Series
NOVA
Episode
To the Moon
Raw Footage
Interview with Graham Ryder, Geologist and Lunar Scientist, part 1 of 2
Producing Organization
WGBH Educational Foundation
Contributing Organization
WGBH (Boston, Massachusetts)
AAPB ID
cpb-aacip-15-wd3pv6ck9g
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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
Graham Ryder, Geologist and Lunar Scientist, is interviewed about his initial interests in planetary science and the field of lunar science in the contemporary period. Ryder explains how he got into planetary science and explains his work on anorthosites are, and struggles to define anorthosites for the layman. As lunar samples began to come back to Earth, Ryder describes the quick pace of studying the samples between Apollo missions, and says that sometimes they had a matter of months to study the samples, although ideally he would have wanted a year between missions to fully study the lunar samples. Although the Apollo missions were finished in 1972, the lunar samples were still being studied at the time of recording, and were still providing insights into the timeline of the moon and its lunar craters. Ryder ends by explaining why he thinks that people need to be sent back to the moon, and the final 5 minutes of audio (no video) are clips from interviews with William Hartmann and Graham Ryder.
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
00:16:48
Embed Code
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Credits
Interviewee: Ryder, Graham, 1949-2002
Producing Organization: WGBH Educational Foundation
AAPB Contributor Holdings
WGBH
Identifier: cpb-aacip-0bced7634a1 (Filename)
Format: Digital Betacam
Generation: Original
Duration: 0:16:48
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Citations
Chicago: “NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Graham Ryder, Geologist and Lunar Scientist, part 1 of 2,” 1998, WGBH, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed September 16, 2025, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-15-wd3pv6ck9g.
MLA: “NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Graham Ryder, Geologist and Lunar Scientist, part 1 of 2.” 1998. WGBH, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. September 16, 2025. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-15-wd3pv6ck9g>.
APA: NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Graham Ryder, Geologist and Lunar Scientist, part 1 of 2. 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-wd3pv6ck9g