Apollo TV camera

File:Apollo Portable RCA TV camera.jpg

Apollo Portable RCA TV camera at Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center Virginia US

File:Ap11-S69-31575HR.jpg

Apollo Lunar Television Camera, as it was mounted on the side of the Apollo 11 Lunar Module when it telecasted Neil Armstrong's "One small step". The camera was stowed upside-down on its top, due to that being its only flat surface.Template:Sfnp

The Apollo program used several television cameras in its space missions in the late 1960s and 1970s; some of these Apollo TV cameras were also used on the later Skylab and Apollo–Soyuz Test Project missions. These cameras varied in design, with image quality improving significantly with each successive model. Two companies made these various camera systems: RCA and Westinghouse. Originally, these slow-scan television (SSTV) cameras, running at 10 frames per second (fps), produced only black-and-white pictures and first flew on the Apollo 7 mission in October 1968. A color camera – using a field-sequential color system – flew on the Apollo 10 mission in May 1969, and every mission after that. The color camera ran at the North American standard 30 fps. The cameras all used image pickup tubes that were initially fragile, as one was irreparably damaged during the live broadcast of the Apollo 12 mission's first moonwalk. Starting with the Apollo 15 mission, a more robust, damage-resistant camera was used on the lunar surface. All of these cameras required signal processing back on Earth to make the frame rate and color encoding compatible with analog broadcast television standards.

Starting with Apollo 7, a camera was carried on every Apollo command module (CM) except Apollo 9. For each lunar landing mission, a camera was also placed inside the Apollo Lunar Module (LM) descent stage's modularized equipment stowage assembly (MESA). Positioning the camera in the MESA made it possible to telecast the astronauts' first steps as they climbed down the LM's ladder at the start of a mission's first moonwalk/EVA. Afterwards, the camera would be detached from its mount in the MESA, mounted on a tripod and carried away from the LM to show the EVA's progress; or, mounted on a Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV), where it could be remotely controlled from Mission Control on Earth.

RCA command module TV camera

Development

File:Apollo 7 during the first live television transmission from space.jpg

Apollo 7 slow-scan TV, transmitted by the RCA command module TV camera

NASA decided on initial specifications for TV on the Apollo command module (CM) in 1962.Template:SfnpTemplate:Refn Both analog and digital transmission techniques were studied, but the early digital systems still used more bandwidth than an analog approach: 20 MHz for the digital system, compared to 500 kHz for the analog system.Template:Sfnp The video standard for the Block I CM meant that the analog video standard for early Apollo missions was set as follows: monochrome signal, with 320 active scan lines, and progressively scanned at 10 frames per second (fps). RCA was given the contract to manufacture such a camera.Template:Sfnp It was understood at the time that motion fidelity from such a slow-scan television system (SSTV) would be less than standard commercial television systems, but deemed sufficient considering that astronauts would not be moving quickly in orbit, or even on the Lunar surface.Template:Sfnp

Video signal processing

Since the camera's scan rate was much lower than the approximately 30 fps for NTSC video,Template:Refn the television standard used in North America at the time, a real-time scan conversion was needed to be able to show its images on a regular TV set. NASA selected a scan converter manufactured by RCA to convert the black-and-white SSTV signals from the Apollo 7, 8, 9, and 11 missions.Template:Sfnp

When the Apollo TV camera transmitted its images, the ground stations received its raw unconverted SSTV signal and split it into two branches. One signal branch was sent unprocessed to a fourteen-track analog data tape recorder where it was recorded onto fourteen-inch diameter reels of one-inch-wide analog magnetic data tapes at 3.04 meters per second.Template:Sfnp The other raw SSTV signal branch was sent to the RCA scan converter where it would be processed into an NTSC broadcast television signal.Template:Sfnp

The conversion process started when the signal was sent to the RCA converter's high-quality 10-inch video monitor where a conventional RCA TK-22 television camera – using the NTSC broadcast standard of 525 scanned lines interlaced at 30 fps – merely re-photographed its screen. The monitor had persistent phosphors, that acted as a primitive framebuffer.Template:Sfnp An analog disk recorder, based on the Ampex HS-100 model, was used to record the first field from the camera.Template:Sfnp It then fed that field, and an appropriately time-delayed copy of the first field, to the NTSC field interlace switch (encoder). The combined original and copied fields created the first full 525-line interlaced frame and the signal was then sent to Houston.Template:Sfnp It repeated this sequence five more times, until the system imaged the next SSTV frame.Template:Sfnp It then repeated the whole process with each new frame downloaded from space in real time.Template:Sfnp In this way, the chain produced the extra 20 frames per second needed to produce flicker-free images to the world's television broadcasters.Template:Sfnp

