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NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with James W. Head III, Professor of Geological Sciences at Brown University, and Farouk El-Baz, Director of the Center for Remote Sensing at Boston University, part 2 of 3

Part of To the Moon Interviews.

1998

Conversation between James W. Head, Professor of Geological Sciences at Brown University, and Farouk El-Baz, Director of the Center for Remote Sensing at Boston University, on images of the lunar surface. Head and El-Baz talk about the features of the moon and go through the process of planning where they would send astronauts on future hypothetical missions, using geological features and the practicalities of lunar navigation to inform their decisions. The two go over the landing sites from Apollo 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17, and discuss the unique features of each mission, including the feats of Apollo 11. El-Baz talks about the presence of water on the moon (audio cuts out), and the two discuss the hot and cold theories of the moon, and the geologists' lack of knowledge about the moon's temperature, creation, and makeup. The answers held the key to scientists' application of principles of lunar knowledge to the Earth's creation and history. El-Baz and Head talk about what they wanted the astronauts to look for, including in-space observations, the types of rocks on the surface and their relation to various types of creation, and the locations of rocks in relation to the surface depth. When incorporating geology into the Apollo program, El-Baz remembers the astronauts' initial dislike of the training, which changed as the astronauts' mission became more geologically-based once the lunar surface was attainable. From the rocks found on the moon, the scientists were able to find out more about the age of the moon and the creation of the moon and its rocks. The interview ends with B-Roll of Head and El-Baz looking at images and charts of the moon.

Series

NOVA

Program

To the Moon

Program Number

2610

Title

Interview with James W. Head III, Professor of Geological Sciences at Brown University, and Farouk El-Baz, Director of the Center for Remote Sensing at Boston University, 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

0:22:40

Asset Type

Raw video

Media Type

Video

Subjects

Space

Apollo

Astronaut

Moon

Gemini

American history

Creators

WGBH Educational Foundation (Producing Organization)

Contributors

Head, James W., 1941- (Interviewee)

El-Baz, Farouk, 1938- (Interviewee)

Rights Summary

Rights Holder: WGBH Educational Foundation

Citation

Chicago: “NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with James W. Head III, Professor of Geological Sciences at Brown University, and Farouk El-Baz, Director of the Center for Remote Sensing at Boston University, part 2 of 3,” 1998, GBH Archives, accessed December 26, 2024, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_856E55139A134B6998445068C7563BBA.

MLA: “NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with James W. Head III, Professor of Geological Sciences at Brown University, and Farouk El-Baz, Director of the Center for Remote Sensing at Boston University, part 2 of 3.” 1998. GBH Archives. Web. December 26, 2024. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_856E55139A134B6998445068C7563BBA>.

APA: NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with James W. Head III, Professor of Geological Sciences at Brown University, and Farouk El-Baz, Director of the Center for Remote Sensing at Boston University, part 2 of 3. Boston, MA: GBH Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_856E55139A134B6998445068C7563BBA