Editing Openai/67c4e193-e008-8008-8d82-c239519e3d5a (section)

==== Apollo 14 – Return to Lunar Surface ====

Mission Data: Apollo 14 (Jan–Feb 1971) resumed lunar landings after Apollo 13, with the mission largely successful. It carried a color TV camera (identical to Apollo 12’s, but this time it survived and sent back live color video from the Moon). That video was broadcast and recorded on standard tapes, all of which survive in NASA’s collections. Apollo 14 also had an onboard voice recorder (DSE) in the LM that captured the crew during periods of LOS (for instance, during descent preparation when out of direct contact – Apollo 14 used this to record some onboard commentary). Those DSE dumps were recorded on Earth as telemetry. Post-mission, Apollo 14’s telemetry tapes followed the usual path: temporary storage, then likely copied to 9-track for some processed data, but the raw 1-inch tapes eventually went into storage. By the early 1980s, Apollo 14 tapes would have been withdrawn alongside the others. Indeed, the blanket statement from NASA’s tape search implies Apollo 14’s original telemetry tapes do not exist anymorenasa.gov<ref>{{cite web|title=nasa.gov|url=https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/static/history/alsj/a11/Apollo_11_TV_Tapes_Report.pdf#:~:text=searchers%20never%20found%20what%20they,Apollo%2011%20moon%20landing%20and|publisher=nasa.gov|access-date=2025-12-06}}</ref>.

However, Apollo 14 did not suffer a missing-video problem like Apollo 11, so there was no specific search for Apollo 14 tapes. The loss is more general: any high-resolution recording of Apollo 14’s downlink (which might include things like the biomedical data or science data in original form) is gone, though all that information was utilized and documented at the time. Apollo 14’s landing and EVA telemetry was used to produce the mission report and troubleshooting analyses (Apollo 14 had some issues, like a stuck switch that almost prevented landing – solved by Mission Control using telemetry to diagnose it). All those aspects are covered in written records.

Scientific Telemetry – ALSEP: Apollo 14 deployed an ALSEP at Fra Mauro, including experiments such as another Passive Seismometer, a Heat Flow Experiment (drilling probes into the lunar subsurface), a Cold Cathode Ion Gauge, and Active Seismic (explosives to send shockwaves) among others. These experiments transmitted data to Earth through September 1977. Apollo 14’s ALSEP data tapes suffered the same fate as Apollo 12’s: many were lost or not archived initially. By the 1970s, some Apollo 14 ALSEP results were published (e.g. a partial set of heat flow data), but the complete raw dataset wasn’t safely stored due to the archival lapses. The recent ALSEP recovery efforts have specifically addressed Apollo 14 as well. For instance, the PDS Geosciences node notes restored Apollo 14 Cold Cathode Gauge data and other datasets became available by 2008–2019pds-geosciences.wustl.edu<ref>{{cite web|title=pds-geosciences.wustl.edu|url=https://pds-geosciences.wustl.edu/missions/apollo/index.htm#:~:text=match%20at%20L467%20September%2018%2C,data%20are%20now%20available%20online|publisher=pds-geosciences.wustl.edu|access-date=2025-12-06}}</ref>. This indicates that either original tapes or PI records for Apollo 14 were found and processed. Indeed, the ALSEP focus group’s work led to restoration of Apollo 14 heat flow data (combined with Apollo 15’s) and other experiment time seriespds-geosciences.wustl.edu<ref>{{cite web|title=pds-geosciences.wustl.edu|url=https://pds-geosciences.wustl.edu/missions/apollo/index.htm#:~:text=Apollo%20Data%20from%20Individual%20Investigators,SEED%20and%20ASCII%20table%20format|publisher=pds-geosciences.wustl.edu|access-date=2025-12-06}}</ref>pds-geosciences.wustl.edu<ref>{{cite web|title=pds-geosciences.wustl.edu|url=https://pds-geosciences.wustl.edu/missions/apollo/index.htm#:~:text=works%20as%20well%20as%20new,analyses|publisher=pds-geosciences.wustl.edu|access-date=2025-12-06}}</ref>. Those data are now accessible in modern formats. Many Apollo 14 ALSEP raw tapes, however, were likely among those destroyed in the Goddard basement flood. Only pieces were recovered: for example, if ~450 tapes from 1975 were found, they contained data from all active ALSEP stations (Apollo 12, 14, 15, 16, 17 were still running then). Apollo 14’s share of the recovered 1975 tapes has now been translated into digital archives (filling late-period data). Earlier data (1971–72) from Apollo 14 ALSEP had some portions in PI holdings or on microfiche, which have been collated by the recovery teampoikiloblastic.wordpress.com<ref>{{cite web|title=poikiloblastic.wordpress.com|url=https://poikiloblastic.wordpress.com/2013/02/22/the-long-road-to-alsep-data-recovery/#:~:text=,data%20tapes%2C%20and%20reprocessed%20tapes|publisher=poikiloblastic.wordpress.com|date=2013-02-22|access-date=2025-12-06}}</ref>poikiloblastic.wordpress.com<ref>{{cite web|title=poikiloblastic.wordpress.com|url=https://poikiloblastic.wordpress.com/2013/02/22/the-long-road-to-alsep-data-recovery/#:~:text=microfiche%20and%20microfilm%2C%20and%20also,raw%20and%20processed%20data%E2%80%A6now%20what|publisher=poikiloblastic.wordpress.com|date=2013-02-22|access-date=2025-12-06}}</ref>. So, scientifically, Apollo 14’s telemetry has been largely saved, though it took decades.

