The LOIRP is Pretty Cool

The LOIRP is The Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project, what it boils down to is that NASA is in the process of digitizing and cleaning up old images from the early lunar orbiters in the late 60's.

They have a fairly interesting website complete with photo gallery explaining the process but also the long journey that the original data tapes went through before finally undergoing the current restoration and digitization.

The NYT had an editorial on the newly restored image and it's view of a younger, different earth today. Most interesting tidbit, in 1966 when the photo was taken Earth had roughly half as many people living on it as it does today.

Wild.

(If you're into the Moon, MoonViews looks like it's worth a gander)