AFP - NASA on Thursday unveiled restored video footage of man's first steps on the moon to mark the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission's historic stride.
  
The first installment of a more extensive project, the video release includes 15 key moments from the historic mission by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, NASA said.
  
While some feared these images of Armstrong's first steps had been lost, Hollywood's Lowry Digital was able to restore "15 scenes representing the most significant moments of the three and a half hours that Armstrong and Aldrin spent on the lunar surface," NASA said in a statement.
  
Armstrong first stepped out on the lunar surface on July 20, 1969, and made history as the first man to walk on the moon.
  
Due to the way in which Armstrong and Aldrin's walk was filmed -- with a video camera featuring a non-standard format that could not be broadcast directly -- NASA used a scan converter to adapt the images to the US television standard.
  
Tracking stations at the time used microwave links, satellites, and AT and T analog landlines to Mission Control in Houston. That led to downgraded original images, NASA says.
  
"The restoration is ongoing, and may produce even better video," said Richard Nafzger, of NASA's Goddard Space Flight center in Greenbelt, Maryland, anticipating a September release for the full package.