Scanned 1983 NASA press kit redacted, then partly un-redacted

02 · REQUEST 1

"Redact every phone number and every person’s name"

We're sending this 1983 NASA press kit (Satcom 1R launch) to our design agency as reference for a heritage campaign. Before it goes, please redact:

1. Every phone number: the 'AC 202 755-8370' letterhead number on pages 1 and 2, the two press-contact numbers on page 2, and the recorded-updates number in the note to editors on the last page.
2. The names of individual people: the two press contacts at the top of page 2 and every name in the NASA/Industry Team list on PDF pages 6-7 (NASA Headquarters, Goddard, Kennedy and RCA American Communications), including prefixes like 'Lt. Gen.' and 'Dr.'.

Job titles, company and agency names and places stay readable, including company names that contain a person's name (e.g. Charles Stark Draper Labs on page 8). It's a scan, so the redactions must be burned into the page image, not just boxes on top.

What did

• Read all 8 pages and found each name and number on the page, including the ones the old OCR had misspelt.
• Redacted 26 names, with their prefixes (“Lt. Gen.”, “Dr.”, “, Jr.”), and 5 phone numbers: 31 redactions on pages 1, 2, 6, 7 and 8.
• Burned each one into the scan. The black is part of the page picture now, and the words are deleted from the text.
• Left every job title, agency, company and place readable, including Charles Stark Draper Labs on page 8. Pages 3 to 5 were not touched.

Before and after: drag to compare

original scanversion 1

Before and after: drag to compare

original scanversion 1

Picture of the delivered file

We checked the delivered file: copying out its text finds none of the 26 surnames and none of the 5 numbers, every title and company is still there, it still has 8 pages of the same size, and pages 3 to 5 are the original scans, unchanged.

One thing we would tidy: on page 2 the boxes follow the old OCR’s line boxes, which are a little taller than the type, so they nick the line below; and the word “(Phone:” went with the numbers.

03 · REQUEST 2

"Senior officials can stay visible"

Legal has relaxed the rule: senior officials can stay visible. Working from the original scan, un-redact the people in the team list whose title contains 'Director', 'Administrator' or 'President' (so Deputy Director, Network Director, Associate Administrator and Vice President all count).

Everyone else, the two press contacts on page 2 and all phone numbers stay redacted. Save it as a new version and list who is now visible.

What did

• Started again from the original upload, not from version 1: a burned-in redaction cannot be undone, and it did not need to be.
• Applied the new rule: the 13 people whose title has Director, Administrator or President in it stay visible; the other 13, the two press contacts and all 5 phone numbers are redacted again.
• Saved it as a new version. Version 1 is still there as the earlier version.
• Listed who is now visible, section by section, with their titles.

Before and after: drag to compare

version 1version 2

Before and after: drag to compare

version 1version 2

Visible in version 2 13

• Lt. Gen. J. A. AbrahamsonAssociate Administrator for Space Flight
• Joseph B. MahonDirector, Expendable Launch Vehicle Program
• Robert E. SmylieAssociate Administrator for Space Tracking and Data Systems
• Dr. Noel W. HinnersDirector (Goddard)
• John J. QuannDeputy Director
• William C. KeathleyDirector, Project Management
• Ralph BanningNetwork Director
• Richard G. SmithDirector (Kennedy)
• Thomas S. WaltonDirector, Cargo Operations
• Charles D. GayDirector, Expendable Vehicles Operations
• Dr. James J. TietjenPresident (RCA)
• John ChristopherVice President of Technical Operations
• Joseph SchwarzeDirector, Space Systems

Still redacted 13

• press contact, page 2
• press contact, page 2
• Manager, Delta Program
• Acting Delta Project Manager
• Deputy Delta Project Manager
• Manager, Delta Mission Analysis and Integration
• RCA Satcom 1R Mission Integration Manager
• RCA Satcom 1R Network Support Manager
• Chief, Automated Payloads Division
• Chief, Delta Operations Division
• Spacecraft Coordinator
• Manager, Advanced Space Programs
• Manager, Spacecraft Engineering

We checked it: the 13 names that came back are the original scan’s own pixels, with no trace of a box. “Joseph B. Mahon” reads correctly on the page even though the old OCR text still says “6.”. Copying out the text finds the 13 senior names and none of the other 13 or the phone numbers.