.compoikiloblastic.wordpress.com. Those Apollo 12+ (and other ALSEP) tapes were then stored in a Goddard basement and later some were destroyed by a flood in 1990poikiloblastic.wordpress.com. The trail goes cold after that cleanup – effectively, most Apollo 12 ALSEP raw data tapes went missing or were destroyed by the 1990spoikiloblastic.wordpress.compoikiloblastic.wordpress.com.

Despite this, Apollo 12’s science data has seen restoration in recent years. The ALSEP preservation team managed to track down and recover about 440 of the lost ALSEP tapes in 2010ntrs.nasa.govntrs.nasa.gov (from various sources, including WNRC). Some of these recovered tapes included Apollo 12 experiment data, particularly from 1975. For example, binary tapes of Apollo 12’s Cold Cathode Ion Gauge (CCIG) and Solar Wind Spectrometer (SWS) for April–June 1975 were recovered and read out. By 2019, the team had successfully extracted and cleaned Apollo 12’s data from those tapes and released them via the Planetary Data System (PDS)pds-geosciences.wustl.edu. Specifically, restored Apollo 12 SWS data and Ion Gauge data were published, filling gaps in the archive with raw measurements that had been unavailable for decadespds-geosciences.wustl.edu. In addition, some original PI experiment tapes survived outside NASA: Apollo 12’s dust detector principal investigator, Prof. Brian O’Brien, had kept personal 7-track tapes of his experiment results. One such Apollo 12 dust detector data tape (days 465–468 of operation) is shown below, and data from tapes like this have been used to reconstruct Apollo 12’s dust measurement recordpoikiloblastic.wordpress.com:

poikiloblastic.wordpress.com Apollo 12 ALSEP dust detector data tape (7-track, in a “NASA – Manned Spacecraft Center” canister). This tape from the experiment’s PI was crucial in recovering scientific telemetry for Apollo 12poikiloblastic.wordpress.com. Such PI-held tapes, along with recovered archive tapes, allowed restoration of Apollo 12’s ALSEP data in NASA’s databases.

Current Status: Mission Operations Tapes: No Apollo 12 vehicle telemetry tapes (the ones capturing spacecraft state and comms during launch, lunar landing, etc.) are known to exist now. They were almost certainly reused in the early ’80s like the othersnasa.gov. As a result, the only way to study Apollo 12 mission telemetry is via the processed data in mission documents. For instance, the Apollo 12 Mission Report contains detailed engineering readouts and event timelines compiled from the telemetry at the time. The mission also had a recorder on the LM that captured data during the brief communications blackout of descent (Apollo 12’s LM lost contact momentarily during landing); that data was transmitted after landing and would have been on telemetry tape – but again, those tapes were not kept. The mission voice recordings (air-to-ground and Houston voice loops) were preserved on audio tape. Apollo 12’s audio hasn’t been as widely publicized as 11 or 13, but the tapes exist at JSC. Through the same digitization project, one can expect Apollo 12’s mission control audio to be eventually available (some Apollo 12 audio is already on NASA’s site demonstrating two-way light-time delaysnasa.gov). The television footage from Apollo 12 is minimal due to the camera failure; what little was transmitted is archived (mostly showing the crew stepping onto the Moon before the camera died).

Scientific Tapes: Apollo 12’s ALSEP telemetry tapes were largely lost, but significant portions of the scientific data have been recovered in digital form. As of now, Apollo 12’s seismic data, charged particle data, and other experiment results are available via PDS, either from original submissions or newly recovered sources. The physical tapes that yielded these recovered data (like the 1975 ARCSAV reels) were read and then likely retired – some are stored at NASA facilities for safekeeping, but others might have been in poor condition. The example tape in the image above was read by a data recovery contractor (SpectrumData) in the 2010spoikiloblastic.wordpress.com, after which the data was preserved digitally. Therefore, Apollo 12’s scientific telemetry is accessible to researchers in a way that its mission telemetry is not. No Apollo 12 telemetry reels are on public display or known in private collections. The major result for Apollo 12 is that the mission’s science telemetry has been saved from oblivion, while the mission operation tapes remain missing.

Apollo 13 – Third Lunar Landing Attempt (Aborted)

Mission Data: Apollo 13 (April 1970) was intended to land at the Fra Mauro site, but an oxygen tank explosion en route to the Moon forced an abort and safe return using the Lunar Module as a “lifeboat.” This mission’s telemetry was absolutely crucial for the crew’s survival – every bit of engineering data (pressure readings, power levels, guidance information) was scrutinized in real time to solve the crisis. During and after the mission, NASA engineers poured over Apollo 13’s telemetry to understand the failure. The data was recorded on the usual 1-inch reels at tracking stations and in Mission Control’s data systems. Given Apollo 13’s anomalous events, one might think the tapes would be specially preserved. In practice, however, once the accident investigation concluded and the mission report was written, Apollo 13’s raw telemetry tapes fell into the same storage cycle as the others. They were sent to the archives and probably later pulled for reuse in the 1980s. There is no record of Apollo 13 telemetry tapes being spared; by the time of the 2006–09 searches, nothing from Apollo 13 surfaced in the archivesnasa.gov. So it’s presumed that Apollo 13’s original telemetry reels were also erased or lost, along with those of most Apollo missions.

Post-mission Data Usage: Although the tapes are gone, Apollo 13’s data was not lost in a practical sense at the time. During the mission, key telemetry was printed out on strip charts and logs (especially around the time of the explosion on April 13, 1970). The Apollo 13 Review Board report includes plots and readouts derived from telemetry. For example, they used the recorded sensor data to pinpoint that a wiring fault caused the oxygen tank to rupture. All those findings were preserved in documentation. Thus, the content of the telemetry that mattered for Apollo 13’s analysis is available in reports, even though the actual tape media were later recycled. Apollo 13, like Apollo 11, also had no ALSEP deployed (since they never landed), so there are no surface experiment tapes to consider. However, Apollo 13’s Saturn V third stage did carry some instruments and a transmitter for a planned experiment (measuring S-IVB impact on the Moon via Apollo 12’s seismometer). That S-IVB impact telemetry would have been received and recorded – likely another tape that was stored and later discarded. The resulting data (the impact timing and seismic signal) were documented in scientific papers, not requiring the original tape anymore.

