GBH Openvault

NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Dr. Gordon Swann, geologist with the US Geological Survey (USGS) and Principal Investigator of Lunar Geology for Apollo, part 2 of 4

Part of To the Moon Interviews.

1998

Dr. Gordon Swann, geologist with the US Geological Survey (USGS) and Principal Investigator of Lunar Geology during Apollo 14 and 15, is interviewed about the geology of the Apollo program. He discusses where they took the astronauts on training field trips, and explains how the training worked by teaching the astronauts a wide background of geology and teaching them to bring back a representative suite of rocks from the lunar site. Swann explains the use of the geologic suite or geologic picture in training, in which he had the astronauts explain the context of the rocks and take pictures of their locations. The tools at the astronauts' disposal on the moon were cumbersome but sturdy, and Swann describes the enthusiasm and ability of some astronauts including Neil Armstrong, Duke Young, Fred Haise, and others. Swann disagrees with Gerald Wasserburg, and voices his opinion that manned spaceflights were the best for geology, since robots cannot do everything that a man can, and the interview ends with his description of NASA's support for the program.

Series

NOVA

Program

To the Moon

Program Number

2610

Title

Interview with Dr. Gordon Swann, geologist with the US Geological Survey (USGS) and Principal Investigator of Lunar Geology for Apollo, part 2 of 4

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

0:11:10

Asset Type

Raw video

Media Type

Video

Subjects

Moon

Apollo

Space

American history

Gemini

Astronaut

Creators

WGBH Educational Foundation (Producing Organization)

Contributors

Swann, Gordon, 1931-2014 (Interviewee)

Rights Summary

Rights Holder: WGBH Educational Foundation

Citation

Chicago: “NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Dr. Gordon Swann, geologist with the US Geological Survey (USGS) and Principal Investigator of Lunar Geology for Apollo, part 2 of 4,” 1998, GBH Archives, accessed December 26, 2024, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_7891BD1B2C3343CFB5E6574ACAE479BD.

MLA: “NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Dr. Gordon Swann, geologist with the US Geological Survey (USGS) and Principal Investigator of Lunar Geology for Apollo, part 2 of 4.” 1998. GBH Archives. Web. December 26, 2024. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_7891BD1B2C3343CFB5E6574ACAE479BD>.

APA: NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Dr. Gordon Swann, geologist with the US Geological Survey (USGS) and Principal Investigator of Lunar Geology for Apollo, part 2 of 4. Boston, MA: GBH Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_7891BD1B2C3343CFB5E6574ACAE479BD