Series
NOVA
Episode
To the Moon
Raw Footage
Interview with Robert Channing Seamans, Jr., Deputy Administrator at NASA and Professor at MIT, part 3 of 3
Producing Organization
WGBH Educational Foundation
Contributing Organization
WGBH (Boston, Massachusetts)
AAPB ID
cpb-aacip-15-j96057f41n
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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
Robert Channing Seamans, Jr., Deputy Administrator at NASA and Professor at MIT, is interviewed about the early years of the Apollo program. Seamans talks about finding the talent for the program, and talks about working with Werner von Braun, James Webb, and George Mueller. Seamans also describes the sensations of being near the Saturn V liftoff, and talks about James Webb's decision to send Apollo 10 to space without the Lunar Module in order to make maximum use of resources, as well as the competition with the Russians throughout the Apollo space program. According to Seamans, the NASA team was able to listen in on Russian space missions and scientific attempts, and Seamans describes some of the Russian accomplishments in space that pushed the Americans to work faster, although the Russians always kept quiet about their work. Seamans also describes watching the Apollo 11 lunar landing and worrying about getting the astronauts off of the moon, but mentions his certainty that America would make it to the moon. Seamans ends by crediting the Apollo program with changing humanity's understanding of its place in the universe.
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
00:23:37
Embed Code
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Credits
Interviewee: Seamans, Robert Channing, 1918-2008
Interviewee: Seamans, Robert Channing, 1918-2008
Producing Organization: WGBH Educational Foundation
AAPB Contributor Holdings
WGBH
Identifier: cpb-aacip-70e5e9d7783 (Filename)
Format: Digital Betacam
Generation: Original
Duration: 0:23:37
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Citations
Chicago: “NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Robert Channing Seamans, Jr., Deputy Administrator at NASA and Professor at MIT, part 3 of 3 ,” 1998, WGBH, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed August 16, 2025, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-15-j96057f41n.
MLA: “NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Robert Channing Seamans, Jr., Deputy Administrator at NASA and Professor at MIT, part 3 of 3 .” 1998. WGBH, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. August 16, 2025. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-15-j96057f41n>.
APA: NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Robert Channing Seamans, Jr., Deputy Administrator at NASA and Professor at MIT, part 3 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-j96057f41n