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NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with John Leland "Lee" Atwood, engineer, aerospace executive, and overseer of the Apollo program, part 2 of 2

Part of To the Moon Interviews.

1998

John Leland "Lee" Atwood, engineer, aerospace executive, and overseer of the Apollo program, is interviewed about the Apollo 1 fire. Atwood describes the period after the fire as being difficult for everybody involved, and talks about the verdict of the Phillips Report, which Atwood did not see until the 1980s. The Phillips Report reviewed the roles of the factory, engingineering, assembly, and materials of the Apollo 1 spacecraft, and found that key elements along the way had had issues, resulting in the fire. Atwood's career was not heavily impacted at the time of the fire because of his imminent retirement, unlike Stormy Storms and Joe Shea. The interview closes with a Atwood's opinion that the two most important projects he worked on in his aerospace career were the creation of the P-51 Mustang Fighter in WWII and the Apollo lunar landing.


License Clip
Series
NOVA
Program
To the Moon
Program Number

2610

Title

Interview with John Leland "Lee" Atwood, engineer, aerospace executive, and overseer of the Apollo program, 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

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.

Duration

0:08:56

Asset Type

Raw video

Media Type

Video

Subjects
Astronaut
American history
Gemini
Space
Apollo
Moon
Creators
WGBH Educational Foundation (Producing Organization)
Contributors
Atwood, John Leland "Lee", 1904-1999 (Interviewee)
Rights Summary

Rights Holder: WGBH Educational Foundation

Citation
Chicago: “NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with John Leland "Lee" Atwood, engineer, aerospace executive, and overseer of the Apollo program, part 2 of 2,” 1998, GBH Archives, accessed April 18, 2024, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_7204EAC65D6B4C37A83E968DBFEA6ACB.
MLA: “NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with John Leland "Lee" Atwood, engineer, aerospace executive, and overseer of the Apollo program, part 2 of 2.” 1998. GBH Archives. Web. April 18, 2024. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_7204EAC65D6B4C37A83E968DBFEA6ACB>.
APA: NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with John Leland "Lee" Atwood, engineer, aerospace executive, and overseer of the Apollo program, part 2 of 2. Boston, MA: GBH Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_7204EAC65D6B4C37A83E968DBFEA6ACB
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