Projects like this remind me of why we need to use public money for space exploration. The extreme constraints on space exploration drive new innovations and ideas that can flow down into our everyday lives.

I wish everyone believed this. It feels so inspiring to every generation of engineers.

We used public money to go to the moon and our government recorded over all of the video footage. Can you name a single piece of video footage that is more valuable than that which was recorded on the Apollo missions? I can't. Governments are either incompetent or corrupt - usually both.

The video footage may be inspiring and I agree that it's a huge shame that it was erased but it really is of very little scientific value compared to the other research and data gathered on these missions.

If the footage from the Apollo missions is worthless that would support my claim beyond the point I made in the first place.

I genuinely envy the creator — as in “envy is the sincerest form of flattery”. I love everything about this: that the maker perceived an entirely legitimate use-case, that he had the skills necessary to assemble off-the-shelf components into a device with such a professional finish, and that he shared so much detail with us. It’s the kind of project I’d support on Kickstarter for the twin delights of helping somebody creare something truly nice but exquisite and for the thrill of having such a unit myself.

Yup, this is why I come to Hacker News.

Thank you! I'm new here but have more stuff in the works. Right now I'm mid-project on some 3D printer enclosures but I've got some more stuff planned in the months ahead.