Comparison of Moon landing video from 1972 and 2023 has people shocked at which is 'clearer'
Topics: Space, Moon, NASA, Technology, Science
Emily Brown
Featured Image Credit: NASA
Topics: Space, Moon, NASA, Technology, Science
A post comparing footage from a Moon landing in 1972 to the arrival of a craft there last year has left viewers shocked over which event is 'clearer'.
Today (23 February), the first ever privately-owned craft landed on the Moon's surface in what NASA administrator Bill Nelson described as a 'giant leap forward for all of humanity'.
The arrival of the Intuitive Machines' craft marked the first US lander to successfully reach the moon in more than 50 years, and it came six months after India's Chandrayaan-3 mission reached the Moon last August.
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With the latest landing sparking conversation about the Moon, one particular post on the topic has gained more attention than others.
It comes from the X account 'Historic Vids', which shared side-by-side views of the Moon landing more than 50 years ago compared to India's landing in 2023.
Given that the internet was still years away from being invented when the last humans step foot on the moon in 1972, it's safe to say technology has come a long, long way in the decades since their last visit.
With that in mind, you'd expect footage of last year's landing to be a world away from video caught back in 1972, right?
Well, you'd be right - but not in the way you might think.
As the two videos were put side by side, viewers were shocked to see that the one from 1972 actually seemed 'clearer'.
"Why are the images from 1972 clearer than what we have now," one confused person asked, while another wrote: "There’s no way 1972 quality is better."
"We got way better cameras and it looks clearer and not as delayed in 1972," another wrote.
Though the comparison clearly caused some confusion, other social media users were quick to offer an explanation for the vast differences in quality.
Since astronauts in 1972 didn't have the tech we have today - or six months ago - they filmed their experience on the Moon using physical 16mm film which was then flown back down to Earth.
But rather than making us wait for the footage, the landing last year was actually broadcast from space - making the lower quality that much more excusable.
X users explained the difference between the videos for those who were still confused, with one person writing: "I suspect [1972 looks clearer] because the current images are broadcast to us, the other footage was filmed and brought back with the astronauts."
So we can rest assured that technology hasn't gone backwards in the last 50+ years, and instead enjoy the wonder of the Moon from a camera actually positioned up there as it happens.