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NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Stuart Ross Taylor, geochemist, planetary scientist, and Emeritus Professor at the Australian National University

Part of To the Moon Interviews.

1998

Stuart Ross Taylor, geochemist, planetary scientist, and Emeritus Professor at the Australian National University, who served as NASA Principal Investigator for lunar geochemistry, is interviewed about the lunar samples. He begins by explaining early theories of the moon, including Harold Urey's theories about the moon's origins, which proved to be wrong. The Lunar Receiving Laboratory was built very quickly, and Taylor was tapped early on to lead the team, and recalls the anticipation of receiving the lunar samples after Apollo 11 returned to Earth. Taylor also discusses the first "Rockfest" in 1970 to discuss the findings from the lunar samples, at which all of the major scientists of the day were present. Taylor also credits the Apollo program with kickstarting a new era in planetary science and ending a few centuries' worth of baseless speculation on the moon; the Apollo program also began the "Period of the Moon".


License Clip
Series
NOVA
Program
To the Moon
Program Number

2610

Title

Interview with Stuart Ross Taylor, geochemist, planetary scientist, and Emeritus Professor at the Australian National University

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

0:17:00

Asset Type

Raw video

Media Type

Video

Subjects
American history
Space
Apollo
Astronaut
Gemini
Moon
Creators
WGBH Educational Foundation (Producing Organization)
Contributors
Taylor, Stuart Ross, 1925- (Interviewee)
Rights Summary

Rights Holder: WGBH Educational Foundation

Citation
Chicago: “NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Stuart Ross Taylor, geochemist, planetary scientist, and Emeritus Professor at the Australian National University,” 1998, GBH Archives, accessed March 28, 2024, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_4F6B3FE27D614A86B34F7BB36EB7B427.
MLA: “NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Stuart Ross Taylor, geochemist, planetary scientist, and Emeritus Professor at the Australian National University.” 1998. GBH Archives. Web. March 28, 2024. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_4F6B3FE27D614A86B34F7BB36EB7B427>.
APA: NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Stuart Ross Taylor, geochemist, planetary scientist, and Emeritus Professor at the Australian National University. Boston, MA: GBH Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_4F6B3FE27D614A86B34F7BB36EB7B427
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