One Small Step in Color

Image: NASA

Image: Smithsonian

Neil Armstrong's first steps on the Moon were not just recorded in the well known black and white grainy video. There was an additional camera aboard the Apollo 11 lunar module "Eagle," the automatic Maurer 16mm Data Acquisition Camera (DAC) (right). The camera was mounted next to the window in the module, and recorded in color. As Neil Armstrong made his historic first steps onto the Moon, Buzz Aldrin recorded with the camera. The DAC was designed to run at several speeds, and afterwards the camera was set to a time laps mode at 1 fps, to conserve the limited amount of film while recording the entire extravehicular activity.

The video from the DAC during the first steps is available on YouTube, and is embedded below the fold. If you look closely, you can notice Buzz Aldrin's reflection in the lunar module window.


Video: NASA (via DrBuzz0 channel)