GBH Openvault
NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with William K. Hartmann, Senior Scientist Emeritus at the Planetary Science Institute, part 2 of 3
Part of To the Moon Interviews.
1998
William K. Hartmann, Senior Scientist Emeritus at the Planetary Science Institute, is interviewed about the origins of the moon. Hartmann describes the collaborative work between the United States and Russia that took place in the early 1970s in order to determine the origins of the moon, as the lunar samples returned from Apollo missions. Hartmann explains early theories of the moon's creation, and explains how understanding the moon's history helps scientists understand the age and origin of other planetary bodies. During the Apollo program, the landing sites were specifically chosen to get a sample of a variety of locations that would help scientists determine the origins of the moon so that they could have a comprehensive picture of the moon's landscape. Hartmann ends by describing the legacy of Apollo as helping us understanding the history of the moon in tandem with the Earth, and says that humans should go back to the moon in order to keep learning more.
- Series
- NOVA
- Program
- To the Moon
- Program Number
2610
- Title
Interview with William K. Hartmann, Senior Scientist Emeritus at the Planetary Science Institute, part 2 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
0:23:25
- Asset Type
Raw video
- Media Type
Video
- Subjects
- American history
- Gemini
- Moon
- Apollo
- Space
- Astronaut
- 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 2 of 3,” 1998, GBH Archives, accessed April 18, 2024, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_662D4C7D78D04EDBA12FFB504F53E2AD.
- MLA: “NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with William K. Hartmann, Senior Scientist Emeritus at the Planetary Science Institute, part 2 of 3.” 1998. GBH Archives. Web. April 18, 2024. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_662D4C7D78D04EDBA12FFB504F53E2AD>.
- APA: NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with William K. Hartmann, Senior Scientist Emeritus at the Planetary Science Institute, part 2 of 3. Boston, MA: GBH Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_662D4C7D78D04EDBA12FFB504F53E2AD