Kodak, Armstrong and the Moon

An American hero will be laid to rest Friday.

In 1969, astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon. They used Kodak film on Apollo 11 to capture the first pictures of the lunar surface, but Kodak did something years earlier to make the trip possible.

"NASA decided after President John F.Kennedy said we are going to the moon, the first goal was to document the moon," said Todd Gustavson, curator of technology collection.

Eastman Kodak Company was involved in the moon project even before Neil Armstrong. NASA needed to make sure the surface was safe for a smooth landing.

Kodak helped create the Lunar Orbiter used in 1966 to photograph the entire moon.

"The unusual thing about this is that not only is it a camera, but it also developed the film and then scanned the film and sent the film signal back to NASA," said Gustavson.

Five of Kodak's orbiters made it to the moon. They worked so well NASA didn't need more. The one here at the George Eastman House was number seven in line.

That's not all.

When you see images of Neil Armstrong and other astronauts walking on the moon, you will notice a camera attached to their gear. The film inside those cameras was made by Kodak.

"The Kodak film and the Lunar Orbiter...this is the proof that we actually went to the moon. A lot of people are skeptical about this, photographic evidence, without the film from Eastman Kodak Company, we would not have that evidence," said Gustavson.

Decades later, the pictures they took in 1966 are still considered the highest resolution images of the entire moon ever taken.