Wide Angle

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Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell selects music on a portable cassette recorder, while Jack NAPs Swigert way on The Right side

image enhancement techniques have been used to the life onboard the Nasa-plagued Apollo show 13 spacecraft in unprecedented detail.

Fifty years ago, The Craft suffered an explosion that endangered the lives of the three astronauts on Board.

it is not Surprising, since they were Locked In a struggle for survival, relatively little onboard pictures were taken.

But imaging specialist Andy Saunders created sharp images from a low quality 16mm film shot by The Crew .

One of The Techniques is by Mr Saunders known as "stacking", in which many of the images are mounted on top of each other to improve The Image detail.

The Crew of Nasa astronauts Jim Lovell , Jack Swigert and Fred Haise , Apollo 13 should be The Third American Mission , the landing on The Moon 's surface. During the trip to The Moon , an explosion in The Service module allows, some of the spacecraft, oxygen can leak into the room.

Fred Haise takes a NAP. Before and after composite an unedited 16mm frame (L), and a multi-processed still image (R) shows. Among other things, Mr. Saunders had to correct the "Fish Eye " effect created by the camera's wide-angle lens

Astronaut Jack Swigert reported The Accident to the ground Controller with The Immortal and much quoted sentence:

The part that developed The Apollo spacecraft to the return of The Astronauts through The Earth 's atmosphere to The Mission - had to use the command module (CM) - shut down to conserve its remaining resources to re-entry. The Crew of the lunar module (LM), also known as the Lander as a lifeboat.

The Lander 's Life Support systems were designed for two astronauts to live for Two Days on the lunar surface. Experts at the Nasa Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, had to figure out a way to stretch its resources so that it could support three crew members for four Days .

A moment of lightness in the midst of The Crisis : Lovell (left) and Swigert (center) appear to be the good spirits

Lovell, Swigert and Haise looped around The Moon and Back To earth, in a cold, damp module with limited Drinking Water . Fortunately, the improvised plan to get you back was a success, and the three astronauts splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean .

in Spite of their grave situation, The Crew used forced, a 16mm-film camera to record scenes from the life on Board of the spacecraft. But the footage is of low quality, which by today's standards.

It is this Material that Mr. Saunders as a basis for its improved images that show new insights into The Crew of the struggle to survive aboard the damaged spacecraft.

"switch" in abundance: Swigert (L), and Lovell (R) with a good view of the lunar module Control Panel

A composite Panorama of the lunar module "lifeboat" shows commander Jim Lovell , tests of normality, by some of the music on a tape player, while command module pilot Jack Swigert , a nick is taking on The Storage area.

another, called "Happy crew" by Mr Saunders, starts Lovell and Swigert in, obviously in a good mood.

"A striking thing with the 16mm film material, such as calm the team appear to be, given the severity of The Situation , the conditions and the important Mission tasks that lie ahead of us," said Mr Saunders, the Bbc News said. "This is, perhaps, belies their true feelings, as we know that in reality The Crew doubted if she would make it home alive. "

The members of The Crew are Eating In The Scene . The freeze-dried food-refer to it, mix it with Hot Water , but only Cold Water was available. Lovell later admitted, he had little to eat in The Days after The Accident , a loss of 6kg (14lb) in Weight .

Panorama shows The Dark , powered down the command module. Haise went to Check It out, before the team moved back into their lunar module "life boat" for the last dangerous stage of The Mission

A Panorama of The Dark , powered down the command module was made from footage of Fred Haise , as he went to Check It out before the rest of the team pulled back into the risky return through earth's atmosphere

In an interview for a new Nasa documentary called, Haise recalled how moist it was in the CM. The Astronauts had to, wipe cloths, the plates, with hand, because of the concern that the water could lead to an electrical short, a fire could. This would have been a disaster, in the spaceship of the closed environment.

Two concepts are important for understanding the technique that is used to process the images: The Signal - the parts of The Image , to Keep the desirable - and Noise - The Unwanted parts of The Image . Mr. Saunders began by stacking of different images of the same scene, one above the other.

"It all hinges on The Principle that the stacking of images to improve The Signal -to-Noise ratio," said Mr Saunders explained.

He added: "How The Noise in each image is truly random, then stack multiple images of the same scene, one above the other, and averaging of The Levels of each of the pixels aligned, with the effect that identifying and reducing image Noise while retaining Signal (The Signal will be on all frames). "

(L-R) Lovell, Swigert, and Haise to sit together, as they prepare for re-entry through The Earth 's atmosphere

This strengthens the case, ultimately, this detail, together with the General image quality, so that it is more "photo-like".

But because he was dealing with motion pictures, Mr. Saunders had to re-Orient and several parts of The Image , the combination of all results in a final image. These images are stitched from More Than 20 sections, with each section consisting of a stack of up to 75 their own frames that can be processed, revealing The Crew and spacecraft in unprecedented detail.

With the help of the commercial software, which he then enhanced The Photos ; the adjustment of the contrast, the correction of the color and remove some of the "fish-eye" effect from the wide-angle lens, the need to record events in such a tight Space .

More images of The Apollo to be made-missions, including Apollo 13 , can be viewed at

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Source of news: bbc.com