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 1 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 teaching geology to the astronauts. Swann talks about his first training field trip in Big Bend, Texas, and training Tom Stafford and Jim Lovell. Astronauts tended to vary in their interest in geology, and Swann talks about the exercises he used to train them, including using a compass, mapping from aerial photographs, and the general principles of geology. The final five minutes of the interview are audio-only of an interview with Dr. David Roddy on lunar craters (from tape 52254, ID "barcode52254_Roddy_01"), and Lisa Gaddis and Eric Eliason (from tape 52254, ID "barcode52254_Gaddis_Eliason") describing the Clementine maps and the coloration of the moon.
- 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 1 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
0:08:28
- Asset Type
Raw video
- Media Type
Video
- Subjects
- Astronaut
- Apollo
- Gemini
- American history
- Moon
- Space
- 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 1 of 4,” 1998, GBH Archives, accessed April 25, 2024, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_8686E02C52FA428FB7B11D3067CF8D0E.
- 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 1 of 4.” 1998. GBH Archives. Web. April 25, 2024. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_8686E02C52FA428FB7B11D3067CF8D0E>.
- 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 1 of 4. Boston, MA: GBH Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_8686E02C52FA428FB7B11D3067CF8D0E