GBH Openvault
NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with William K. Hartmann, Senior Scientist Emeritus at the Planetary Science Institute, part 1 of 3
Part of To the Moon Interviews.
1998
William K. Hartmann, Senior Scientist Emeritus at the Planetary Science Institute, is interviewed about the theory that the Earth had once been hit by a planet-sized body, a theory that he helped bring into the scientific mainstream, and uses the 24-hour model of the universe to put the theory into context. Hartmann then talks about the 1974 Kona Conference's role in spurring scientists to think about the possible origins of the Earth, and how Hartmann's theory was received and eventually adopted into the mainstream, and talks about Safronov's work on a similar theory. The interview ends with a few minutes of audio from the Monterey Conference.
- Series
- NOVA
- Program
- To the Moon
- Program Number
2610
- Title
Interview with William K. Hartmann, Senior Scientist Emeritus at the Planetary Science Institute, part 1 of 3
- Series Description
NOVA is a general-interest documentary series that addresses a single science issue each week. Billed as "science adventures for curious grown-ups" when it first aired in March, 1974, NOVA continues to offer an informative and entertaining approach to a challenging subject. It is also one of television's most acclaimed series, having won every major television award, most of them many times over.
- Program Description
Alan Binder, former Principal Investigator of NASA's Lunar Prospector mission, is interviewed about the Lunar Prospector. Binder says that if moon travel became viable again, he would want to go to the moon, but says that in order to get financial and public support for space exploration, scientists need to sell the science of the moon. Another option, according to Binder, is to make travel to the moon commercially viable, and lists many benefits of going to the moon, including using it as a fuel source, or colonizing the surface for human habitation (audio cuts out from 00:07:30 - 00:09:00). Binder explains the work of the Lunar Prospector and talks about the necessity of having computers to do a lot of the work. On Apollo, Binder calls the program the most significant event of the 21st century, and talks about the roles of the Apollo program, the Clementine spacecraft, and hte Lunar Prospector. The interview ends with Binder's views on his relationship with NASA, which he characterizes as being needlessly bound up in beaurocracy and red tape.
- Duration
0:16:25
- Asset Type
Raw video
- Media Type
Video
- Subjects
- Gemini
- Astronaut
- Space
- Apollo
- American history
- Moon
- Creators
- WGBH Educational Foundation (Producing Organization)
- Contributors
- Hartmann, William Kenneth, 1939- (Interviewee)
- Rights Summary
Rights Holder: WGBH Educational Foundation
- Citation
- Chicago: “NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with William K. Hartmann, Senior Scientist Emeritus at the Planetary Science Institute, part 1 of 3,” 1998, GBH Archives, accessed April 19, 2024, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_1456801FCE8A4AE38DD860284ACC69DF.
- MLA: “NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with William K. Hartmann, Senior Scientist Emeritus at the Planetary Science Institute, part 1 of 3.” 1998. GBH Archives. Web. April 19, 2024. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_1456801FCE8A4AE38DD860284ACC69DF>.
- APA: NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with William K. Hartmann, Senior Scientist Emeritus at the Planetary Science Institute, part 1 of 3. Boston, MA: GBH Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_1456801FCE8A4AE38DD860284ACC69DF