NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Walter "Wally" Schirra, naval aviator, astronaut, and commander of Apollo 7, part 2 of 3
- Series
- NOVA
- Episode
- To the Moon
- Raw Footage
- Interview with Walter "Wally" Schirra, naval aviator, astronaut, and commander of Apollo 7, part 2 of 3
- Producing Organization
- WGBH Educational Foundation
- Contributing Organization
- WGBH (Boston, Massachusetts)
- AAPB ID
- cpb-aacip-15-gh9b56fd0c
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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
- Walter "Wally" Schirra, naval aviator, astronaut, and commander of Apollo 7, is interviewed about his role as an astronaut. Schirra likens Rendezvous to parking a car in a garage, and describes Gemini and his boredom during Apollo 7, and compares the differences in mechanism and computing power of Apollo and Gemini. Before the Apollo 1 fire, Schirra was worried about glitches he had experienced and says that he warned Gus Grissom about the potential for major issues. However, Schirra says that Apollo 1 (and Challenger) were cases of "Go Fever" and talks about how difficult it was to lose the men in the fire, who were friends of his. After the fire, Schirra announced his imminent retirement after Apollo 7, and talks about the friction between the astronauts and ground control during the Apollo 7 mission, and talks about the repercussions after they had returned to Earth. Schirra was sad that the Apollo program ended and says that we probably would not return to the moon anytime soon because of a lack of resolve and resources. Schirra also talks about working with von Braun, and von Braun's conviction that learning about the moon was worth it, and tells a story by von Braun.
- 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: Schirra, Walter, 1923-2007
Interviewee: Schirra, Walter, 1923-2007
Producing Organization: WGBH Educational Foundation
- AAPB Contributor Holdings
-
WGBH
Identifier: cpb-aacip-c69c0c86378 (Filename)
Format: Digital Betacam
Generation: Original
Duration: 0:22:59
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- Citations
- Chicago: “NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Walter "Wally" Schirra, naval aviator, astronaut, and commander of Apollo 7, part 2 of 3 ,” 1998, WGBH, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed August 8, 2025, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-15-gh9b56fd0c.
- MLA: “NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Walter "Wally" Schirra, naval aviator, astronaut, and commander of Apollo 7, part 2 of 3 .” 1998. WGBH, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. August 8, 2025. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-15-gh9b56fd0c>.
- APA: NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Walter "Wally" Schirra, naval aviator, astronaut, and commander of Apollo 7, 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-gh9b56fd0c