"What was broadcast to the world was nowhere near as good as what was received, " said John Sarkissian, of the CSIRO Parkes Observatory in Australia, one of the three tracking stations that taped the original footage before sending it on to Houston in converted form.

BBC: NEWS | Science/Nature | Search on for Moon landing film

Deutsch notes that when the Mars Science Lab recently landed, as a backup capability the DSN used the Parkes Radio Observatory in Australia to look at its signal during entry, descent and landing.

FORBES: Future Of NASA's Aging Deep Space Network Lies In X-Rays And Lasers