Editing Journey into Space (section)

== Discovery of Transcription discs ==
The programmes were recorded in the studio on 15[[Inches per second|ips]] magnetic tape, and were later copied onto 33⅓[[Revolutions per minute|rpm]] 16-inch coarse-groove [[transcription disc]]s for the BBC Transcription Services (except for ''Journey to the Moon'' episodes).<ref name="OL booklet"/> The master tapes were erased three months after broadcast, in accordance with BBC policy at the time. The Transcription discs were sold overseas, and their fate was unknown, so for many years it was believed that all the episodes had been lost forever, although a number were broadcast by the American Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS, formerly AFN) in Europe during the late 1970s.<ref name="Radio Days">{{cite web |url= http://www.sigtel.com/radio_space.html |title=Radio Days: Journey Into Restored Space |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060111030057/http://www.sigtel.com/radio_space.html |archive-date=11 January 2006 }}</ref>

However, in 1986, a set of misfiled Transcription discs was found by Ted Kendall, a BBC recording engineer, which turned out to be copies of ''Operation Luna'', ''The Red Planet'' and ''The World in Peril''. The BBC no longer possessed a suitable turntable on which to play the discs, but Kendall managed to obtain an [[Elektro-Mess-Technik|EMT 927]] turntable. To clean the discs, he soaked them in warm water containing [[Fairy (brand)|Fairy Liquid]], brushed them with a goats-hair brush, and dried them using kitchen towels.<ref name="Radio Days"/>

Kendall transferred the recordings to magnetic tape, removing "[[Clicking noise|clicks]]" from the sound using a device which he designed and built, called the [http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byform/mailing-lists/av/2002/12/msg00009.html Mousetrap] (or Front End). He removed more severe clicks after the transfer, by scraping the oxide off the magnetic tape in appropriate places.<ref name="Radio Days"/>

The BBC took the opportunity to re-broadcast all three series on [[BBC Radio 2|Radio 2]], beginning with ''Operation Luna'' in 1989,<ref name="OL booklet"/> followed by ''The Red Planet'' in 1990<ref name="TRP booklet"/> and ''The World in Peril'' in 1991.<ref name="TWIP booklet"/> Abridged versions of the three series were also released on audio cassette. In 1998, Kendall digitally remastered the recordings for new abridged releases on audio cassette, and in 2004, the unabridged remastered recordings began to be released on CD and internet download. The three series have also been broadcast on BBC Radio 7, now known as BBC Radio 4 Extra.