Home » Technology » Recordings from the Moon in HD quality. NASA video corrected by artificial intelligence | News from the world

Recordings from the Moon in HD quality. NASA video corrected by artificial intelligence | News from the world

The user of YouTube, under the pseudonym DutchSteamMachine, deals with correcting old NASA recordings. He introduces himself as “Niels”, a Dutchman who is passionate about digitizing, archiving and improving historical audiovisual material. So that modern people can experience them in a quality that they are used to by current technology. He hopes it will help them get a better sense of those glimpses of the past.

Artificial intelligence in the service of video quality

Niels explains in an interview with the portal “Live Science” that he started improving NASA recordings for two reasons. First, they have great historical value, which does not need to be explained. Second, they’re supposed to be great for improving with the artificial intelligence (AI) program they use for their work. They were recorded with a low value of frames per second. Typically 6 or 12. Meanwhile, in order for the human eye and brain to judge the video as fluid, about 15-16 frames per second and above are required. The cinema standard is currently 24 frames per second. This means that old NASA footage appears unnatural. “This makes it difficult for the viewer to perceive and understand the situation,” explains Niels.

The AI ​​he uses, called DAIN (Depth-Aware video frame INterpolation – open source software, i.e. to be used and developed by anyone for free), can remedy this. The software creates additional frames by itself and inserts them between the real ones. – The SI analyzes the differences between the two frames of the original material and is able to automatically perform the interpolation process. So it creates additional frames that would be between the original ones, if the video were shot with a higher value of frames per second – explains the Dutchman. As a result, old recordings become much more fluid and the picture becomes more natural to the human eye.

NASA tapes are well suited for such an operation for one more reason. Namely, they are not very dynamic. Astronauts and ships tend to be stiff. With sudden movements of the filmed objects or people, the AI ​​has a difficult task and does not always correctly interpolate. It manifests itself with bugs and strange artifacts as seen in some patched NASA videos. DAIN is still in the alpha stage, which is early development. The whole process requires a powerful computer and generating five minutes of the target video can take up to several hours.

In addition, Niels subject the original recordings to a standard treatment in the form of removing dirt, improving sharpness and colors, and stabilizing. The effects of his and AI work are truly unique and can be seen on DutchSteamMachine channels on YouTube.

Looking back in better quality

A good example of the effect achieved by the Dutchman is this material in which he juxtaposed the improved image with the one that could be seen on television half a century ago. It shows the astronaut Ron Evans, who on December 14, 1972, made a spacewalk during the Apollo 17 mission return from the moon. He had picked up recordings of several experiments, automatically carried out in the service module compartment, which the day later would be discarded and burned up in the atmosphere. It was one of three such space walks in history, carried out beyond the orbit of the Earth, almost 300,000 kilometers from it.

Other interesting videos that have been modernized are, for example, the one showing the exit outside the ship during the Apollo 9 mission. It shows astronaut David Scott standing in the hatch of the ship’s main capsule, the command module. Russell Schweickart, standing in the doorway to the lunar lander, is recording. The later shots show a number of details of the entire ship. Schweickart was to go to the command module outside to test the possibility of such an evacuation on accident problems with the hatch connecting both parts of the ship. He hadn’t felt well since the start of the mission, though, and had thrown up twice, apparently not bearing weightlessness well. So it was decided to give up the walk, limiting himself to photography, recordings, photos of experiments from the sides of the ship and simple attempts to move outside.

For comparison, a photo of Scott taken by Schweickart with the Swedish company Hasselblad. It is thanks to them that many of the photos taken during the Apollo program are of phenomenal quality. Although most of them are really bad, but the fault of the astronauts who had very limited possibilities to manipulate the cameras. The then film technology did not allow to make recordings of this class, using compact and handy equipment. In addition, the quality deteriorated significantly during transmission to Earth and the conversion of the original signal to what was used by television at the time.

Astronaut David Scott protruding from the Apollo 9 command module Fot. NASA

Niels also corrected a whole series of recordings made while driving the moon rovers. Including one showing “Grand Prix” during the Apollo 16 mission. At the request of control on Earth, astronauts John Young and Charles Duke were to film a few minutes of shots of the rover’s ride. Duke removed the camera from the vehicle and shot from a distance while Young did two circles. During them, he squeezed what he could from the rover, developing 10 km / h, making sharp turns and braking. In addition, he jumped wildly on the very uneven surface of the moon. After two laps it was found that the “Grand Prix” would be enough and normal activities resumed.

You can also take a ride with the Apollo 15 astronauts. So normal, relaxed when they just drove from one place to another, collecting samples along the way and setting up measuring devices. This footage clearly shows what happens when DAIN gets lost, generating extra frames. Distortions can be seen with sudden movements and rapid rotation of the camera.

Niels improved not only the recordings of the Apollo program. He also worked on the recording of the first American space walk. It took place during the Gemini 4 mission in 1965. Ed White got out of the capsule and for about 20 minutes hovered in space, making awkward movements. As he later recalled, it was much more difficult than it seems.

This kind of tweaking older footage or photos is not some unique skill by Niels. The software he uses is, as I mentioned, open source. They are developed and used by many other enthusiasts. They deal not only with NASA recordings, but much older ones. Including the oldest ones from the 19th century. The effects they can achieve are impressive. Many of them are on the Denis Shiryaev user channel. Including a much revised version of the oldest known video, the so-called “Roundhay Garden Scenes”, made in 1888.

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