This live conversion was crude compared to early 21st-century electronic digital conversion techniques. Image degradation was unavoidable with this system as the monitor and camera's optical limitations significantly lowered the original SSTV signal's contrast, brightness and resolution. The video seen on home television sets was further degraded by the very long and noisy analog transmission path.Template:Sfnp The converted signal was sent by satellite from the receiving ground stations to Houston, Texas. Then the network pool feed was sent by microwave relay to New York, where it was broadcast live to the United States and the world.Template:Sfnp

Operational history

File:RCA television camera, Apollo 7, October 11-22, 1968 - Kennedy Space Center - Cape Canaveral, Florida - DSC02914.jpg

RCA television camera, Apollo 7

File:Earth seen during Apollo 8 TV live transmission on December 23.jpg

Earth seen during the Apollo 8 live TV transmission on 23 December 1968 using the 100 mm telephoto lens on the RCA command module TV camera

Apollo 7 and Apollo 8 used an RCA slow-scan, black-and-white camera.Template:Sfnp On Apollo 7, the camera could be fitted with either a wide angle 160-degree lens, or a telephoto lens with a 9-degree angle of view.Template:Sfnp The camera did not have a viewfinder or a monitor, so astronauts needed help from Mission Control when aiming the camera in telephoto mode.Template:Refn

Specifications

The camera used interchangeable lenses, including a wide-angle lens with a 160-degree field-of-view, and a 100 mm telephoto lens.Template:Sfnp

CameraTemplate:Refn

Camera name	Command module television camera, Block I
Supplier	RCA
Sensor	Vidicon tube
Sensor size	one-inch tube
Field Scan type	progressive scan
Frame rate	10 fps
Frame size	320 scan lines including vertical retrace; 312 visible
Resolution	200 TV lines
Color encoder	monochrome
Aspect ratio	4:3
Bandwidth	500 kHz
Power Consumption	6.5 watts @ 28 volts DC
Weight
Dimensions	LxHxW
Lens mount type	Bayonet

Westinghouse Apollo lunar television camera

Development

File:ApolloTVCameraOnLunarModule.jpg

Lunar module training mockup, showing relative position of deployed camera on the MESA

File:Lunar Television Camera for Apollo 11 Moon Landing, Westinghouse, identical to the model used on the moon - National Electronics Museum - DSC00569.JPG

Lunar television camera for Apollo 11 Moon landing, Westinghouse, identical to the model used on the Moon

In October 1964, NASA awarded Westinghouse the contract for the lunar TV camera.Template:Sfnp Stan Lebar, the program manager for the Apollo lunar TV camera, headed the team at Westinghouse that developed the camera that brought pictures from the Moon's surface.

The camera had to be designed to survive extreme temperature differences on the lunar surface, ranging from in daylight to in the shade.Template:Sfnp Another requirement was to be able to keep the power to approximately 7 watts, and fit the signal into the narrow bandwidth on the LM's S-band antenna, which was much smaller and less powerful than the service module's antenna.Template:SfnpTemplate:Refn

Operational history

File:Gerhard W Goetze with SEC Tube for use on Apollo Missions.jpg

Gerhard W. Goetze holding the Secondary Electron Conduction tube (SEC) prototype

File:Secondary Electron Conduction Camera Tube (SEC).jpg

SEC camera prototype used on the Apollo 11 Lunar Module camera.

The camera was first tested in space during the Apollo 9 mission in March 1969.Template:Sfnp The camera was stowed in the LM, and it used the LM's communications systems to evaluate their performance before lunar operations began.Template:Sfnp This meant that the CM did not carry a video camera for this mission.Template:Sfnp It was next used on Apollo 11, carried in the LM's descent stage, in the quad 4 Modularized Equipment Stowage Assembly (MESA). It was from the MESA where it captured humanity's first step on another celestial body on 21 July 1969.Template:Sfnp Apollo 11 would be the first and last time the camera was used on the Lunar surface; however, it flew as a backup camera on the Apollo missions from Apollo 13 to Apollo 16, in case the color cameras suffered a similar fate as the Apollo 12 camera.Template:Sfnp

