Series
NOVA
Episode
To the Moon
Raw Footage
Interview with James W. Head III, Professor of Geological Sciences at Brown University, part 1 of 3
Producing Organization
WGBH Educational Foundation
Contributing Organization
WGBH (Boston, Massachusetts)
AAPB ID
cpb-aacip-15-k06ww7861m
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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 science side of the Apollo program. Head describes how he came to work with NASA, and the mentality that he and fellow scientists had that enabled them to get to the moon. Before going to the moon people did not have a lot of ideas about the moon's history, so early missions to the moon were sent with the goal of increasing knowledge. Head describes working with Farouk El-Baz and Rocco Petrone as his bosses, and recalls the process of site selection from geological and practical perspectives. According to Head, Gene Shoemaker had a difficult time with the Apollo program because of a difference in expectations, and talks about the site selection for the Apollo 13 mission, and describes his sadness that Apollo 13 was not able to do the mission, and characterizes the crew's enthusiasm for geology. However, when the mission was completed by the Apollo 14 crew, a lot was learned about impact craters and ejecta deposits. Footage includes B-roll of Head and some maps.
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
00:23:15
Embed Code
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Credits
Interviewee: Head, James W., 1941-
Interviewee: Head, James W., 1941-
Producing Organization: WGBH Educational Foundation
AAPB Contributor Holdings
WGBH
Identifier: cpb-aacip-719e1bef49d (Filename)
Format: Digital Betacam
Generation: Original
Duration: 0:23:16
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Citations
Chicago: “NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with James W. Head III, Professor of Geological Sciences at Brown University, part 1 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-k06ww7861m.
MLA: “NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with James W. Head III, Professor of Geological Sciences at Brown University, part 1 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-k06ww7861m>.
APA: NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with James W. Head III, Professor of Geological Sciences at Brown University, 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-k06ww7861m