Audio and Film: Apollo 13 produced extensive recorded mission data in forms that were saved. Most famously, all the mission communications were recorded on analog tapes. In fact, Apollo 13’s crisis spurred interest in those recordings years later. In the late 2010s, as Apollo 13’s 50th anniversary neared, the same UT Dallas/NASA team that worked on Apollo 11’s audio turned to Apollo 13’s 30-track tapes. They digitized almost all Apollo 13 mission control audio (some 7,200 hours across multiple loops) and released it in April 2020 for the anniversaryengineering-research.utdallas.edusmpte.org. Now one can listen to every conversation among controllers and between Houston and the crew as Apollo 13 unfolded, thanks to those preserved tapes. The quality of the audio tapes was adequate and they were successfully read with the custom machinery (the SoundScriber and new 30-head system). So the condition of Apollo 13’s audio tapes was still good after 50 years. Alongside audio, Apollo 13 has preserved video/film records: even though they had no live TV after the accident (to conserve power, the crew did not do broadcasts), the launch and pre-crisis TV show (Apollo 13’s crew broadcast a short TV tour of the spacecraft about an hour before the explosion) was recorded and exists. Additionally, the crew’s onboard 16mm film footage (for example, of the damaged Service Module after separation) was recovered and is archived. These are accessible via NASA’s media resources.

Current Status: Telemetry Tapes: No original Apollo 13 telemetry tapes are cataloged as existing today (consistent with NASA’s findings for Apollo tapes broadly)nasa.gov. If any Apollo 13 tape were miraculously found, it would be of great historical interest (e.g., the exact sensor readings at the moment of the explosion), but so far none has turned up outside the normal channels. It appears none ended up in private collections or museums. Given Apollo 13’s fame, if a tape had surfaced, it likely would have made news. The National Archives does hold Apollo 13 documentation, but not the raw data tapes themselves. Accessibility: Even without the tapes, Apollo 13 is one of the best-documented missions. The entire mission can be “replayed” via the Apollo 13 in Real Time website, which integrates all available data: audio (fully available), photographs, and transcripts. The lack of raw telemetry has not hindered analysis – engineers and historians have all the key numbers from printed records. Restoration: Aside from the audio digitization project (completed in 2020), there hasn’t been a need for other restoration on Apollo 13 data. There were no surface experiments to recover, and no missing video (the mission’s relevant video was already saved). In essence, Apollo 13’s data legacy is intact in qualitative terms, even if the original magnetic tape reels are gone. Researchers can examine Apollo 13 through its detailed mission report and the newly available audio archive, which provides insight into how telemetry was used in real-time to solve problems.

Apollo 14 – Return to Lunar Surface

Mission Data: Apollo 14 (Jan–Feb 1971) resumed lunar landings after Apollo 13, with the mission largely successful. It carried a color TV camera (identical to Apollo 12’s, but this time it survived and sent back live color video from the Moon). That video was broadcast and recorded on standard tapes, all of which survive in NASA’s collections. Apollo 14 also had an onboard voice recorder (DSE) in the LM that captured the crew during periods of LOS (for instance, during descent preparation when out of direct contact – Apollo 14 used this to record some onboard commentary). Those DSE dumps were recorded on Earth as telemetry. Post-mission, Apollo 14’s telemetry tapes followed the usual path: temporary storage, then likely copied to 9-track for some processed data, but the raw 1-inch tapes eventually went into storage. By the early 1980s, Apollo 14 tapes would have been withdrawn alongside the others. Indeed, the blanket statement from NASA’s tape search implies Apollo 14’s original telemetry tapes do not exist anymorenasa.gov.

However, Apollo 14 did not suffer a missing-video problem like Apollo 11, so there was no specific search for Apollo 14 tapes. The loss is more general: any high-resolution recording of Apollo 14’s downlink (which might include things like the biomedical data or science data in original form) is gone, though all that information was utilized and documented at the time. Apollo 14’s landing and EVA telemetry was used to produce the mission report and troubleshooting analyses (Apollo 14 had some issues, like a stuck switch that almost prevented landing – solved by Mission Control using telemetry to diagnose it). All those aspects are covered in written records.

Scientific Telemetry – ALSEP: Apollo 14 deployed an ALSEP at Fra Mauro, including experiments such as another Passive Seismometer, a Heat Flow Experiment (drilling probes into the lunar subsurface), a Cold Cathode Ion Gauge, and Active Seismic (explosives to send shockwaves) among others. These experiments transmitted data to Earth through September 1977. Apollo 14’s ALSEP data tapes suffered the same fate as Apollo 12’s: many were lost or not archived initially. By the 1970s, some Apollo 14 ALSEP results were published (e.g. a partial set of heat flow data), but the complete raw dataset wasn’t safely stored due to the archival lapses. The recent ALSEP recovery efforts have specifically addressed Apollo 14 as well. For instance, the PDS Geosciences node notes restored Apollo 14 Cold Cathode Gauge data and other datasets became available by 2008–2019pds-geosciences.wustl.edu. This indicates that either original tapes or PI records for Apollo 14 were found and processed. Indeed, the ALSEP focus group’s work led to restoration of Apollo 14 heat flow data (combined with Apollo 15’s) and other experiment time seriespds-geosciences.wustl.edupds-geosciences.wustl.edu. Those data are now accessible in modern formats. Many Apollo 14 ALSEP raw tapes, however, were likely among those destroyed in the Goddard basement flood. Only pieces were recovered: for example, if ~450 tapes from 1975 were found, they contained data from all active ALSEP stations (Apollo 12, 14, 15, 16, 17 were still running then). Apollo 14’s share of the recovered 1975 tapes has now been translated into digital archives (filling late-period data). Earlier data (1971–72) from Apollo 14 ALSEP had some portions in PI holdings or on microfiche, which have been collated by the recovery teampoikiloblastic.wordpress.compoikiloblastic.wordpress.com. So, scientifically, Apollo 14’s telemetry has been largely saved, though it took decades.

