GBH Openvault
NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Harrison Hagan "Jack" Schmitt, geologist, astronaut, and Lunar Module Pilot on Apollo 17, part 2 of 3
Part of To the Moon Interviews.
1998
Harrison Hagan "Jack" Schmitt, geologist, astronaut, and Lunar Module Pilot on Apollo 17, is interviewed about Apollo 17. He explains the site selection for the mission, his selection for the mission, and explains the crew's excitement about geology. Schmitt describes the Taurus Littrow Valley, his relationship with Gene Cernan, and the discovery of orange soil on the moon, as well as difficulties on the mission including the space suits and time constraints. The interview ends with Schmitt's opinion that Apollo 17 was the culmination of the program because of its emphasis on science and its meeting of objectives.
- Series
- NOVA
- Program
- To the Moon
- Program Number
2610
- Title
Interview with Harrison Hagan "Jack" Schmitt, geologist, astronaut, and Lunar Module Pilot on Apollo 17, 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
0:22:26
- Asset Type
Raw video
- Media Type
Video
- Subjects
- Apollo
- Moon
- American history
- Astronaut
- Space
- Gemini
- Creators
- WGBH Educational Foundation (Producing Organization)
- Contributors
- Schmitt, Harrison "Jack", 1935- (Interviewee)
- Rights Summary
Rights Holder: WGBH Educational Foundation
- Citation
- Chicago: “NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Harrison Hagan "Jack" Schmitt, geologist, astronaut, and Lunar Module Pilot on Apollo 17, part 2 of 3,” 1998, GBH Archives, accessed December 26, 2024, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_AD0E9A3D017741BD9E085BE3F6EC9A93.
- MLA: “NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Harrison Hagan "Jack" Schmitt, geologist, astronaut, and Lunar Module Pilot on Apollo 17, part 2 of 3.” 1998. GBH Archives. Web. December 26, 2024. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_AD0E9A3D017741BD9E085BE3F6EC9A93>.
- APA: NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Harrison Hagan "Jack" Schmitt, geologist, astronaut, and Lunar Module Pilot on Apollo 17, part 2 of 3. Boston, MA: GBH Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_AD0E9A3D017741BD9E085BE3F6EC9A93