Hundreds Of Computer Reels Also Found, According To Recently-Released OIG Report

A salvage company going through the house of a deceased NASA engineer in Pittsburgh in 2015 discovered two massive Apollo-era computers and hundreds of reels of magnetic tape. A NASA OIG report about the find was recently made public through a Freedom of Information Act request, according to a report from Ars Technica U.K.

While most of the reels are unmarked, those that are labeled indicate they containing data from the Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 missions.

According to the report, the engineer apparently took home the computers sometime during the 1970s. And these are hardly portable machines. They are so heavy that is is assumed that a crane had to be used to move the massive cabinets.

The computers are labeled "NASA Property", so the scrap dealer contacted the agency.

The OIG report indicates that one of the engineer's heirs told the scrap dealer to "Please tell NASA these items were not stolen. They belonged to IBM Allegheny Center Pittsburgh, PA 15212. During the 1968-1972 timeframe, IBM was getting rid of the items so [redacted engineer] asked if he could have them and was told he could have them."

While NASA did collect the 325 reels of magnetic tape, which were badly damaged by mold and age, it did not claim the actual computers, telling the family that it "is not in the junk removal business" and that it did not need the computers.

The NASA Goddard Archives looked at the reels in 2015. According to the archivist's report:

"[The] assessment confirmed the approximate number of 325 magnetic data tape reels that each measured 14" in diameter with a magnetic tape dimension of ½” and contained by a metal reel. The assessment also showed that the magnetic tapes were in poor condition and almost all were affected by moderate to severe mould, which is identified as a health risk. Most of the tapes were not labelled and of the tapes that were labelled, the content appeared to be space science related with missions including Pioneer and Helios and the inclusive dates range was 1961-1974. A final assessment of the tapes on April 3, 2016 further broke down of the content of the tapes into the following:

• PN8 [Pioneer 8]: 1 reel
• PN9 [Pioneer 9]: 2 reel
• PN10 [Pioneer 10): 40 reels
• PN11 [Pioneer 11]: 53 reels
• HELl [or] HEL-A [Helios 1]: 10 reels
• HESA [possibly an abbreviation for Helios A]: 2 reels
• Intelsat IV: 2 reels
• Unlabelled or labelled without mission-related identifying information: approximately 215 reels"

The archivist recommended that the tapes be destroyed "immediately".

But there was another twist. The computers were labeled with “CONTRACT NO. NAS5-2154.”  OIG could find no record of any such contract. The OIG said it would have no further comment other than the information released under the FOIA request.

(NASA images)

FMI: OIG Report (Redacted), Original Story