NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with James W. Head III, Professor of Geological Sciences at Brown University, part 2 of 3
- Series
- NOVA
- Episode
- To the Moon
- Raw Footage
- Interview with James W. Head III, Professor of Geological Sciences at Brown University, part 2 of 3
- Producing Organization
- WGBH Educational Foundation
- Contributing Organization
- WGBH (Boston, Massachusetts)
- AAPB ID
- cpb-aacip-15-c24qj7929j
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- Description
- Program Description
- This remarkably crafted program covers the full range of participants in the Apollo project, from the scientists and engineers who promoted bold ideas about the nature of the Moon and how to get there, to the young geologists who chose the landing sites and helped train the crews, to the astronauts who actually went - not once or twice, but six times, each to a more demanding and interesting location on the Moon's surface. "To The Moon" includes unprecedented footage, rare interviews, and presents a magnificent overview of the history of man and the Moon. To the Moon aired as NOVA episode 2610 in 1999.
- Raw Footage Description
- James W. Head III, Professor of Geological Sciences at Brown University, who studies volcanoes on Earth and other planets, in interviewed about the specific missions of the Apollo program. Head talks about training the astronauts and the growth of understanding between the scientists and astronauts, as well as the historical, political, and scientific reasons why the Apollo program was conducted. Head recounts the initiative that the astronauts took in naming features of the moon after family members and the Apollo scientists, and describes the challenges to the Apollo 14 mission, including the landing site and the rover, and describes Dave Scott's exploratory sense on Apollo 15 as "very strong". Head also describes the process of working in the back room during missions and communicating with astronauts in space, and talks about the surprise upon Apollo 15's discovery that their landing site was not volcanic, but was full of impact craters. Apollo 17 almost did not happen because the canyon they landed in was very narrow, and Head advocates for the future of using robots to continue lunar exploration, but acknowledges that at the time there was a need for human exploration. The interview ends with Head's instructions to the astronauts of Apollo 17 to pick up specific types of rocks that may have proven scientifically significant.
- Created Date
- 1998
- Asset type
- Raw Footage
- Genres
- Interview
- Topics
- History
- Technology
- Science
- Subjects
- American History; Gemini; apollo; moon; Space; astronaut
- Media type
- Moving Image
- Duration
- 00:22:59
- Credits
-
-
Interviewee: Head, James W., 1941-
Interviewee: Head, James W., 1941-
Producing Organization: WGBH Educational Foundation
- AAPB Contributor Holdings
-
WGBH
Identifier: cpb-aacip-4eec5ab02ad (Filename)
Format: Digital Betacam
Generation: Original
Duration: 0:23:00
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- Citations
- Chicago: “NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with James W. Head III, Professor of Geological Sciences at Brown University, part 2 of 3 ,” 1998, WGBH, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed August 29, 2025, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-15-c24qj7929j.
- MLA: “NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with James W. Head III, Professor of Geological Sciences at Brown University, part 2 of 3 .” 1998. WGBH, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. August 29, 2025. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-15-c24qj7929j>.
- APA: NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with James W. Head III, Professor of Geological Sciences at Brown University, part 2 of 3 . Boston, MA: WGBH, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-15-c24qj7929j