Current Status: Mission tapes: No Apollo 14 flight telemetry tapes are publicly known to exist. The telemetry needed for real-time operations is preserved in indirect forms – transcripts, printed readouts, etc. No reels from Apollo 14 turned up in the archives search, and it’s presumed they were reused. The National Archives might have some Apollo 14-related records (for example, the Apollo 14 Preliminary Science Report, etc.), but not the raw data tapes. Audio/video: Apollo 14’s air-to-ground and Mission Control audio was recorded and stored alongside other missions’ audio; those tapes are in NASA’s custody. They have not yet been comprehensively released like Apollo 11/13, but are slated for digitization (some Apollo 14 mission control loops have already been processed in the ongoing project). The color TV footage from Apollo 14’s EVAs (such as the astronauts walking and the first use of the Mobile Equipment Transporter handcart) exists in the form of NTSC videotapes and kinescopes – these are stored in NASA’s media archives and copies can be seen in documentaries or the Apollo 14 mission video. So the public can access Apollo 14’s video (albeit in 1969 TV quality) readily.

Science tapes: Apollo 14’s ALSEP data is now digitally archived in places like the PDS. For example, all calibrated Heat Flow Experiment data from Apollo 14 is available in ASCII tablespds-geosciences.wustl.edu. The original physical tapes that were recovered (if any specifically for Apollo 14) would likely reside with NASA’s Johnson Space Center or Goddard Space Flight Center in some storage if they weren’t too damaged – but most likely, the recovery was done from surviving copies or later 9-track “work tapes” rather than original 14-track tapes for Apollo 14’s early data. We do know that some Apollo 14 experiment tapes were never found and the data had to be reconstructed from partial records (Apollo 14’s heat flow had gaps due to tape loss, but those gaps were filled by careful analysis of available data).

In summary, Apollo 14’s situation mirrors Apollo 12’s: the primary mission telemetry tapes are gone, but the mission is thoroughly documented through other preserved media. The scientific telemetry from Apollo 14, once thought lost, is now largely restored and accessible, ensuring researchers today can study Apollo 14’s lunar environment measurements. No known Apollo 14 telemetry tape is on display in any museum or held by any private collector of note.

Apollo 15 – First Extended Scientific Mission (J-Mission)

Mission Data: Apollo 15 (July–Aug 1971) inaugurated the J-missions with longer stays on the Moon (three days, multiple EVAs) and a strong focus on science. The mission data volume increased accordingly. Apollo 15 carried a color TV camera on the Lunar Roving Vehicle, providing live television from the Moon’s surface as the astronauts drove (this was transmitted via the Lunar Module’s antenna to Earth). Those broadcasts were recorded on standard video tapes and are preserved (Apollo 15’s TV – like Scott’s hammer-feather drop demonstration – is widely available). Additionally, Apollo 15’s Command Module had a suite of orbital science instruments (the Scientific Instrument Module, or SIM bay) that operated while the CMP circled the Moon. These included a panoramic camera (on film), gamma-ray and X-ray spectrometers, a laser altimeter, etc., which streamed data to Earth in real time. All of this telemetry (surface and orbital) was recorded on the MSFN (Manned Space Flight Network) data tapes during the mission. By the early 1970s, NASA had started archiving some processed results of these experiments (e.g., the gamma-ray spectrometer data might be saved in binary form on 9-track tapes at the science center). However, the raw 14-track telemetry recordings were still treated as temporary backups. As with prior missions, Apollo 15’s original telemetry tapes were not permanently archived and almost certainly fell victim to the 1980s tape reuse. None of the Apollo 15 real-time telemetry reels are documented as surviving todaynasa.gov.

One small example: Apollo 15’s Lunar Module decent and ascent data were recorded and later used in training simulations; but the tapes themselves were reused. The only reason we have insight into such data now is because astronauts or engineers might have written down values or printed strips at the time. For instance, Apollo 15’s mission report and ALSJ (Apollo Lunar Surface Journal) contain details of engine performance and trajectory from telemetry, but the source tapes are gone.

Surface Science Telemetry: Apollo 15 deployed a comprehensive ALSEP at Hadley Rille, including a heat flow experiment, active seismic experiment, lunar surface magnetometer, and more (in addition to the common seismometer and ion detector). Apollo 15’s ALSEP transmitted huge amounts of data until it was turned off in 1977. The archiving situation for Apollo 15’s ALSEP is similar to Apollo 14’s. Many raw data tapes were lost, but some were recovered. Notably, Apollo 15’s heat flow experiment suffered a malfunction (one probe’s cable was broken), but the other probe’s data was recorded. The restoration project managed to gather all available Apollo 15 heat flow data and publish it in corrected form in PDSpds-geosciences.wustl.edu. Likewise, Apollo 15’s Suprathermal Ion Detector data and other datasets have been restored (PDS released Apollo 15 ALSEP data alongside Apollo 12’s in 2019)pds-geosciences.wustl.edu. In 2010, when ~440 tapes were recovered, they included Apollo 15 ALSEP data from mid-1975poikiloblastic.wordpress.com. These yielded raw readings (e.g., from the magnetometer, seismic, etc.) that were then processed. On the orbital science side, Apollo 15’s gamma-ray spectrometer data was actually archived in the 1970s in the NSSDC, so that was never truly lost. The same goes for the mapping camera photography (on film) and laser altimeter data (which might have been stored in NASA archives). So, for Apollo 15’s unique science experiments, the data is mostly safe in some form; what was at risk were the ALSEP telemetry streams, now largely saved by the recovery team.