Current Status: Mission tapes: No Apollo 14 flight telemetry tapes are publicly known to exist. The telemetry needed for real-time operations is preserved in indirect forms – transcripts, printed readouts, etc. No reels from Apollo 14 turned up in the archives search, and it’s presumed they were reused. The National Archives might have some Apollo 14-related records (for example, the Apollo 14 Preliminary Science Report, etc.), but not the raw data tapes. Audio/video: Apollo 14’s air-to-ground and Mission Control audio was recorded and stored alongside other missions’ audio; those tapes are in NASA’s custody. They have not yet been comprehensively released like Apollo 11/13, but are slated for digitization (some Apollo 14 mission control loops have already been processed in the ongoing project). The color TV footage from Apollo 14’s EVAs (such as the astronauts walking and the first use of the Mobile Equipment Transporter handcart) exists in the form of NTSC videotapes and kinescopes – these are stored in NASA’s media archives and copies can be seen in documentaries or the Apollo 14 mission video. So the public can access Apollo 14’s video (albeit in 1969 TV quality) readily.

Science tapes: Apollo 14’s ALSEP data is now digitally archived in places like the PDS. For example, all calibrated Heat Flow Experiment data from Apollo 14 is available in ASCII tablespds-geosciences.wustl.edu<ref>{{cite web|title=pds-geosciences.wustl.edu|url=https://pds-geosciences.wustl.edu/missions/apollo/index.htm#:~:text=observations%20from%20the%20Apollo%20missions,SEED%20and%20ASCII%20table%20format|publisher=pds-geosciences.wustl.edu|access-date=2025-12-06}}</ref>. The original physical tapes that were recovered (if any specifically for Apollo 14) would likely reside with NASA’s Johnson Space Center or Goddard Space Flight Center in some storage if they weren’t too damaged – but most likely, the recovery was done from surviving copies or later 9-track “work tapes” rather than original 14-track tapes for Apollo 14’s early data. We do know that some Apollo 14 experiment tapes were never found and the data had to be reconstructed from partial records (Apollo 14’s heat flow had gaps due to tape loss, but those gaps were filled by careful analysis of available data).

In summary, Apollo 14’s situation mirrors Apollo 12’s: the primary mission telemetry tapes are gone, but the mission is thoroughly documented through other preserved media. The scientific telemetry from Apollo 14, once thought lost, is now largely restored and accessible, ensuring researchers today can study Apollo 14’s lunar environment measurements. No known Apollo 14 telemetry tape is on display in any museum or held by any private collector of note.