GBH Openvault
NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with John R. Sevier, Mission Operations Division, NASA Space Center
Part of To the Moon Interviews.
1998
John R. Sevier, of the Mission Operations Division at the NASA Manned Spacecraft Center, is interviewed about the science side of the Apollo program. He discusses the inclusion of science, the uses of the lunar rover, and the selection of Apollo 12's landing site. Sevier also explains the successes and difficulties of Apollo 14 (which was hindered by the combination of the Mobile Equipment Transporter (MET) on tough terrain), and shows a 3D representation of Apollo 17's landing site and the surrounding landscape. Using the 3D model, Sevier explains the features of the lunar landscape, Apollo's movements on the surface, and ends with shots of the model with no audio.
License Clip
- Series
- NOVA
- Program
- To the Moon
- Program Number
2610
- Title
Interview with John R. Sevier, Mission Operations Division, NASA Space Center
- 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
0:22:45
- Asset Type
Raw video
- Media Type
Video
- Subjects
- Apollo
- American history
- Gemini
- Moon
- Space
- Astronaut
- Creators
- WGBH Educational Foundation (Producing Organization)
- Contributors
- Sevier, John R., 1929-1999 (Interviewee)
- Rights Summary
Rights Holder: WGBH Educational Foundation
- Citation
- Chicago: “NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with John R. Sevier, Mission Operations Division, NASA Space Center,” 1998, GBH Archives, accessed December 26, 2024, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_8FD70EF116114CD08D17D473E0DD9EAF.
- MLA: “NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with John R. Sevier, Mission Operations Division, NASA Space Center.” 1998. GBH Archives. Web. December 26, 2024. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_8FD70EF116114CD08D17D473E0DD9EAF>.
- APA: NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with John R. Sevier, Mission Operations Division, NASA Space Center. Boston, MA: GBH Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_8FD70EF116114CD08D17D473E0DD9EAF