Spacesuit Telemetry: A unique subset of Apollo 15 telemetry that has been made accessible involves the astronauts’ Portable Life Support System (PLSS) data. During EVAs, the biomedical and suit status data (oxygen pressure, water, battery levels, etc.) were telemetered and also recorded in Mission Control on strip charts. Recently, NASA scanned some of these analog charts. For instance, an NTRS report titled “Apollo 15 PLSS Telemetry” contains raw images of strip charts for each EVA, showing suit pressures, temperatures, etc.space.stackexchange.com. These scans mean that even without the original digital telemetry tape, we have the analog record of that telemetry. It’s a form of preservation: the charts were generated in real time from the telemetry and then kept. Now digitized, they allow analysis of the astronauts’ life support performance.

space.stackexchange.comThose Apollo 15 PLSS strip charts illustrate how NASA can retrieve telemetry information from paper records. It’s a reminder that a lot of Apollo data was also recorded in human-readable formats at the time (either on paper or film), which serves as a backup when tapes are missing.

Current Status: Mission Telemetry Tapes: No original Apollo 15 mission tapes are known to exist in any archive. Apollo 15 is included in the blanket statement that Apollo-era telemetry reels (aside from Apollo 9’s few) don’t exist anymorenasa.gov. The National Archives and NASA have not reported any Apollo 15-specific tapes in storage. Therefore, all the raw telemetry (spacecraft state vectors, etc.) is gone as magnetic media. In practice, however, Apollo 15’s mission is richly documented. The Apollo 15 Mission Report (hundreds of pages) includes tables and plots derived from telemetry. The voice and video recordings were preserved: Apollo 15’s mission control audio tapes were stored and have been partially digitized (for example, audio of the landing phase is available on the Apollo 15 Flight Journal site). All the 16mm films and 70mm photos taken during Apollo 15 are archived and accessible, providing visual telemetry of sorts (e.g. a film camera captured the LM liftoff from the Moon, which helps analyze the ascent trajectory).

Science Data Tapes: Apollo 15’s ALSEP and orbital science data are now largely secure in digital archives. The physical tapes that still existed (like those recovered ARCSAV tapes from 1975) were read and then presumably archived or discarded after digitization. The condition of those tapes varied, but evidently at least some Apollo 15 ARCSAV tapes were readable enough to extract datantrs.nasa.gov. Many more Apollo 15 ALSEP tapes (from earlier in the mission) are still missing, but because Apollo 15’s experiments had a lot of redundancy and continuous streams, later data plus other records have filled most gaps. The Apollo 15 subsatellite (a small satellite left in lunar orbit) transmitted data on lunar gravity and charged particles; those data were received by tracking stations until the subsatellite’s eventual decay in 1972. It’s likely that information was stored on separate science tapes and later published; the raw subsatellite telemetry tapes likely got recycled too. However, NASA did archive processed subsatellite results (for example, Apollo 15’s subsatellite provided gravity mapping that was documented).

One highlight of preservation is the Apollo 15 mission audio: As of 2022, the Apollo mission control audio project has Apollo 15 on its roadmap (Apollo 16 and 17 audio are being processed, and Apollo 15 would follow). So within a short time, we may have all Apollo 15 audio publicly accessible, drawn from the surviving tapes at JSC.

To sum up, Apollo 15’s telemetry tapes are officially listed as missing, but the mission’s legacy data (scientific and operational) is robustly preserved in alternate forms. No Apollo 15 raw tape reels are on display anywhere; if any remain, they would quietly sit in a NASA facility, but none have been reported. Researchers interested in Apollo 15 can obtain the full set of experiment results from NASA’s databasespds-geosciences.wustl.edu and can utilize transcripts, audio, and film to reconstruct events that were originally recorded on now-missing telemetry tapes.

Apollo 16 – Lunar Highlands Mission

Mission Data: Apollo 16 (April 1972) continued the J-mission program, landing in the lunar highlands (Descartes region). It too carried a Lunar Rover with a color TV camera, plus a similar SIM bay of orbital instruments. Apollo 16’s mission had a notable incident: an in-flight problem with the Command Module’s main engine that almost cut the lunar orbit stay short (they resolved it and proceeded with the landing after a one-day delay). Telemetry was critical in diagnosing that issue, and all of that data was recorded on the ground. After the mission, Apollo 16’s telemetry tapes were sent to storage like previous missions. Given the timing (1972), they would have been part of the later batches of Apollo tapes that were archived at WNRC. By 1983, NASA had pulled tens of thousands of magnetic tape reels from WNRC for reusenasa.gov – Apollo 16’s reels almost certainly among them. In line with NASA’s findings, no Apollo 16 raw telemetry tapes are currently known to be in the archivesnasa.gov.

