the surface detail - at least as far as that primitive 60's photography reveals - is quite sharp.
Why do you think that '60s photography was primitive? Photographic quality hasn't advanced significantly since the '60s. Remember that in the '60s our military was doing reconnaissance from 80,000+ feet in the SR-71 with "primitive '60s photography". Nasa used the best cameras available then, and most agree they are still some of the best cameras available now. There's nothing low-quality about a 6x6 negative exposed by top-quality Zeiss glass, regardless of the decade.
Video of course, is a different story, but you were talking about LIFE magazine.