GBH Openvault
NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with James "Jim" Lovell, astronaut, commander of Apollo 13, and command module pilot of Apollo 8, part 2 of 2
Part of To the Moon Interviews.
1998
Jim Lovell, former NASA astronaut, retired Navy Captain, is interviewed about Apollo 8. Lovell admits that he did not take the "Earthrise" photo, and comments on the decision to read from Genesis during the Apollo 8 Christmas Eve broadcast. Later Apollo missions emphasized geology, and Lovell describes training with geologist Lee Silver in Cocoa Beach and the Orocopia Mountains, as well as his discovery of an old Native American pot during one of these training exercises. Lovell later discusses Apollo 13 and his disappointment at not reaching the moon and his hope of returning home safely. The tape ends with Lovell's evaluation of his four flights in space: Apollo 8 was the most fulfilling, but Apollo 13 was the most challenging. Final minute of the interview is audio-only.
- Series
- NOVA
- Program
- To the Moon
- Program Number
2610
- Title
Interview with James "Jim" Lovell, astronaut, commander of Apollo 13, and command module pilot of Apollo 8, part 2 of 2
- 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
0:22:52
- Asset Type
Raw video
- Media Type
Video
- Subjects
- Astronaut
- American history
- Moon
- Space
- Gemini
- Apollo
- Creators
- WGBH Educational Foundation (Producing Organization)
- Contributors
- Lovell, James, 1928- (Interviewee)
- Rights Summary
Rights Holder: WGBH Educational Foundation
- Citation
- Chicago: “NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with James "Jim" Lovell, astronaut, commander of Apollo 13, and command module pilot of Apollo 8, part 2 of 2,” 1998, GBH Archives, accessed April 20, 2024, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_67091700F23C4E4781D62F90EAFF7B0F.
- MLA: “NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with James "Jim" Lovell, astronaut, commander of Apollo 13, and command module pilot of Apollo 8, part 2 of 2.” 1998. GBH Archives. Web. April 20, 2024. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_67091700F23C4E4781D62F90EAFF7B0F>.
- APA: NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with James "Jim" Lovell, astronaut, commander of Apollo 13, and command module pilot of Apollo 8, part 2 of 2. Boston, MA: GBH Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_67091700F23C4E4781D62F90EAFF7B0F