Scientific Telemetry: Apollo 16’s ALSEP included a unique experiment: the Active Seismic Experiment (shooting small mortar shells to create seismic waves), in addition to a heat flow experiment, lunar surface magnetometer, and others. It also had a far UV camera/spectrograph operated on the surface (its data were recorded on film by the astronauts, not telemetry). The ALSEP instruments sent data to Earth until 1977, similar to Apollo 15’s. These data went through the same archiving troubles. A large fraction of Apollo 16’s raw ALSEP tapes were lost. However, some were recovered: for example, the batch of 1975 ARCSAV tapes recovered in 2010 would include Apollo 16 data for that periodpoikiloblastic.wordpress.com. By 1975, Apollo 16 had been operating ~3 years, so those tapes cover later portions of the record. The restoration team has processed Apollo 16’s ALSEP data as well – notably, Apollo 16’s Passive Seismic Experiment data (and all seismic data from all missions) have been cleaned up and put in standardized formatspds-geosciences.wustl.edu. Apollo 16’s heat flow data unfortunately had issues (one probe failed during deployment), but the available data have been archived. Essentially, Apollo 16’s experiment data have been saved in PDS archives, often by compiling multiple sources (PI logs, recovered tapes, etc.). Meanwhile, Apollo 16 also deployed a subsatellite in lunar orbit like Apollo 15 did. That subsatellite experienced an unstable orbit and crashed after only 35 days, but during that time it transmitted data on magnetic fields and charged particles. Those data were likely captured on telemetry tapes at ground stations and then forwarded to investigators. The subsatellite data would have been archived in principal investigator files and maybe at NSSDC (for example, Apollo 16 subsatellite magnetometer data appears in publications). The raw subsatellite tape would have been treated as temporary and likely overwritten later.

Current Status: Mission tapes: As with Apollo 15, none of Apollo 16’s mission operation tapes are available. The needed information from them (engine performance, trajectories, etc.) was extracted and appears in the Apollo 16 Mission Report and technical memos. The lack of original tapes means that if someone wanted to re-crunch Apollo 16’s telemetry with modern tools, they largely cannot – except for what was printed or later digitized by alternate means. Audio/video: Apollo 16’s voice recordings were kept on analog tapes like all Apollo missions; those tapes survived in storage. NASA is in the process of digitizing them. Apollo 16’s full mission control audio is expected to be released (as of 2023, portions of Apollo 16’s audio were being processed by the UT Dallas team). The televised EVA footage from Apollo 16 is fully preserved in the archives – recordings of the live TV (the famous Apollo 16 Grand Prix rover drive, etc.) are intact and have been transferred to digital media over the years. So, anyone can watch Apollo 16’s surface activities, albeit at the 1972 broadcast quality. The onboard 16mm films (like the LM liftoff as filmed by the rover camera, or interior footage) are also archived and many have been scanned in HD for public viewing.

Science tapes: Apollo 16’s ALSEP data is largely accessible now via PDS. For example, Apollo 16’s magnetometer and seismic data appear in consolidated Apollo seismic archivespds-geosciences.wustl.edu. The condition of any Apollo 16-specific tapes that were found (if any) is not explicitly documented, but presumably similar to Apollo 15’s – if they were in the recovered batch, they were read successfully. Many Apollo 16 ALSEP tapes (especially those from 1972–74) were likely never recovered, but NASA could rely on the fact that principal investigators had kept some of their own “PI tapes” or printouts for that periodpoikiloblastic.wordpress.com. In one notable case, Apollo 16’s Active Seismic Experiment data (from the mortar shots) were initially missing because the raw data wasn’t archived; but researchers in recent years managed to locate the summary records and have reconstructed a catalog of those seismic events. So even where tapes were missing, knowledge was not completely lost.

In summary, Apollo 16’s telemetry tapes are considered lost like the others, with no reels known to be sitting in any archive or collection. The mission’s outcome data (science and engineering) have been preserved through reconstruction and modern archiving projects. There haven’t been media stories of Apollo 16 tapes turning up in random places, which suggests they were indeed all disposed of. The focus for Apollo 16 has been on making sure the scientific legacy is captured (which it now is, digitally) and on releasing the audio/visual materials, rather than recovering original tapes which are presumed gone.

Apollo 17 – Final Moon Landing Mission

Mission Data: Apollo 17 (Dec 1972) was the final Apollo moon landing, with the longest surface stay and a heavy science focus. It also produced a large amount of telemetry. Apollo 17 carried the same type of rover and TV system as Apollo 16, so live color video was sent from the lunar surface (famously, the Apollo 17 rover’s camera caught the last moments on the Moon, including Gene Cernan’s closing words). Those broadcasts were recorded and survive on videotapes and films. Apollo 17’s Command Module had the SIM bay instruments (including a radar to probe beneath the lunar surface, a far-UV spectrometer, etc.), all sending data via telemetry. Additionally, Apollo 17 hosted an on-board tape recorder in the Command Module that was used extensively to record sensor data during passes behind the Moon (especially for the radar experiment). That on-board tape was played back to Earth when in contact, meaning the ground stations would have recorded the downlinked dump on telemetry tape as well.

After Apollo 17, with the program ending, one might think the data tapes would be saved as historical artifacts, but that was not the case. Apollo 17’s telemetry reels went into the same WNRC storage as previous missions. In fact, because Apollo 17 was late 1972, its tapes likely joined the others just before NASA began pulling tapes for reuse. By 1981–82, Apollo 17 tapes would have been among the thousands removed by Goddard from the archivesnasa.gov. None have been reported as surviving. Thus, Apollo 17’s original telemetry tapes are presumed lost along with the rest of Apollo’s. NASA’s 2009 report did not single out Apollo 17 in any way that would suggest some tapes remained; it was a blanket “Apollo-era telemetry tapes no longer exist” aside from the Apollo 9 anomalynasa.gov.