Specifications

The camera's dimensions were in size, and weighed . It consumed 6.50 watts of power. Its bayonet lens mount allowed for quick changes for the two interchangeable lenses used on Apollo 11: a wide-angle and a lunar day lens.Template:SfnpTemplate:Refn

Camera

NASA Component No.	SEB16101081-701Template:Sfnp
Supplier	WestinghouseTemplate:Sfnp
Sensor	Westinghouse WL30691 Secondary Electron Conduction Tube (SEC)Template:Sfnp
Sensor size	1/2-inch tubeTemplate:Sfnp
Field Scan type	progressive scan
Frame rate	10 fps at 320 lines, 0.625 fps at 1280 linesTemplate:Sfnp
Frame size	320 scan lines (10 fps) and 1280 scan lines (0.625 fps)Template:Sfnp
Resolution	200 TV lines (10 fps),Template:Sfnp 500 TV lines (0.625 fps)Template:Sfnp
Color encoder	monochromeTemplate:Sfnp
Aspect ratio	4:3Template:Sfnp
Bandwidth	500 kHzTemplate:Sfnp
Power Consumption	6.5 watts @ 24–31.5 volts DCTemplate:Sfnp
Weight	Template:Sfnp
Dimensions	LxHxWTemplate:Sfnp
Lens mount type	BayonetTemplate:Sfnp

LensesTemplate:Refn

Lens	Westinghouse Part No.	Supplier	Field-of-View	Zoom Ratio	Aperture	Light transmission	Weight	Dimensions	Lens mount type
Wide Angle Lens	578R159-1	Fairchild	80 degrees	N/A	F 4	T 4.8		long	Bayonet
100 mm Lens	578R159-2	Fairchild	9.3 degrees	N/A	F 4	T 60		long	Bayonet
Lunar Day Lens	578R159-3	Fairchild	35 degrees	N/A	F 4	T 60		long	Bayonet
Lunar Night Lens	578R159-4	Fairchild	35 degrees	N/A	F 1	T 1.15		long	Bayonet

• Photo of the high-quality SSTV image received from Apollo 11 at Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station
  Photo of the high-quality SSTV image received from Apollo 11 at Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station
• Photo of the high-quality SSTV image before the scan conversion
  Photo of the high-quality SSTV image before the scan conversion
• Photo of the high-quality SSTV image before the scan conversion
  Photo of the high-quality SSTV image before the scan conversion
• Westinghouse camera on the Lunar surface during Apollo 11
  Westinghouse camera on the Lunar surface during Apollo 11

Westinghouse lunar color camera

Choosing a color process

File:368474 apollo11 cameras.jpg

Stan Lebar, the project manager for Westinghouse's Apollo television cameras, shows the field-sequential color camera on the left and the monochrome lunar surface camera on the right.

Color broadcast studio television cameras in the 1960s, such as the RCA TK-41, were large, heavy and high in energy consumption. They used three imaging tubes to generate red, green and blue (RGB) video signals which were combined to produce a composite color picture. These cameras required complex optics to keep the tubes aligned. Since temperature variations and vibration would easily put a three-tube system out of alignment, a more robust system was needed for lunar surface operations.Template:Sfnp

In the 1940s, CBS Laboratories invented an early color system that utilized a wheel, containing six color filters, rotated in front of a single video camera tube to generate the RGB signal.Template:Sfnp Called a field-sequential color system, it used interlaced video, with sequentially alternating color video fields to produce one complete video frame. That meant that the first field would be red, the second blue, and the third field green – matching the color filters on the wheel.Template:Sfnp This system was both simpler and more reliable than a standard three-tube color camera, and more power-efficient.Template:Sfnp

The camera

Lebar and his Westinghouse team wanted to add color to their camera as early as 1967, and they knew that the CBS system would likely be the best system to study.Template:Sfnp The Westinghouse lunar color camera used a modified version of CBS's field-sequential color system.Template:Sfnp A color wheel, with six filter segments, was placed behind the lens mount. It rotated at 9.99 revolutions per second, producing a scan rate of 59.94 fields per second, the same as NTSC video. Synchronization between the color wheel and pickup tube's scan rate was provided by a magnet on the wheel, which controlled the sync pulse generator that governed the tube's timing.

