In the archives of the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA), there are magnetic tapes that contain a landmark piece of programming history — a lecture by Admiral Grace Hopper. However, there is a problem: The NSA has no way to reproduce it.
Grace Hopper was the highest-ranking officer in the U.S. Navy, a legend of computer science and a pioneer of computers. She was involved in the development of FLOW-MATIC, the first programming language to use basic English words instead of numbers. She later helped develop COBOL, a commercially oriented computer language that is still used in some computer systems today. In 1982, she gave a lecture at the NSA headquarters. The agency recorded the lecture and preserved it.
«The content of her 1982 lecture is divided into two parts — TVC 930A and TVC 930B, lasting 48 min. 15 s and 40 min. 39 s, respectively. They are not just historical data, but likely valuable and forward-looking information about the evolution of technology and its impact on society», — writes researcher Michael Ravnicki, who represents MuckRock, a nonprofit organization that helps people file Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.
On October 12, 2021, Ravnicki applied for access to these tapes. Three years later, the NSA said it «did not have the relevant documents». Ravnicki knew for a fact that the data existed and objected. The NSA’s own «Television Center Catalog», a document made public by the Freedom of Information Act in 2009, listed the tapes among its contents. So the researcher demanded an explanation from the agency. The NSA replied that it did not have the technical means to listen to the tapes, and therefore could not provide them upon request:
«During our search, our office contacted the organization that would have the records you requested, if they still exist. We have been informed that while there are some older videotapes that are potentially relevant, they are in a format that the NSA no longer has the ability to view or digitize. Without the ability to view the tapes, NSA has no way to verify their relevance. The NSA is not required to find or obtain new technology (outdated or current) to process the request,», — the agency said.
Ravnicki asked the NSA for photographs of the tapes, and he received them. The pictures showed that the tapes were recorded on a 1-inch AMPEX videotape recorder. There were three different standardized types of AMPEX machines. A preliminary search on eBay turned up dozens of machines that might fit the bill.
It might not come to that. After MuckRock published the article, some people volunteered to help. Michael Morrissey, founder and CEO of MuckRock, said that several groups have offered «different hardware rigs that they think could help». So far, the search for hardware is ongoing. But magnetic tapes break down over time, so it’s worth hurrying.