Scientific Telemetry: Apollo 17’s ALSEP was the most advanced, including experiments like a Lunar Surface Gravimeter (which unfortunately never worked properly) and others similar to Apollo 16’s. The ALSEP network was shut down only about 5 years after Apollo 17, in September 1977, due to budget cutspoikiloblastic.wordpress.com. By then, Apollo 17’s ALSEP had sent a trove of data. The archiving woes discussed earlier absolutely included Apollo 17. In fact, Apollo 17 being the last, its data from 1973–77 made up a big portion of those ARCSAV tapes. The records show 3,270 ARCSAV tapes from April 1973 to Feb 1976 were storedpoikiloblastic.wordpress.com – that timeframe covers Apollo 17’s first 3 years of data. Then the massive withdrawal in 1981 removed 2,800 of those tapes (likely including Apollo 17’s) and many were ruined in the floodpoikiloblastic.wordpress.com. However, the recovery of ~450 tapes in 2010 included tapes from April–June 1975poikiloblastic.wordpress.com. Those would contain Apollo 17 ALSEP data for that period. Indeed, the ALSEP recovery team managed to restore Apollo 17’s heat flow experiment data and other datasets, similar to Apollo 15’s. One published paper in 2019 examined Apollo 17’s heat flow and long-term subsurface temperature trend, explicitly using data recovered from the 1975 tapesagupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com. It notes those tapes accounted for <10% of the total Apollo 17 heat flow data – implying the rest had to be gathered from other sources (like daily telemetry prints or earlier tapes if available)ig.utexas.edu. The end result is that Apollo 17’s ALSEP data gaps have been largely filled in the final archives. Apollo 17’s Lunar Ejecta and Meteorites (LEAM) experiment data and other instrument readings have been compiled from the best available sources (some were archived by PIs originally).

Apollo 17 also had a orbital mapping radar (Apollo Lunar Sounder Experiment) that recorded data on the onboard tape recorder. Much of that experiment’s data was actually not transmitted live but stored on tape and only partially downlinked; some of it was later recovered from that onboard tape after the mission (the tape cassette was brought back to Earth). Therefore, Apollo 17’s orbital radar data was saved on a physical tape cassette that the astronauts returned – which NASA has and was able to read out separately (not a telemetry downlink tape, but an onboard data storage tape). That is an interesting exception: the raw data of the Lunar Sounder exists (and has been digitized by scientists in the 2010s) because it wasn’t solely reliant on radio telemetry. For other Apollo 17 orbital instruments (like the infrared radiometer), the data downlinked was archived by the respective science team.

Current Status: Mission telemetry tapes: No Apollo 17 telemetry tapes are publicly accounted for. After Apollo 17, NASA did send some Apollo materials to the National Archives – but primarily documents and photographs, not the magnetic telemetry tapes. So in the National Archives’ Apollo holdings, one finds things like mission reports, press kits, technical drawings, etc., but not the raw telemetry reels (those remained under NASA control until they were discarded). There haven’t been any rumors of Apollo 17 tape finds, so presumably they were reused or sit anonymously erased. Mission documentation is plentiful: Apollo 17’s final report, the Apollo 17 Technical Crew Debrief, etc., capture the mission events and data. The mission control audio for Apollo 17 was recorded on the 30-track tapes like the others; those tapes survived. Efforts are underway (or planned) to digitize Apollo 17’s 150+ hours of mission control audio. Already, the air-to-ground channel for Apollo 17 is available on the “Apollo 17 in Real Time” website, along with hundreds of photographs and some video clips. The live TV video from Apollo 17 (such as the ceremonies on the Moon, geological demonstrations, etc.) exists in archived form and has been digitized; it can be viewed through NASA’s archives or the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal site.

Scientific data tapes: Apollo 17’s ALSEP and other experiment data have been reconstructed and archived digitally. The PDS archive contains Apollo 17 heat flow data, seismic event catalogs (including Apollo 17’s seismometer contributions), and so onpds-geosciences.wustl.edu. If some Apollo 17 ALSEP tapes had survived in storage, they likely were among the few sent back to WNRC (the records show none after Feb 1976, perhaps because Apollo 17 data after that might not have been archived at all)lpi.usra.edu. It’s worth noting that Apollo 17’s ALSEP was off for the final 21 months (end of 1975 to Sept 1977) – those last years of data were never put on ARCSAV tapes because the archiving was halted in early 1976lpi.usra.edu. They effectively existed only as real-time feed. Some of those final transmissions were captured in summary form (monthly reports, etc.), but not in full detail. So in that sense, one could consider that portion of Apollo 17 data “missing” – but it’s not a case of tapes lost, rather tapes never made due to funding cuts. In any event, by now the Apollo 17 ALSEP archive is as complete as it can be, given recovery of earlier data and absence of late data, and it’s available for research.

No known Apollo 17 telemetry tape reels are in any museum or collection; Apollo 17 hardware and memorabilia went to the Smithsonian or given to crew, but telemetry tapes were not treated as memorabilia. The legacy of Apollo 17’s data is carried in the scientific literature and the digital archives rather than original tapes.

Summary and Conclusion

Surviving Tapes and Storage Locations: Across Apollo 1 through Apollo 17, very few original telemetry tapes remain. The only mission with known original 1-inch telemetry reels still in storage is Apollo 9, with a single box of nine reels at the National Archives (WNRC) containing tracking station datanasa.gov. Apart from that, no other Apollo mission telemetry tapes are confirmed in NASA or NARA custody – a conclusion backed by NASA’s exhaustive 2006–2009 search that found that Apollo-era telemetry tapes had been largely destroyed or reusednasa.gov. The vast collections of Apollo data tapes (estimated at over 25,000 reels for all missions combinednasa.gov) were mostly erased in the late 1970s and early 1980s. This includes tapes for historic events like Apollo 11’s moonwalk (lost by 1980) and routine mission data from Apollo 7 through 17. Some fragmentary exceptions have emerged: a few Apollo 8 and Apollo 10 audio dump tapes turned up in Australia (private hands) and have been copiedhoneysucklecreek.nethoneysucklecreek.net; a handful of Apollo 15–17 ALSEP experiment tapes were recovered from records centers and universitiesntrs.nasa.govpoikiloblastic.wordpress.com; and the Apollo 9 reels mentioned were found at WNRC. Additionally, 3 two-inch videotapes of Apollo 11’s broadcast were preserved by an ex-intern and auctioned (now held privately)en.wikipedia.org. These isolated finds aside, the current status is that virtually all Apollo mission telemetry tapes are missing from official archives. NASA and the National Archives have acknowledged that the original magnetic tapes for Apollo missions are, for the most part, gonenasa.gov.

