Got a spare fanbelt?

NASA — or rather, a firm doing data recovery for NASA — needs a 1972 Toyota Corolla fan belt:

It looks as if it belongs aboard Dr Who's Tardis and needs a fan belt from a 36-year-old Toyota Corolla to get going, but experts are betting that an old refrigerator-sized tape recorder can help to analyse "fresh" data from NASA's Apollo missions to the moon.

Improbable as it sounds, the 1960s-vintage IBM729 Mark 5 and the 173 untouched magnet tapes from Apollos 11, 12 and 14 are housed at a data recovery firm in Perth.

The information contained on the tapes, which deals with lunar dust, is unique and valuable.

NASA "misplaced" the original tapes, revealing the blunder only in 2006. It would benefit from the information contained on the copies in Perth for its planned return to the moon.

Guy Holmes, chief executive of SpectrumData, found the recorder in Sydney at the Australian Computer Museum, a little-known not-for-profit endeavour run by enthusiasts.

"The machine needs to be restored," Mr Holmes said. "It uses fan belts - we're looking for a 1972 Toyota Corolla - and other parts need to be replaced. We'll probably be ready to plug it into the wall in January."

Whole thing here. H/T to Roger Henry for the original link.