NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Rocco Petrone, mechanical engineer and director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center from 1973-1974, part 1 of 3
- Series
- NOVA
- Episode
- To the Moon
- Producing Organization
- WGBH Educational Foundation
- Contributing Organization
- WGBH (Boston, Massachusetts)
- AAPB ID
- cpb-aacip-15-9p2w37mz24
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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
- Rocco Petrone, mechanical engineer and director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center from 1973-1974, is interviewed about the early years of the Apollo program. Petrone begins with a discussion of the window of time when lunar sites could be reached, the "all-up" testing of the Saturn V, and the establishment of a procedure for the shuttle's launch. Petrone describes the sensations of the Saturn V liftoff, and explains where he was during the Apollo 1 fire. Upon hearing Kennedy's mandate to go to the moon before the end of the decade, Petrone recognized the work ahead of them, and explained the choice of Cape Canaveral as the launch site due to its proximity to the ocean, and mentions other potential sites in Texas and Hawaii. The other considerations for launch sites are explained, and Petrone discusses his role in preparing for the Lunar and Earth Orbit Rendezvous, as well as the difficulties of an Earth Orbit Rendezvous, and how those difficulties shaped the building of the Cape Canaveral site. Petrone ends by discussing the pressures of the job on the family.
- 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
- 00:23:25
- Credits
-
-
Interviewee: Petrone, Rocco Anthony, 1926-2006
Interviewee: Petrone, Rocco Anthony, 1926-2006
Producing Organization: WGBH Educational Foundation
- AAPB Contributor Holdings
-
WGBH
Identifier: cpb-aacip-25af66ab983 (Filename)
Format: Digital Betacam
Generation: Original
Duration: 0:23:26
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- Citations
- Chicago: “NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Rocco Petrone, mechanical engineer and director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center from 1973-1974, part 1 of 3 ,” 1998, WGBH, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed August 14, 2025, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-15-9p2w37mz24.
- MLA: “NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Rocco Petrone, mechanical engineer and director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center from 1973-1974, part 1 of 3 .” 1998. WGBH, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. August 14, 2025. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-15-9p2w37mz24>.
- APA: NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Rocco Petrone, mechanical engineer and director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center from 1973-1974, part 1 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-15-9p2w37mz24