Preservation of Apollo Data: Despite the loss of physical tapes, the information content from those tapes has been largely preserved through alternate means:

• Mission control audio tapes were kept and are now being digitized. Over 200 analog audio tapes (14-hour each, 30-track) holding Apollo mission voice loops were safeguarded at Johnson Space Centerengineering-research.utdallas.edu. These tapes (for Apollo 11, 13, etc.) have been played back with custom equipment, and the audio is publicly accessible in synchronized formats. This means all dialogues between astronauts and controllers, and controller-to-controller chatter, survive with high fidelity even though they were originally part of the telemetry stream. They are stored digitally and backed up for research and public enjoyment (e.g. the “Apollo in Real Time” interactive websites).
• Television and video from Apollo missions were recorded on broadcast tapes or film at the time and almost all of these are preserved. The only video that was lost in quality was Apollo 11’s original SSTV, but even that was mitigated by using the existing broadcast copies and modern restorationtvtechnology.com. Later Apollo missions had direct TV that didn’t require special tapes, and those broadcasts remain available. NASA’s media archives (now often in digital formats) hold Apollo 7/8/9’s TV on kinescopes, Apollo 10/14/15/16/17’s color TV on broadcast tapes, etc. Many have been digitized into HD for anniversaries. Some Apollo video resides with the National Archives as well (for example, NARA’s motion picture division holds Apollo 11 EVA footage on film, Apollo 15 lunar rover video recordings, etc., as part of historical collections).
• Scientific data archives have been rebuilt. The Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP) data for Apollo 11, and Apollo 12–17 has been largely recovered and archived in digital form in the 2000sntrs.nasa.govpoikiloblastic.wordpress.com. What happened is that while the raw tapes were lost, many secondary sources (like 9-track “work tapes”, microfiche prints of weekly data, and tapes held by principal investigators) were gathered by the Lunar Data Project. By 2017–2019, the team announced restoration of numerous Apollo datasetspoikiloblastic.wordpress.com. Today a researcher can obtain Apollo seismic data, heat flow readings, lunar atmosphere measurements, etc., from the PDS Geosciences Node, with documentation explaining that these were reconstructed from the old tapes and files. The condition of the recovered data is good – it’s been converted to modern formats (CSV tables, etc.) and validated where possible. Gaps that couldn’t be filled are noted, but they are relatively few considering the scope. This is a big win for Apollo science: decades after fearing the data lost, the Apollo ALSEP readings are again available for analysis.
• Paper and film records serve as backups for telemetry. During Apollo, mission data was often printed to hardcopy (for example, flight controllers had telemetry on strip charts or log sheets). NASA archived hundreds of thousands of pages of Apollo documentation which remain in libraries and online. These include things like the Apollo 15 PLSS telemetry strip charts (scanned and posted on NTRS)space.stackexchange.com, mission status reports, and event logs. Such documents ensure that even without original tapes, the numerical values and events can be retrieved. The Apollo Flight Journals and Apollo Lunar Surface Journal are compilations that use transcripts and technical data to essentially recreate the telemetry timeline of each mission, available publicly.
• Remaining hardware data recorders: In a few cases, Apollo data was stored in hardware that still exists. For example, Apollo 17’s Lunar Sounder Experiment tape cassette (onboard the Command Module) was returned to Earth and read out post-flight, so its data was preserved independently of any ground-station tape. Similarly, film-based data (like panoramic mapping camera images on Apollo 15–17) were never at risk – the films are stored (e.g., at the National Archives and Johnson Space Center) and have been digitized at high resolution by Arizona State University’s Apollo archive project. Thus, certain types of “telemetry” that were recorded on non-magnetic media remain in excellent shape.

Lost vs. Found: To directly answer which tapes are confirmed lost or missing: Essentially all missions from Apollo 1 through Apollo 17 have their primary telemetry tapes listed as missing. Not a single mission has a complete set of original telemetry tapes preserved. The Apollo 11 tapes (with the moonwalk video) are confirmed eraseden.wikipedia.org. Apollo 13’s tapes were almost certainly reused. Apollo 7, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17 – all were part of the bulk erasure/reuse. The confirmed lost list includes Apollo 11 SSTV reels, Apollo 12–17 ALSEP raw tapes (most of them), and generally the whole collection of flight telemetry tapes that once resided at Goddard/WNRC (over 2,600 tape canisters)nasa.gov. NASA’s final report in 2009 explicitly states that aside from a few Apollo 9 tapes, no original Apollo telemetry tapes remainednasa.gov.

On the other side, known existing tapes can be summarized as:

• Apollo 9: Nine telemetry reels (Canary Islands station data) at WNRCnasa.gov.
• Apollo 8 & 10 (partial): Some telemetry-derived audio tapes held by Honeysuckle Creek alumni (now digitized)honeysucklecreek.nethoneysucklecreek.net.
• Apollo 11: Three 2-inch video tapes (NTSC recordings) in a private collectionen.wikipedia.org. (No 1-inch data tapes known.)
• Apollo 12–17 ALSEP: ~440 ARCSAV tapes recovered from WNRCntrs.nasa.gov – these contain data from multiple missions (Apollo 12, 14, 15, 16, 17 during 1975). These tapes, after data extraction, are likely stored at Goddard or Johnson Space Center now. Some PI tapes for experiments (like Apollo 12 and 15 dust detector tapes Brian O’Brien hadpoikiloblastic.wordpress.com) also exist in private or academic hands but have been copied to digital and returned or retained by those individuals.
• Mission Control Audio tapes (Apollo 1, 7–17): A full set stored at JSC. These weren’t typically called “telemetry” but rather audio logs. They are effectively part of the recorded mission data. They’ve been preserved and are being migrated to digitalengineering-research.utdallas.edu.
• Miscellaneous: The Curtin University in Western Australia found one Apollo-era 14-track tape in a science lab in 2006 and sent it to NASA – it had no video but some data, proving the tape format could still be readen.wikipedia.org. That tape was not specifically tied to a mission in reports (possibly a Apollo 10 test tape). It’s now presumably at Goddard’s Data Evaluation Lab. Additionally, NASA’s Goddard facility still maintains a few working 1-inch 14-track tape drivestvtechnology.comtvtechnology.com, so if any more Apollo tapes ever surface, there is capability to read them (as of 2009, at least one such lab was kept operational).