The color camera used the same SEC video imaging tube as the monochrome lunar camera flown on Apollo 9. The camera was larger, measuring long, including the new zoom lens. The zoom lens had a focal length variable from 25 mm to 150 mm, i.e. a zoom ratio of 6:1. At its widest angle, it had a 43-degree field of view, while in its extreme telephoto mode, it had a 7-degree field of view. The aperture ranged from F4 to F44, with a T5 light transmittance rating.Template:Sfnp

Color decoding and signal processing

Signal processing was needed at the Earth receiving ground stations to compensate for the Doppler effect, caused by the spacecraft moving away from or towards the Earth. The Doppler Effect would distort color, so a system that employed two videotape recorders (VTRs), with a tape-loop delay to compensate for the effect, was developed.Template:Sfnp The cleaned signal was then transmitted to Houston in NTSC-compatible black and white.Template:Refn

Unlike the CBS system that required a special mechanical receiver on a TV set to decode the color, the signal was decoded in Houston's Mission Control Center. This video processing occurred in real time. The decoder separately recorded each red, blue and green field onto an analog magnetic disk recorder. Acting as a framebuffer, it then sent the coordinated color information to an encoder to produce a NTSC color video signal and then released to the broadcast pool feed.Template:Sfnp Once the color was decoded, scan conversion was not necessary, because the color camera ran at the same 60-fields-per-second video interlace rate as the NTSC standard.Template:Sfnp

Operational history

It was first used on the Apollo 10 mission. The camera used the command module's extra S-band channel and large S-band antenna to accommodate the camera's larger bandwidth. It was only used in the lunar module when it was docked to the command module. Unlike the earlier cameras, it contained a portable video monitor that could be either directly attached to the camera or float separately. Combined with the new zoom lens, it allowed the astronauts to have better precision with their framing.Template:Sfnp

Apollo 12 was the first mission to use the color camera on the lunar surface. About 42 minutes into telecasting the first EVA, astronaut Alan Bean inadvertently pointed the camera at the Sun while preparing to mount it on the tripod. The Sun's extreme brightness burned out the video pickup tube, rendering the camera useless. When the camera was returned to Earth, it was shipped to Westinghouse, and they were able to get an image on the section of the tube that wasn't damaged.Template:Sfnp Procedures were re-written in order to prevent such damage in the future, including the addition of a lens cap to protect the tube when the camera was repositioned off the MESA.

File:Apollo 14 golf.jpg

Apollo 14 EVA frame demonstrates the "blooming" issue with color camera.

The color camera successfully covered the lunar operations during the Apollo 14 mission in 1971. Image quality issues appeared due to the camera's automatic gain control (AGC) having problems getting the proper exposure when the astronauts were in high contrast light situations, and caused the white spacesuits to be overexposed or "bloom". The camera did not have a gamma correction circuit. This resulted in the image's mid-tones losing detail.Template:Sfnp

After Apollo 14, it was only used in the command module, as the new RCA-built camera replaced it for lunar surface operations. The Westinghouse color camera continued to be used throughout the 1970s on all three Skylab missions and the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project.

The 1969–1970 Emmy Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Technical/Engineering Development were awarded to NASA for the conceptual aspects of the color Apollo television camera and to Westinghouse Electric Corporation for the development of the camera.Template:Sfnp

Specifications

Camera

NASA Component No.	SEB16101081-701Template:Sfnp
Supplier	Westinghouse
Sensor	Westinghouse WL30691 Secondary electron conduction tube (SEC)Template:Sfnp
Resolution	more than 200 TV lines (SEC sensor – 350 TV lines in vertical dimension)
Field Scan rate	59.94 fields-per-second monochrome (color filters alternated between each field)Template:Sfnp
Frame rate	29.97 frames per second Template:Sfnp
Frame size	525 lines
Color encoder	Field-sequential color systemTemplate:Sfnp
Bandwidth	2 MHz to 3 MHz (Unified S-band bandwidth restrictions)
Sensitivity	> 32 dB signal-to-noise ratio
Dynamic range	> 1000:1
Power Consumption	17.5 watts @ 28 volts DCTemplate:Sfnp
Weight	Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp
Dimensions	LxHxW with handle folded Template:Sfnp
Lens mount type	C mountTemplate:Sfnp

Lens

NASA Component No.	SEB16101081-703Template:Sfnp
Supplier	AngénieuxTemplate:Sfnp
Focal length	25–150 mmTemplate:Sfnp
Zoom ratio	6:1Template:Sfnp
Aperture	F4 to F44Template:Sfnp
Light transmission	T5Template:Sfnp
Weight	Template:Sfnp
Dimensions	long, lens diameter Template:Sfnp
Lens mount type	C mount ANSI 1000-32NS-2A threadTemplate:Sfnp