Condition and Accessibility: The condition of surviving Apollo tapes varies. The nine Apollo 9 reels found in 2006 were in a box that was “slightly damaged” but the tapes might be readablenasa.gov. The recovered ALSEP tapes from 2010 were readable with professional help, though one can imagine some oxide shedding or brittleness – still, the fact that data was recovered indicates they hadn’t degraded beyond use. Tapes stored in climate control (like at NARA) can last many decades. The personal Honeysuckle tapes (1/4″ audio) were in decent shape as they could be digitized successfully after ~50 yearshoneysucklecreek.net. The three Apollo 11 video reels sold at auction were said to be in excellent condition – they were played before sale to verify content (and indeed contained the EVA as televised)en.wikipedia.org. Generally, if any Apollo telemetry tape is found now, it likely would require careful baking and cleaning but could yield data, as magnetic tape life can extend past 50 years if stored well.

As for accessibility: For tapes held by government archives (like the Apollo 9 reels at NARA), a researcher could theoretically request access, but since those tapes are un-digitized and in an obsolete format, one would need to coordinate with NASA to play them. NASA’s Goddard Data Evaluation Laboratory was specifically kept running to handle old tapes (it had the 14-track players)en.wikipedia.org. That lab was slated for closure in 2006 but remained available a bit longer due to interest in the Apollo searchen.wikipedia.org. It’s uncertain if, in 2025, such capability is still on standby – likely NASA could resurrect a machine if needed, given historical importance. For all practical purposes, however, researchers don’t need the physical tapes for most Apollo data. NASA has made the relevant content available in other forms, which are much easier to access:

• The Apollo Experience Reports and Mission Reports (available via NTRS or historical archives) compile telemetry-derived performance data.
• The Apollo Lunar Surface Journal (ALSJ) and Flight Journal provide annotated transcripts and some logged data, which is useful for historical researchers.
• The Planetary Data System (PDS) and National Space Science Data Center provide Apollo experiment datasets (e.g., seismic events catalogs, heat flow readings, lunar particle fluxes) in user-friendly formatspds-geosciences.wustl.edu.
• The Apollo mission audio is accessible through interactive websites (Apollo 11, 13, 17 in Real Time, etc.) as well as raw audio files downloadable from archive.org for some missionshoneysucklecreek.net.
• Video footage is accessible via NASA Image and Video Library, YouTube channels run by NASA or third parties (many Apollo videos are public domain), and the National Archives’ digitized film collections.

In short, although an Apollo historian cannot go into a vault and pull out original telemetry tapes for, say, Apollo 15’s landing, they can retrieve essentially the same information through the preserved channels listed above.

Restoration and Future Outlook: The major restoration efforts regarding Apollo tapes have largely concluded in the past decade:

• The Apollo 11 missing tapes investigation concluded with no tapes found, but it spurred a high-quality video restoration of Apollo 11 EVA footage in 2009tvtechnology.com.
• The ALSEP data recovery project (also called the Apollo Lunar Data Restoration Project) ran from about 2004 to 2017, successfully recovering hundreds of tape drives of data and integrating them into modern archivespoikiloblastic.wordpress.compoikiloblastic.wordpress.com. This was a big success story – tens of thousands of hours of science data, once thought lost, were saved for posterity.
• The Mission Control audio digitization effort (led by University of Texas at Dallas and NASA) from 2012 onwards has so far completed Apollo 11 and 13, and is working through the remaining missions. This means eventually all those audio tapes will be available in digital form, preserving that aspect of Apollo telemetry in full. As of now, Apollo 11, 13 and parts of 17 are released; others will follow. The original audio reels themselves will likely be stored as artifacts or possibly deposited to National Archives after digitization (ensuring dual preservation).

NASA has also improved its records management since Apollo. The loss of the Apollo tapes became a cautionary example, and current missions have more robust archiving (often with multiple digital copies distributed). There is an ongoing effort to ensure even Apollo-related documents (not just tapes) are scanned and saved; for example, thousands of pages of Apollo engineering documents have been OCR’ed and put online.

For the average researcher or enthusiast today, the lack of original Apollo telemetry tapes does not impede access to Apollo mission data. Virtually everything (except maybe some obscure high-rate engineering parameters) is findable through the restored datasets or publications. However, the story of the Apollo telemetry tapes underscores the importance of proactive data preservation. It took special initiatives decades later to recover what was almost lost. In some cases – Apollo 11 SSTV being the prime example – the original quality is indeed lost forever, since no one can now go back and directly re-read those erased tapes to get a better image than the 1969 broadcast. We must settle for what was indirectly saved on film. In other cases, like ALSEP, the outcome was happier due to diligent recovery.

Conclusion: The Apollo program’s telemetry tapes largely no longer physically exist, scattered by reuse or deterioration, with only a few isolated reels surviving in archives or private hands. However, thanks to archival records, modern digitization, and restoration projects, the content from those tapes is broadly preserved and accessible. NASA’s archives (and the National Archives) hold Apollo mission documentation, and NASA’s data centers now host the rescued scientific telemetry in digital formpoikiloblastic.wordpress.com. Key Apollo recordings (audio, video) have been restored and released to the public. In effect, while the reels themselves sit as mostly missing artifacts of the 1960s, the data they contained lives on – ensuring that Apollo’s legacy of information is not lost to time, even if the magnetic tapes went missing.