• Apollo 10 TV image of Earth
  Apollo 10 TV image of Earth
• Apollo 11 TV image
  Apollo 11 TV image
• Westinghouse color camera on the lunar surface during Apollo 12
  Westinghouse color camera on the lunar surface during Apollo 12
• Edgar Mitchell with the Apollo 14 camera
  Edgar Mitchell with the Apollo 14 camera

RCA J-series ground-commanded television assembly (GCTA)

Due to Apollo 12's camera failure, a new contract was awarded to the RCA Astro Electronics facility in East Windsor, New Jersey. The design team was headed by Robert G. Horner. The RCA system used a new, more sensitive and durable TV camera tube, the newly developed Silicon intensifier target (SIT) pickup tube. The improved image quality was obvious to the public with the RCA camera's better tonal detail in the midrange, and the lack of the blooming that was apparent in the previous missions.

The system was composed of the color television camera (CTV) and the television control unit (TCU). These were connected to the lunar communications relay unit (LCRU) when mounted on the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV). Like the Westinghouse color camera, it used the field-sequential color system, and used the same ground-station signal processing and color decoding techniques to produce a broadcast NTSC color video signal.

On Apollo 15 the camera produced live images from the LM's MESA, just as the previous missions did. It was repositioned from the MESA onto a tripod, where it photographed the Lunar Rover Vehicle (LRV) being deployed. Once the LRV was fully deployed, the camera was mounted there and controlled by commands from the ground to tilt, pan, and zoom in and out. This was the last mission to have live video of the mission's first steps via the MESA, as on the following flights it was stowed with the LRV.

Usage	Apollo 15 (lunar surface), Apollo 16 (lunar surface) and Apollo 17 (lunar surface)
Supplier	RCA Astro Electronics
Sensor	Silicon intensifier target (SIT) tube
Resolution	more than 200 TV lines (SIT sensor – 600 TV lines)
Field Scan rate	59.94 fields-per-second monochrome (color filters alternated between each field)
Frame rate	29.97 frames per second
Frame size	525 lines
Color encoder	Field-sequential color system
Automatic light control (ALC)	average or peak scene luminance
Bandwidth	up to 5 MHz
Spectral response	350–700 nm
Gamma	1.0
Sensitivity	> 32 dB signal-to-noise ratio
Dynamic range	> 32:1
Lens	6x zoom, F/2.2 to F/22

• Robert.G.Horner in 1970 pr photo demonstrating RCA's Apollo camera with Silicon Intensifier Tube (SIT)
  Robert.G.Horner in 1970 pr photo demonstrating RCA's Apollo camera with Silicon Intensifier Tube (SIT)
• GCTA transmission from the LRV
  GCTA transmission from the LRV
• Apollo 15 television camera and high-gain antenna
  Apollo 15 television camera and high-gain antenna
• Apollo 16 television camera. Notice the sunshade attached to the top of the lens, a feature first used on Apollo 16.
  Apollo 16 television camera. Notice the sunshade attached to the top of the lens, a feature first used on Apollo 16.

Usage

Cameras used, CM = command module, LM = lunar module

• Apollo 7: RCA B&W SSTV (CM)
• Apollo 8: RCA B&W SSTV (CM)
• Apollo 9: Westinghouse B&W (LM)
• Apollo 10: Westinghouse color (CM)
• Apollo 11: Westinghouse color (CM), Westinghouse B&W (LM)
• Apollo 12: Westinghouse color (CM & LM)
• Apollo 13: Westinghouse color (CM & LM), Westinghouse B&W was a backup for LM (not used)
• Apollo 14: Westinghouse color (CM & LM), Westinghouse B&W was a backup for LM (not used)
• Apollo 15: Westinghouse color (CM), RCA GCTA (LM), Westinghouse B&W was a backup for LM (not used)
• Apollo 16: Westinghouse color (CM), RCA GCTA (LM), Westinghouse B&W was a backup for LM (not used)
• Apollo 17: Westinghouse color (CM), RCA GCTA (LM)

See also

• Apollo 11 missing tapes
• List of NASA cameras on spacecraft

External links

• Honeysuckle Creek Template:Webarchive discusses some of the Apollo 11 moonwalk video.
• Apollo Talks Episode 8 (2007) interview with Stan Lebar, Project Manager for the Westinghouse Lunar Camera.